Chapter XXXV: Part 35

=Moultrie, Fort.= See FORT MOULTRIE.

=Mound.= A bulwark for offense or defense.

=Mound.= In heraldry, a representation of a globe, surmounted with a cross (generally) pattée. As a device, it is said to have been used by the emperor Justinian, and to have been intended to represent the ascendency of Christianity over the world. The royal crown of England is surmounted by a mound, which first appeared on the seal of William the Conqueror, though the globe without the cross was used earlier.

=Mount.= The means or opportunity for mounting, especially a horse; and the equipments necessary for a mounted horseman.

=Mount.= To place one’s self on, as a horse or other animal, or anything that one bestrides or sits upon; to bestride. Hence, to put on horseback; to furnish with animals for riding; to furnish with horses. “To mount the Trojan troop.” See DISMOUNT.

=Mount.= To put anything that sustains and fits, for use; as, to mount a gun on a carriage. To prepare for being worn or otherwise used, as a sword-blade by adding the hilt and scabbard. A ship or a fort is said to mount cannon when they are arranged for use in and about it.

=Mount.= A word of command in the cavalry exercise for the men to mount their horses.

=Mount a Breach, To.= To run up in a quick and determined manner to any breach made in a wall, etc. _To mount guard_, to do guard duty in a town, garrison, camp, etc.

=Mount Desert Island.= A mountainous island in the Atlantic, and in Hancock Co., Me.; is 14 miles long and 7 wide. The French settled it in 1608; they were driven out by the English in 1616. The English settled it in 1761.

=Mountain Artillery.= A species of light artillery which is used in the United States and other countries in mountain warfare. See MOUNTAIN BATTERY.

=Mountain Battery.= A battery of mountain pieces. The pieces and carriages are carried separately upon the backs of animals, by means of pack-saddles of special construction. These have, however, of late been almost entirely superseded for this purpose by the aparejo. A portable forge also accompanies each battery, and is carried with a bag of coal upon a pack-saddle.

=Mountain-carriage.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR.

=Mountain-gun.= See MOUNTAIN ARTILLERY.

=Mountain-howitzer.= The howitzer used in the U. S. service is a 12-pounder brass gun of old pattern with cylindrical chamber. The gun weighs 220 pounds and has an extreme length of 37.21 inches. This gun is ignored in the Light Artillery Tactics.

=Mounted Troops.= Cavalry.

=Mounting Guard.= See GUARD MOUNTING.

=Mourne.= That part of a lance or halbert to which the steel or blade is fixed.

=Mouser.= In the British army, a sobriquet which was sometimes used in sport to distinguish the battalion men from the flank companies. It was indeed generally applied to them by the grenadiers and light bobs, meaning that while the latter are detached, the former remain in quarters, like cats to watch the mice, etc.

=Mousquetaires=, or =Musketeers=. A body of horse-soldiers under the old French _régime_, raised by Louis XIII. in 1622. This corps was considered a military school for the French nobility. It was disbanded in 1646, but was restored in 1657. A second company was created in 1660, and formed Cardinal Mazarin’s guard.

=Mouth.= See MUZZLE.

=Mouth.= The outer opening of an embrasure.

=Movement.= A term used to express the changes of position which troops undergo in performing their evolutions.

=Mow.= To cut down with speed; to cut down indiscriminately, or in great numbers or quantity; to sweep away; as, a discharge of grape-shot mows down whole ranks of men.

=Moyan.= A species of early artillery.

=Moyen= (_Fr._). The bastions which are constructed on the angles are called royal bastions. Some engineers have distinguished those bastions by the name of _moyens royaux_, or medium royals, whose flanks contain from 90 to 100 toises.

=Moyenne= (_Fr._). An ancient 4-pounder, 10 feet long, weighing 1300 pounds. In the time of Charles IX. (1572) it was a 2³⁄₄-pounder.

=Moyenne Ville= (_Fr._). A term formerly given by the French to any town in which the garrison was equal to a third of the inhabitants, and which was not deemed sufficiently important to bear the expense of a citadel; more especially so because it was not in the power of the inhabitants to form seditious meetings without the knowledge of the soldiers who were quartered on them.

=Moyens Côtés= (_Fr._). In fortification, are those sides which contain from 80 to 120 toises in extent. They are always fortified with bastions on their angles. The _moyens côtés_ are generally found along the extent of irregular places, and each one of these is individually subdivided into small, mean, and great sides.

=Mozyr.= A town in the southeast of the government of Minsk, in European Russia, situated on the Pripet, a tributary of the Dnieper. It is a town of considerable antiquity, and played a rather important part in the wars between the various Russian princes previous to the Tartar invasion. It was unsuccessfully besieged by the Tartars in 1240.

=Muff and Collar.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR, LIMBER.

=Muffle.= To wrap with something that dulls or renders sound inaudible; to deaden the sound of; as, to muffle a drum.

=Mufti.= The civilian dress of a military officer when off duty; hence, a citizen’s dress, as distinguished from military uniform.

=Muhlagis.= Turkish cavalry composed of expert horsemen, who generally attend the beglierbeys. They are not very numerous.

=Muhlberg.= A town of Prussian Saxony, situated on the Elbe. Here, on April 24, 1547, a battle was fought between Johann-Friedrich, elector of Saxony, and the emperor Charles V., a battle fraught with the most important results to the cause of Protestantism in Germany. The battle was soon decided in favor of the emperor; the elector was taken prisoner, and stripped of his territories. From this time till 1552, the Catholics were triumphant in Germany.

=Muhldorf.= In Bavaria, near which place Frederick, duke of Austria, was defeated and taken prisoner by Louis of Bavaria, September 28, 1322.

=Mulct.= A soldier is said to be mulcted of his pay when put under fine or stoppages for necessaries, or to make good some dilapidations committed by him on the property of the people or the government.

=Mule.= See PACK AND DRAUGHT ANIMALS.

=Mullet.= In heraldry, is a charge in the form of a star, generally with five points, intended to represent a spur-rowel. It is a mark of cadency assigned to the third son.

