Chapter XLI: Part 41

_Proportion of Arms of Service._--The mass of a modern army is composed of infantry. The amount of cavalry will depend upon the topographical features of the country, being in some cases as much as one-fourth of the infantry, and in others as little as one-tenth. The amount of light artillery depends upon the character of the country. There should be at least two guns to every thousand men. The quantity of heavy artillery, or number of siege-batteries, which enter the composition of an army, will depend to a great extent upon the plan of campaign and the probable use for which they may be intended. The circumstances of the case in each campaign will therefore decide as to the proportion to be employed. The number of engineer troops will depend both on the nature of the country and on the probable amount of work which will be required from this class of troops. Each division should contain at least one company of engineer troops. It is usual, if there be none, to detail one or more companies of infantry to act as engineer soldiers; they are designated as “pioneers.” These engineer troops, or troops acting in that capacity, marching in the advance, make the roads practicable for the command by repairing them, removing obstructions, etc. At the crossing of streams, where bridges are to be made, or where existing bridges are to be repaired to an extent requiring more knowledge of bridge construction than that usually possessed by the pioneer, another detachment of troops belonging to the engineer arm is brought forward to do the work. These troops are known as _pontoniers_, and have special charge of bridge construction for the army. They may be divided into two parts: one to have charge of construction of temporary bridges, especially of floating and trestle bridges, and construction of ferries; the other to have charge of repairs of bridges which have been broken or injured by the enemy, and where quick repair is of importance to an army’s movements. These troops charged with bridge construction usually form a part of the reserve, and are only attached to a division under peculiar circumstances. There should be also in the reserve several companies of sappers and miners; their number, like the heavy artillery, being dependent upon the nature of the campaign.

_The army_, as a machine, is now ready to be used by the general. The next step is to keep it in a condition so that it can be used; in other words, to _preserve_ the fighting condition of the army. The discipline and drill have been cared for, and with the organization just sketched out, the general can move the whole mass as a unit in accordance with his will. The army can be kept ready for use only by supplying all the actual and necessary wants of the soldier, and by keeping him in comfort and good health. To do this there must be ammunition, clothing, food, shelter, medicines, surgical attendance, hospital comforts, etc., provided for his use. Also a good system of recruiting must be adopted, by means of which the natural losses due to sickness and death may be made good.

_The transportation_ of the munitions, equipments, provisions, hospital supplies, tents, engineering tools, bridge equipage and boats, baggage, cooking utensils, etc., necessary for the use of an army moving against an enemy, requires the use of large numbers of wagons and a great number of draught animals, which of course should not exceed the absolute necessity of the service. These accompaniments to the army received from the Romans the name of _impedimenta_, for the reason that they hindered the movement of the army. These supply departments form important parts of the composition of a modern army, and the method of executing the duties assigned them constitutes an important branch of the “science and art of war.”--_Prof. J. B. Wheeler._

=Organize.= To arrange or constitute in parts, each having a special function, act, office, or relation; as, to organize an army, etc.

=Orgue= (Fr. _un orgue_). A term used to express that arrangement or disposition of a certain quantity of musket-barrels in a row, which, by means of a priming train of gunpowder, may be subjected to one general explosion. This machine has been found extremely serviceable in the defense of a low flank, a tenaille, or to prevent an enemy from crossing the ditch of a fortified place.

=Orgues.= Are beams of wood hanging perpendicularly over the entrance of a fortified town, which were formerly used as a portcullis, to be dropped in case of any emergency. They are not now used.

=Orient.= The east or eastern part of the horizon. In surveying, _to orient_ a plan signifies to make its situation or bearing with respect to the four cardinal points.

=Oriflamme=, or =Auriflamme=. A banner which originally belonged to the abbey of St. Denis, and was borne by the counts of Vexin, patrons of that church, but which, after the country of Vexin fell into the hands of the French crown, became the principal banner of the kingdom. It was charged with a saltire wavy or, with rays issuing from the centre crossways. In later times the oriflamme became the insignia of the French infantry. The name seems also to have been given to other flags; the oriflamme borne at Agincourt was an oblong red flag split into five parts.

=Orihuela.= A town of Spain, in Valencia, on the Segura, 31 miles southwest from Alicante. It was a place of some importance in the Moorish invasion, and was held in 713 successfully by Theodoric against Abd-el-Aziz after the battle of the Guadalete. It was conquered in 1265 by Don Jaime of Aragon for his father-in-