=Multan=, or =Mooltan=. An ancient and important city of India, in the Punjab, 200 miles southwest from Lahore. Multan is a military station, with a small redoubt in the rear of the cantonment. In 1849 it was taken by the British troops under Gen. Whish, and annexed with its territory to the British possessions.

=Multi-charge Gun.= Many attempts have been made by inventors to utilize the accelerating effect on the projectile of several charges successively fired in a gun. _Lyman’s multi-charge_ gun has a series of pockets along the bore, the charges in which are successively fired as the projectile passes them. _Bessemer_ proposed plan is to use a gun of great length. The charges are placed separately in holes at the breech, to be fired in succession by electricity.

=Multiple Lines.= In fortification, several lines of detached walls for the defense of a position.

=Munchengratz.= A town of Bohemia, on the Iser, 8 miles northeast from Jungbunzlau; it was taken by the Prussians under Prince Frederick Charles, after a severe action, June 28, 1866. The Austrians lost about 300 killed and 1000 prisoners, and the prince gained about 12 miles of country. There is a palace here, in which the emperors of Austria and Russia and the king of Prussia met in 1833.

=Munda.= A Roman colony and an important town in Hispania Bætica, situated on a small river, and celebrated on account of two battles fought in its neighborhood, the victory of Cn. Scipio over the Carthaginians in 216 B.C., and the important victory of Julius Cæsar over the sons of Pompey in 45.

=Munich= (Ger. _München_). The capital of the kingdom of Bavaria, situated on the Iser, 117 miles southeast from Stuttgart. It was taken by Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden in 1632; by the Austrians in 1704, 1741, and 1743; and by the French under Moreau, July 2, 1800.

=Munifice= (Lat. _munifex_), Fr. A Roman soldier who was subjected to every kind of drudgery-work in camp.

=Munimell.= A stronghold, fortification, etc.

=Munition.= Whatever materials are used in war for defense, or for annoying an enemy; ammunition; also, stores and provisions; military stores of all kinds.

=Munkacs.= A market-town of East Hungary, 80 miles northeast from Debreczin. It was taken by the Imperialists in 1687, after a siege of three years.

=Munsees=, or =Minsees=. A tribe of Indians of Algonkin stock, who were closely allied to the Delawares. Many of them became converts to Christianity. A few of them now reside on the reservation of the Stockbridge Indians in Wisconsin, and about 60 are settled in Kansas.

=Münster.= A city of Germany, on the small river Aa, 77 miles northeast from Cologne. It is the capital of a government of the same name in Prussian Westphalia. It was seized by the French in 1806; part of the duchy of Berg, 1809; annexed to France, 1810; ceded to Prussia, 1815. It was the headquarters of the Anabaptists under John Leyden, who defended it against the bishop of Münster, 1534-35. Here was signed the treaty of Westphalia or Münster, October 24, 1648.

=Münsterthal.= Two valleys of Switzerland, one in the canton Grisons, the other in Berne, where, in 1444, the battle of St. Jacob was fought between the French and Swiss, when the latter were nearly annihilated.

=Muotta Valley.= A secluded valley of Switzerland, canton of Schwytz, traversed by the river Muotta, an affluent of Lake Lucerne. Here a sanguinary struggle took place in 1799, between the French under Lecourbe, Mortier, and Masséna, and the Russians under Suwarrow. The latter was hemmed in on all sides, but by a desperate onslaught he cut his way through the French lines, and made a masterly retreat.

=Muradal, Battle of.= See TOLOSA.

=Murage.= Money appropriated to the repair of military works; anciently so called.

=Mural Crown.= In Roman antiquity, a golden crown, or circlet of gold, indented so as to resemble a battlement; bestowed on him who first mounted the wall of a besieged place, and there lodged a standard.

=Murcia.= An old kingdom in the southeast of Spain, now divided into the modern provinces of Murcia and Albacete. It was conquered by the Arabs in 711 (712, 713); after the fall of the caliphate of Cordova, it became an independent Arab kingdom, but six years afterward was subjugated by King Ferdinand II. of Castile.

=Murcia.= A city of Spain, capital of the ancient kingdom and modern province of its own name, 30 miles north-northwest of Carthagena. It was taken by the Moors in 713; wrested from them by Ferdinand of Castile. In 1810 it was taken and sacked by the French.

=Murderer.= A great piece of artillery. Among the ordnance given up to Monk with Edinburgh Castle in 1650 is mentioned “The great iron murderer, Muckle Meg.”

=Murdresses.= In ancient fortification, a sort of battlement with interstices, raised on the tops of towers in order to fire through.

=Muret= (Southern France). Here the Albigenses under the Count of Toulouse were defeated by Simon de Montfort, and their ally, Peter of Aragon, killed, September 12, 1213.

=Murfreesboro’.= A town and capital of Rutherford Co., Tenn., about 30 miles southeast of Nashville. A Federal force which occupied this place in 1862 was surprised and captured by a body of Confederates under Gen. Forrest. Near here, on December 31, 1862, the Army of the Ohio under Gen. Rosecrans encountered the Confederates under Gen. Bragg, and a desperate battle ensued, continuing at intervals and with varying success until January 3, 1863, when the Confederate army retreated, and Gen. Rosecrans occupied Murfreesboro’. The Federal loss was about 8500 killed and wounded, and 3600 missing; the Confederates represented their loss at 10,000, of which 9000 were killed and wounded. This battle is known as the battle of Murfreesboro’, or of Stone River.

=Murviedro.= A fortified town of Spain in the province of Valencia, 17 miles north from Valencia. It was taken by Hannibal 219 B.C.

=Muscule=, or =Testude=. In ancient times, a machine of war; a mantelet; shed; low, long, and sharp-roofed shed, which enabled the besiegers to advance to and sap the wall of the besieged.

=Music.= A general term for the musicians of a regimental band.

=Music, Phrygian.= A martial sort of ancient music, which excited men to rage and battle; by this mode Timotheus stirred up Alexander to arms.

=Musicians.= See BAND, DRUMMER, FIFER, and TRUMPETER.

=Musket=, or =Musquet= (Fr. _mousquet_). The fire-arm for infantry soldiers, which succeeded the clumsy arquebuse, and has itself given way before the rifle (which see). The first muskets were matchlocks; after which came wheel-locks, asnaphans or snaphance muskets, and lastly percussion muskets, which were a vast improvement both for accuracy and lightness on all which had gone before. Compared, however, to the present rifle, the musket was a heavy, ugly, and ineffective weapon.

=Musket Baskets.= These are about a foot or a foot and a half high, 8 or 10 inches diameter at bottom, and a foot at the top, so that being filled with earth there is room to lay a musket between them at the bottom, being set on low breastworks, or parapets, or upon such as are beaten down.

=Musketeer.= A soldier armed with a musket.

=Musketoon.= An obsolete weapon; was a short musket of very wide bore, carrying a ball of 5 ounces, and sometimes bell-mouthed like a blunderbuss. Also one who was armed with such a weapon.

=Musket-proof.= Capable of resisting the effects of musket-balls.

=Musketry.= Muskets in general or collectively. “The rattle of musketry.”

=Musselburgh.= A royal burgh of Scotland, county of Mid-Lothian, at the mouth of the Esk, 6 miles east of Edinburgh. The town is historically important on account of the battle of Pinkie, which was fought in the neighborhood in 1547, when the Scottish army was defeated by the English under the Earl of Somerset.

=Mustang.= The wild horse of the prairies in Mexico, California, etc. It is small, hardy, and easily sustained.

=Muster.= A review of troops under arms, fully equipped, in order to take an account of their numbers, inspect their arms and accoutrements, and examine their condition. In the U. S. service troops are mustered bi-monthly. During the civil war, the mustering in and mustering out of troops (into or out of the U. S. service) were performed by staff-officers, called commissaries of musters.

=Muster-book.= A book in which military forces are registered.

=Muster-file.= A muster-roll.

=Muster-master.= One who takes an account of troops, and of their arms and other military apparatus. This title is not known in the U. S. army. The person who performs these duties is called a _mustering_ officer, or an _inspecting_ officer.

=Muster-roll.= A roll or register of the men in each company, troop, or regiment.

=Muta= (Syria). Here Mohammed and his followers defeated the Christians in his first conflict with them, 629.

=Mutilated.= In a military sense, signifies wounded in such a manner as to lose the use of a limb. A battalion is said to be mutilated when its divisions, etc., stand unequal.

=Mutina.= See MODENA.

=Mutine.= To mutiny; a mutineer. This term is obsolete.

=Mutineer.= One guilty of mutiny; a person in military or naval service, who rises in opposition to the authority of the officers, who openly resists the government of the army or navy, or attempts to destroy due subordination.

=Mutinous.= Disposed to mutiny or resist the authority of laws and regulations, especially in an army, or openly resisting such authority; turbulent; seditious.

=Mutinously.= In a mutinous manner.

=Mutinousness.= The quality or state of being mutinous; seditiousness.

=Mutiny.= Insurrection against constituted authority, particularly military authority; open and violent resistance to the authority of officers; concerted revolt against the rules of discipline; hence, generally, forcible resistance to rightful authority on the part of subordinates. Violent commotion; tumult; uproar; strife.

=Mutiny.= To rise against lawful authority in the military service; to excite, or to be guilty of mutiny, or mutinous conduct; to revolt against one’s superior officer or rightful authority.

=Mutiny Act.= In Great Britain, an annual act of Parliament fixing the strength of the army for the military year, which commences April 1, and ends March 31, and imposing certain penalties for offenses connected with the army. It also authorizes the sovereign to issue Articles of War.

=Muzzle.= See ORDNANCE, NOMENCLATURE.

=Muzzle Velocity.= Velocity at the muzzle. See INITIAL VELOCITY.

=Muzzle-ring.= The metallic ring or circle that surrounds the mouth of a cannon or other piece.

=Muzzle-sight.= A front sight placed on or near the muzzle.

=Mycale= (now _Samsum_). A mountain in the south of Ionia, in Asia Minor, north of the mouth of the Meander. It forms the western extremity of Mount Messogis, and runs far out into the sea, opposite to Samos, forming a sharp promontory, which was called Mycale, or Trogilium (now _Cape St. Maria_). This cape and the southeast promontory of Samos (Posidonium) overlap one another, and the two tongues of land are separated by a strait only about three-fourths of a mile in width, which is renowned in Greek history as the scene of the victory gained over the Persian fleet by Leotychides and Xanthippus, 479 B.C.

=Mycalessus.= An ancient and important city in Bœotia, mentioned by Homer, situated on the road from Aulis to Thebes. In 413 B.C., some Thracian mercenaries in the pay of Athens surprised and sacked the town and butchered the inhabitants. From this blow it never recovered, and was in ruins in the time of Pausanias.

=Mycenæ=, sometimes =Mycene= (now _Karvata_). An ancient town in Argolis, about 6 miles northeast of Argos; it is said to have been founded by Perseus in 2 B.C. After the conquest of Peloponnesus by the Dorians, it ceased to be a place of importance. It still, however, continued an independent town till 468 B.C., when it was attacked by the Argives, whose hatred the Mycenæans are said to have incurred by the part they took in the Persian war in favor of the Greek cause. The massive walls of Mycenæ resisted all the attacks of the Argives; but the inhabitants were at length compelled by famine to abandon their town. They effected their escape and took refuge, some at Cleonæ, some in Achaia, and others in Macedonia.

=Mylæ.= See MILAZZO.

=Myonnesus= (now _Cape Hypsili_). A promontory of Ionia, with a town and a little island of the same name, forming the northern headland of the Gulf of Ephesus. Here the Romans, under the prætor L. Æmilius, gained a great naval victory over Antiochus the Great, 190 B.C.

=Myriarch.= A captain or commander of 10,000 men.

=Myrmidons.= The soldiers who accompanied Achilles in the expedition against Troy. Rough, desperate characters banded under a leader.

=Mysore=, =Maheshasoora=, or =Maisur=. A raj or native principality of Southern India. It was ruled by Hyder Ali, who acquired the sovereignty in 1761, and afterwards by his son Tippoo Sahib, who was slain when Seringapatam (May 4, 1799) was stormed and taken, and the country occupied by the British, who set up, in the same year, an heir of the ancient Hindoo royal family of Mysore to rule in his stead. The state is now subsidiary to the British.

=Mytilene=, =Mitylene=, or =Metelin=. The city of Lesbos. At the beginning of the 7th century B.C., the possession of its colony, Sigeum, at the mouth of the Hellespont, was disputed in war between the Mytileneans and Athenians, and assigned to the latter by the award of Periander, tyrant of Corinth. Mytilene submitted to the Persians after the conquest of Ionia and Æolis, and furnished contingents to the expeditions of Cambyses against Egypt and of Darius against Scythia; it was active in the Ionian revolt; became again subject to Persia, and took part in the expedition of Xerxes against Greece. After the Persian war it formed an alliance with Athens, and remained one of the most important members of the Athenian confederacy. In 428 B.C. it headed a revolt of the greater part of Lesbos, the progress and suppression of which forms one of the most interesting episodes in the history of the Peloponnesian war. Mytilene fell under the power of the Romans after the Mithridatic war.

N.

=Naas.= A town of Ireland, in the county of Kildare, 18 miles southwest from Dublin. Here the insurgent Irish were defeated by a body of the king’s forces, May 24, 1798; the insurgents lost about 300 killed and many wounded.

=Nabatæi=, or =Nabathæ= (in the Old Testament _Nebaioth_). An Arabian people, descended from the eldest son of Ishmaël, had their original abodes in the northwestern part of the Arabian peninsula, east and southeast of the Moabites and Edomites. After the Babylonian conquest of Judæa, the Nabathæans extended west into the Sinaitic peninsula and the territory of the Edomites. They resisted all the attacks of the Greek kings of Syria. Under Augustus the Nabathæans are found, as nominal subjects of the Roman empire, assisting Ælius Gallius in his expedition into Arabia Felix; under Trajan they were conquered by A. Cornelius Palma, and Arabia Petræa became a Roman province, 105-107. The Mohammedan conquest finally overthrew the power of the Nabathæans.

=Nachod.= A town of Bohemia, near where the Prussians, under their crown prince, defeated the Austrians after a severe conflict, June 27, 1866. In this battle, the superiority of the Prussian Uhlans over the Austrian cavalry was demonstrated.

=Nafels.= A small town of Switzerland, in the canton of Glarus, 4 miles north from Glarus. Here in 1388, 1500 men of Glarus, under Matthias am Buhl, overthrew an Austrian force of from 6000 to 8000 men The event is still celebrated yearly.

=Nagarkana.= In the East Indies, the place where all the drums and war-music are kept, is so called.

=Naggur= (_Ind._). The principal drum in Asiatic armies, commonly allowed only to persons of high dignity; the bass drum.

=Nagpore=, =Nagpur=, or =Nagpoor=. A city of British India, capital of the province of the same name, 430 miles in a direct line east-northeast from Bombay. The rajahs of Nagpore, now an extinct dynasty, were the rulers of a state which was a branch of the great Mahratta confederacy. Its founder was Parsojee, originally a private soldier. Ragojee, one of the successors of Parsojee, united his forces in 1803 with those of Scindia in the war against the British consequent on the treaty of Bassein. The victories of Assaye and Argaum compelled him to sue for peace, and by a treaty concluded in 1804, he surrendered the province of Cuttack. Appa Sahib, his successor, concluded a treaty with the British government, but on November 26, 1817, he made an attack on the British troops at Seetabuldee, an eminence on the outskirts of the town of Nagpore. The British force, only 1400 strong, under Col. Scott, was opposed to a body of 20,000 native troops; but the best dispositions which the suddenness of the attack allowed were promptly made. A noble charge, headed by Capt. Fitzgerald with a small party of cavalry, upon a large body of the enemy’s horse, decided the fortune of the day, which ended in the defeat of the natives.

=Naigue=, =Naick=, or =Naik=. A native non-commissioned officer among Indian and Anglo-Asiatic troops, whose functions are somewhat analogous to those performed among European troops by the drill-sergeant.

=Nail Cannon, To.= See SPIKE CANNON, TO.

=Nail-ball.= A round projectile with an iron pin protruding from it, to prevent its turning in the bore of the piece.

=Nairs.= A native military tribe of the Malabar coast. They affirm that they are the oldest nobility in the world. Their pride on this supposition is greater than that of the Rajpoots. In 1755, the king of Travancore, with the assistance of a French officer called Launoy, disciplined 10,000 Nairs in the method of European infantry.

=Najera.= A town of Spain in the province of Logrono. Near this place Edward the Black Prince defeated Henry de Trastamere, and re-established Peter the Cruel on the throne of Castile, April 3, 1367.

=Naked Bullet.= _Grooved_ or _cannelured_ bullet as distinguished from the _patched bullet_.

=Namur.= A city of Belgium, capital of the province of the same name, 33 miles southwest from Liège. It has been fortified from the earliest period of its history; in 1692 its defensive works were repaired and strengthened by Coehorn; was taken in the following year by Louis XIV. and Vauban, the latter of whom added considerable to its original strength; in 1695 it sustained a long siege against William III. of England, and was taken; seized by the French in the beginning of the 18th century, but ceded to Austria in 1713. In 1781 the emperor Joseph expelled the Dutch garrison. In 1792 it was occupied by the French, but retaken by the Austrians in 1793. In 1794 it was again occupied by the French, who kept it till the Netherlands were given up by the French government in 1814; and after having been gallantly defended by its French conquerors in 1815, against the Prussians under Pirch, it was finally restored to the Netherlands after the battle of Waterloo, and at once put into thorough repair. The works were demolished again in 1866 with the exception of the citadel.

=Nana.= In the East Indies, the title which is given to a chief of the Mahrattas. It more properly signifies the acting head of the government, and general of the forces.

=Nancy.= A city of France, the capital of the department of the Meurthe, situated on the Meurthe, 30 miles south from Metz; it was the capital of Lorraine and the residence of the dukes of that country in the 13th century. After taking Nancy, November 29, 1475, and losing it, October 5, 1476, Charles the Bold of Burgundy was defeated and slain beneath its walls by René II., duke of Lorraine, and the Swiss, January 5, 1477. Nancy on the retreat of MacMahon’s army, and expecting the German army, surrendered to four Uhlans, August 12, 1870.

=Nankin=, =Nanking=, =Kianning-Foo=, or =Kiangning-Fu=. The ancient capital of China, now the chief town of the province of Kiangsu, is situated about 3 miles from the south bank of the river Yang-tse-Kiang, about 100 miles from its mouth. On August 4, 1842, the British ships arrived at Nankin, and were kept before this place till the final treaty of August 29, between China and Great Britain, was signed and ratified. The rebel Tae-pings (Taipings) took it on March 19-20, 1853. It was recaptured by the imperialists, July 19, 1864.

=Nantes= (anc. _Condivicnum_, afterwards _Namnetes_, or _Nannetes_). An important commercial town of France, capital of the department of Loire-Inférieure, on the right bank of the Loire, about 30 miles from its mouth, 208 miles southwest of Paris. The history of Nantes reaches back to the time of the Romans, in whose hands it seems to have remained until the beginning of the 5th century, when they were driven from the town. In 445 it valiantly withstood a siege of sixty days by the Huns. It was captured by the Normans in 853 and 859, and held in possession by them for nearly a century, after which the town suffered many sieges,--in 1343 by the English; in 1380 by the Earl of Buckingham, when it was relieved by Oliver of Clisson; and again in 1491 by Charles VIII. It suffered much from the Vendéan civil war of 1793. In June of that year the Vendéan army, 50,000 strong, under Cathelineau, laid siege to the city, then defended by Gens. Beysser and Canclaux, but were repulsed with great loss,--their general being among the slain. Here took place the wholesale drowning (termed _Noyades_) of the royalists in the Loire, by command of the brutal Carrier, one of the leaders of the republicans, November, 1793. It was from Nantes that Prince Charles Edward embarked for Scotland in 1745.

=Nantes, Edict of.= The name given to the famous decree published in that city by Henry IV. of France, April 13, 1598, which secured to the Protestant portion of his subjects freedom of religion.

=Naples.= A province of Italy, occupying the southern part of the Italian peninsula, formerly the continental division of the old kingdom of the Two Sicilies. It began with a Greek colony named Parthenope (about 1000 B.C.), which was afterwards divided into Palæpolis (the _old_) and Neapolis (the _new_ city), from which latter the present name is derived. The colony was conquered by the Romans in the Samnite war, 326 B.C. Naples, after resisting the power of the Lombards, Franks, and Germans, was subjugated by the Normans, under Roger Guiscard, king of Sicily, in 1131. Naples was conquered by Theodoric the Goth in 493; retaken by Belisarius in 536; taken again by Totila in 543; retaken by Narses in 542; conquered, and the kingdom of the Two Sicilies founded by Roger Guiscard II. in 1131. Here occurred the massacre called the Sicilian Vespers (which see), March 30, 1282. The territory was invaded by Louis, king of Hungary, in 1349; seized by Alphonso V. of Aragon in 1435; conquered by Charles VIII. of France in 1494; and by Louis XII. of France and Ferdinand of Spain, who divided it in 1501. The French were expelled from Naples in 1504; insurrection of Masaniello, occasioned by the extortions of the Spanish viceroys, July, 1647; Masaniello slain by his own followers a few days later; another insurrection suppressed by Don John of Austria, October, 1647. Naples was conquered by Prince Eugène of Savoy for the emperor in 1706; the king flies on the approach of the French republicans, who establish the Parthenopean republic, January 14, 1799; Nelson appears; Naples retaken June, 1799; the Neapolitans occupy Rome, September 30, 1799. Ferdinand is compelled to fly to Sicily, January 23, 1806; the French enter Naples, and Joseph Bonaparte made king, February, 1806; Joachim Murat made king, July 15, 1808; Joachim declares war against Austria, March 15, 1815; defeated at Tolentino, May 3, 1815; successful insurrection of the Carbonari under Gen. Pépé, July 13, 1820; the Austrians invade the kingdom; Gen. Pépé defeated, March 7, 1821; insurrection of the Carbonari suppressed, August, 1828; great fighting in Naples; the liberals and the national guard almost annihilated by the royal troops, aided by the _lazzaroni_, May 15, 1848; a martial anarchy prevails, 1849; Italian refugees, under Count Pisacane, land in Calabria, are defeated, and their leader killed, June 27-July 2, 1857; insubordination among the Swiss troops at Naples, many shot, July 7, 1859; Garibaldi lands in Sicily, May 11, 1860, and defeats the Neapolitan army at Calatafimi, May 15, 1860; state of siege proclaimed at Naples, June 28, 1860; Garibaldi defeats Neapolitans at Melazzo, July 20; enters Messina, July 21, and the Neapolitans agree to evacuate Sicily, July 30, 1860; the army proclaim Count de Trani king, July 10, 1860; Garibaldi lands at Melito, August 18, 1860; takes Reggio, August 21, 1860; he enters Naples without troops, September 7, 1860; Garibaldi gives up the Neapolitan fleet to the Sardinian admiral Persano, September 11, 1860; repulses the Neapolitans at Cajazzo, September 19, 1860, and defeats them at the Volturno, October 1, 1860; the king of Sardinia enters the kingdom of Naples, and takes command of his army, which combines with Garibaldi’s, October 11, 1860; Cialdini defeats the Neapolitans at Isernia, October 17, and at Venafro, October 18, 1860; Garibaldi meets Victor Emmanuel, and salutes him as king of Italy, October 26, 1860.

=Naples= (Lat. _Neapolis_, It. _Napoli_). A city of Italy, the capital of the province of Naples, situated on the Bay of Naples, near the foot of Mount Vesuvius. In 1799 it was taken by the French, who evacuated it shortly after, but again occupied it in 1806. In 1848 it was plundered by the _lazzaroni_, of whom 1500 lost their lives. The history of this city is nearly identical with that of the province of the same name (which see).

=Napoleon Gun.= In 1856 it was proposed to increase the power of the light, and diminish the weight of the heavy field artillery, by the introduction of a single piece of medium weight and caliber; such is the new field or Napoleon gun. It has no chamber, and should therefore be classed as a gun. Its exterior is characterized by the entire absence of molding and ornament, and in this respect may be at once distinguished from the old field-cannon. The first reinforce is cylindrical, and it has no second reinforce, as the exterior tapers uniformly with the chase from the extremity of the first reinforce. The size of the trunnions and the distance between the rimbases are the same as in the 24-pounder howitzer, in order that pieces may be transported on the same kind of carriage. The diameter of the bore is that of a 12-pounder, the length of bore is 16 calibers. The weight is 100 times the projectile, or 1200 pounds. The charge of powder is the same as for the heavy 12-pounders (pattern of 1840), or 2¹⁄₂ pounds for solid and case-shot, and 2 pounds for canister-shot. It has, therefore, nearly as great range and accuracy as the heaviest gun of the old system, and, at the same time, the recoil and strain on the carriage are not too severe. The new gun and carriage weigh about 500 pounds more than the 6-pounder and carriage, still it has been found to possess sufficient mobility for the general purposes of light artillery. It is proposed to retain the 12-pounder howitzer in service, to be employed in cases where great celerity of movement is indispensable. The effect of this change is to simplify the _matériel_ of field artillery, and to increase its ability to cope with the rifle-musket, principally by the use of larger and more powerful spherical case-shot. The principal objection to an increased caliber for light field-guns is the increased weight of the ammunition, and consequent reduction of the number of rounds that can be carried in the ammunition-chests.

=Narbonne.= A city of France, in the department of the Aude, 32 miles east of Carcassonne. The modern town of Narbonne occupies the site of the ancient _Narbo Martius_, a Roman colony founded in 118 B.C. After the first colonization of Narbo, many of the soldiers of Cæsar’s Tenth Legion were settled here, from whom the town derived the name of _Decumanorum Colonia_. It was taken by the Visigoths in 462, by the Burgundians in 508, by the Franks in 531, by the Saracens in 719, and by the Moors in 779. Charles Martel defeated the Moors under its walls, but the town held out until it was taken by Pepin in 759. In 859 it fell to the arms of the Northmen.

=Narisci.= A small but brave people in the south of Germany, of the Suevic race, dwelt west of the Marcomanni and east of the Hermunduri. Their country extended from the Sudeti Montes on the north to the Danube on the south.

=Narni= (anc. _Narnia_). A town of Central Italy, on the Nera, or Nar, about 45 miles northeast of Rome. During the second Punic war an army was posted here to oppose the threatened advance of Hasdrubal upon Rome. The town bore an important part in the civil war between Vitellius and Vespasian. It was occupied by the generals of the former to check the advance of Vespasian’s army, but the increasing disaffection towards Vitellius caused the troops at Narnia to lay down their arms without resistance. Its natural strength and commanding position rendered it also of great importance during the Gothic wars of Belisarius and Narses. The town was sacked by the Venetians and its garrison put to the sword in the 16th century, since which time it has been a place of little importance.

=Narragansetts.= A tribe of Algonkin Indians who formerly inhabited a tract of country nearly corresponding to the present State of Rhode Island. They were generally friendly to the early white settlers, and were sworn enemies of the Mohegans (which see). In 1637, when the Pequots were attempting to induce them to join in a general war upon the whites, they were dissuaded from doing so by Roger Williams, who had great influence with their chief, Canonicus. In King Philip’s war (1675) they were suspected of playing false to the settlers, and of sheltering the enemy that wasted their settlements. It was accordingly resolved to treat them as enemies, and 1000 colonists marched against their chief fort, which was situated on a swamp island near what is now the village of Kingston, R. I. The fort was taken by storm and burned, all the winter supplies of the Indians and many of the aged and helpless, it is said, perishing in the flames. Hunger and distress followed; but the Narragansetts still maintained the contest under their chief, Canonchet, until he was taken prisoner and put to death. They subsequently merged into the dominant race, and only a few of the tribe now exist.

=Narva.= A town of Russia in Europe, in the government of St. Petersburg, on the Narova, 8 miles from its mouth, and 90 miles southwest from St. Petersburg. Near this town on November 30, 1700, Charles XII. at the head of 8000 Swedes, defeated Peter the Great with about 80,000 Russians. It was taken by Peter in 1804.

=Nasamones.= A powerful but savage Libyan people, who dwelt originally on the shores of the Great Syrtis, but were driven inland by the Greek settlers of Cyrenaica, and afterward by the Romans.

=Naseby.= A parish and village of England, in the county of Northampton, 12 miles north of the town of that name. The battle of Naseby, between Charles I. and the Parliamentary army under Fairfax and Cromwell, took place here, June 14, 1645. It resulted in the total defeat of the royalists, the king being compelled to flee, after losing his cannon and baggage, and nearly 5000 of his army as prisoners.

=Nashville.= A city and capital of the State of Tennessee, situated on the left bank of the Cumberland River, about 200 miles from its mouth. During the civil war, after the fall of Fort Donelson, it was occupied by the Union forces, February 24, 1862. Within a few miles of the city was fought the memorable battle which bears its name, between the Confederate forces under Gen. Hood and the Union troops under Gen. George H. Thomas, December 15-16, 1864. The battle commenced by a feint on Hood’s right and a real attack on his left, which resulted in driving it a distance of 8 miles, and the capture of over 1000 prisoners, 20 wagons, and 16 pieces of artillery. During the ensuing night, Gen. Hood contracted his lines, and next day the battle was renewed with vigor, towards the afternoon becoming close and obstinate. Near dusk the Confederates gave way, and a total rout soon followed. Some 4000 prisoners were captured, over 50 pieces of artillery, and an immense number of small-arms. On the 17th the pursuit of the enemy was continued and many more prisoners captured. Hood escaped with a mere wreck of his army, and was soon after relieved of command.

=Nasir-Jung= (_Ind._). Victorious, or triumphant in war.

=Nassau, House of.= A noble family of German origin, which produced many great men, and derived its title from Nassau, on the Rhine. In the 16th century the family acquired the principality of Orange, in the southeast of France; after which the counts of Nassau took the title of Prince of Orange.

=Natchez=, or =Natches=. A tribe of Indians who formerly occupied four or five villages situated east of the Mississippi in a tract of country which embraced the site of the city of that name. They were generally friendly to the early French settlers; but in 1729, being enraged by the brutal avarice of Chopart, the commander of the garrison, who demanded as a plantation the very site of their principal village, they concerted a general massacre of the French, which they effected November 28, killing about 200 and holding the women and children captives. The French took a bloody and terrible revenge. Under the leadership of Le Sueur, a Frenchman, 700 Choctaws broke upon the slumbers of the Natchez on the night of January 28, 1730, liberated the captives, and with a loss of but two of their number, brought off 60 scalps and 18 prisoners. On February 8 following the French under Loubois completed the ruin of the tribe. Some fled to the neighboring tribes and some crossed the Mississippi to the vicinity of the Natchitoches. They were pursued and their places of refuge taken. Of the scattered remnants some remained with the Chickasaws, others settled with the Muskogees, and about 400 were shipped to San Domingo and sold as slaves. Thus perished the Natchez as an independent tribe.

=Natchitoches.= A tribe of Indians allied to the Caddos, who formerly lived on Red River, La. They were dispossessed of their territory by the fugitive Natchez in 1731, and settled permanently with the Caddos, with which tribe a few still exist.

=National Armory.= See ARMORY, NATIONAL.

=National Cemeteries.= In the United States, are the burial-places for soldiers. They are called national because they belong to and are cared for by the general government.

=National Flag.= See FLAG.

=National Guards.= The militia organizations of several States of the United States and of some foreign countries are so called. In the United States they are authorized by State laws, and may be called into the service of the general government. After the destruction of the Bastile, a similar organization, called the _garde nationale_, was formed in Paris from the bourgeois class in 1789, under Lafayette as colonel-general. Napoleon subsequently defeated and dispersed it, but it was again organized by him in 1814. The national guard was adopted as an institution under the Restoration, and the Comte d’Artois appointed colonel-general. By decree of 1852 the government reserved the right of organizing or suppressing the national guard in _communes_, and also of nominating all the officers, who up to this time had been elected. The French national guard fought in the war of 1870-71, and also participated in the Communist struggles.

=National Military Homes.= See SOLDIERS’ HOMES.

=National Salute.= In the United States, a salute of one gun for each State in the Union.

=National Troops.= Are those raised under the authority of Congress, in contradistinction to the militia, which may be called State troops, being organized by the several States.

=Native Cavalry.= A body of natives in the East Indian army, formed into light dragoons.

=Native Infantry.= A body of native troops in the East Indian army.

=Natural Angle of Sight.= The angle which the natural line of sight makes with the axis of the piece.

=Natural Fortification.= See FORTIFICATION.

=Natural Line of Sight.= See LINE OF METAL.

=Natural Steel.= See ORDNANCE, METALS FOR, STEEL.

=Naumburg.= A town of Prussia, province of Saxony, 18 miles south-southwest from Merseburg. It was besieged in 1482 by the Hussites under Procopius; but they were induced to raise the siege by the entreaties of the children of the town. Naumburg was a place of importance in the Thirty Years’ War, as well as in the campaigns of 1806 and 1813.

=Nauplia.= A small fortified town and seaport in the Morea, Greece. At an early period it was the port and arsenal of Argos; occupied by the Venetians in the 13th century; taken by the Turks in 1540, and again in 1715. The Turks lost it on the outbreak of the Greek insurrection.

=Navajo Indians.= A numerous and warlike tribe of the Shoshone family, who are located to the number of about 12,000 on a large reservation in New Mexico. They were for a long time at war with the whites, but have at length been thoroughly subdued, and are gradually adopting semi-civilized habits. They are famous for the manufacture of a peculiar blanket of excellent quality which bears their name.

=Naval Camp.= In military antiquities, a fortification, consisting of a ditch and parapet on the land side, or a wall built in the form of a semicircle, and extended from one point of the sea to the other. This was beautified with gates, and sometimes defended with towers, through which they issued forth to attack their enemies. Towards the sea, or within it, they fixed great piles of wood, like those in their artificial harbors; before these the vessels of burden were placed in such order, that they might serve instead of a wall, and give protection to those without; in this manner Nicias is reported by Thucydides to have encamped himself. When their fortifications were thought strong enough to defend them from the assaults of enemies, the ancients frequently dragged their ships on shore. Around these ships the soldiers disposed their tents, as appears everywhere in Homer. But this seems only to have been practiced in winter, when their enemy’s fleet was laid up, and could not assault them; or in long sieges, and when they lay in no danger from their enemies by sea, as in the Trojan war, where the defenders of Troy never once attempted to encounter the Grecians in a sea-fight.

=Naval Crown.= In heraldry, a rim of gold, round which are placed alternately prows of galleys and square-sails. A naval crown supporting the crest in place of the wreath, occurs in various grants of arms in the early part of the present century to naval heroes. The crest of the Earl of St. Vincent, bestowed on him after his victory over the Spanish fleet in 1797, is issuing out of a naval crown or, enwrapped by a wreath of laurel vert, a demi-pegasus argent maned and hoofed of the first, and winged azure, charged in the wing with a fleur-de-lis or.

=Navarre.= A province, and formerly a kingdom, of Spain, is bounded on the north by France, on the south and east by Aragon, and on the west by the Biscays. It was occupied in ancient times by the Vascones, who were subdued by the Goths in the 5th century: After having become gradually amalgamated with their conquerors, the people continued to enjoy a species of turbulent independence under military leaders until the 8th century, when they were almost annihilated by the hordes of Arabs who were rapidly spreading their dominion to all parts of the peninsula. Navarre was conquered from the Saracens by Charlemagne, 778. In 1076, Sancho Ramorez of Aragon seized Navarre. During the war of independence and the civil war, the province produced bands of formidable guerrilleros.

=Nave.= In gun-carriages, that part of a wheel in which the arms of the axle-tree move, and in which the spokes are driven and supported.

=Nave-boxes.= Are boxes which are placed in the naves; they were formerly made of brass, but experience has shown that those of cast iron cause less friction, and are much cheaper. There are two, one at each end, to diminish the friction of the axle-tree against the nave.

=Nave-hoops.= Are flat iron rings to bind the nave; there are generally three on each nave.

=Navel.= A lug with a hole through it on the under side of a carronade, used to connect it with its carriage.

=Naxos=, or =Naxia=. An island in the Ægean Sea, and the largest of the Cyclades; is situated nearly half-way between the coasts of Greece and Asia Minor. It was conquered by Pisistratus, who established Lydamis as tyrant of the island about 540 B.C. The Persians in 501 attempted, at the suggestion of Aristagoras, to subdue Naxos, but failed; Aristagoras, fearing punishment, induced the Ionian cities to revolt from Persia. In 490 the Persians, under Datis and Artaphernes, conquered Naxos, and reduced the inhabitants to slavery. The Naxians recovered their independence after the battle of Salamis (480). They were the first of the allied states whom the Athenians reduced to subjection, 471. After the capture of Constantinople by the Latins in 1204, the Ægean Sea fell to the lot of the Venetians; and Marco Sanudo in 1207 took possession of Nuxos, and founded there a powerful state under the title of duchy of the Ægean Sea. His dynasty ruled over the greater part of the Cyclades for 360 years, and was at length overthrown by the Turks in 1566. Naxos now belongs to the kingdom of Greece.

=Naxos.= A Greek city on the eastern coast of Sicily, south of Mount Taurus; was founded 735 B.C. by the Chalcidians of Eubœa, and was the first Greek colony established in the island. It carried on a successful war against Messina, and was subsequently an ally of the Athenians against Syracuse. In 403 the town was taken by Dionysius of Syracuse, and destroyed.

=Nebraska.= One of the Central States of the United States, lying west of the Missouri River. Nebraska formed a part of the great grant of the Mississippi Valley to Crozart in 1712, and was part of the territory included in Law’s celebrated Mississippi scheme. It came into possession of the United States in 1803, as a portion of the Louisiana purchase. In 1804, Lewis and Clarke explored the interior and western parts of the State. In 1854 it was erected into a Territory, and in 1867 admitted as a State.

=Necessaries.= The articles issued to the British soldier, such as boots, shirts, stockings, razor, etc., which are requisite for his comfort and cleanliness, are technically termed regimental necessaries. Non-commissioned officers are not allowed to sell regimental necessaries to the soldiers. Every article is directed by the regulations to be marked with the owner’s name, the letter of his company, and the number of his regiment; and the sale or injury of them renders him liable to be tried by court-martial and punished.

=Neck.= The elbow or part connecting the blade and socket of a bayonet.

=Neck Line.= An old term in fortification signifying the gorge.

=Neck of a Cascabel.= The part joining the knob to the base of the breech.

=Neck of a Gun.= The small part of the piece in front of the chase.

=Needle.= A slender bar of steel, usually pointed, and resting on a vertical pivot, in a mariner’s, or other compass, so as to turn freely towards the magnetic poles of the earth by virtue of the magnetic polarity with which it has been artificially endued; called also the _magnetic needle_.

=Needle-Gun= (Ger. _Zundnadelgewehr_). Is a breech-loading gun, so constructed that by pulling the trigger a stout needle or wire is thrust through the base of the cartridge, parallel with its axis, into the detonating charge behind the ball, causing explosion and the ignition of the cartridge. This gun was the regulation arm of the German infantry until it was replaced by the Mauser, a gun somewhat similar. The gun was invented by Nicolaus Dreyse, of Sömmerda, Prussia, where it is manufactured. It was first used by the Prussians in 1848, and again in the Italian war of 1866, when it proved a fearful instrument of destruction, and to it may be ascribed in a great measure the success of its employers.

=Neemuch.= In Hindostan, a town with a British cantonment, in the territory of Gwalior, or possessions of Scindia. The native troops stationed at this place participated in the general mutiny of the Bengal army. The rising took place on the night of June 3, 1857, when a general massacre of the Europeans took place. The work of slaughter was commenced by the artillery, and all the native troops joined heartily in it. A native officer opened the gate of the fort and gave entrance to the rebels. Having committed the most frightful enormities, and outraged every law of humanity, a large body of the miscreants marched in the direction of Agra.

=Neerwinden.= A village of Belgium, in the province of Liège. William III. of England was defeated by the Duke of Luxemburg between this place and Landen in 1693; the French were also defeated here in 1793 by the Austrians.

=Neeshungpat= (_Ind._). A violent assault without bloodshed.

=Negapatam.= A considerable seaport in the south of India, and province of Tanjore. In 1660 it was taken from the Portuguese by the Dutch. It was a very flourishing city in 1781, when it was besieged and taken by the British with about 4000 troops, and finally ceded to them at the peace of 1783.

=Negative.= This term is sometimes used to express the result of measures or enterprises which, though not entirely successful, are not productive of serious or mischievous consequences. Hence the British expeditions to Spain and Walcheren may be considered as having had negative success.

=Negative Penalty.= Deprived of command; a bar to indulgence; a reprimand; etc.

=Neglect of Duty.= Is total omission or disregard of any prescribed service, or unsoldier-like execution, which is punishable at the discretion of a court-martial. See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR, 62.

=Negrais.= An island, harbor, and cape of the Eastern Peninsula, situated on the southwest extremity of the kingdom of Pegu. In 1687 a settlement was founded here by the British; it was soon after abandoned; again occupied by the British in 1751; it was attacked by the Burmese in 1759, and nearly all the inhabitants were put to death.

=Negropont.= See CHALCIS.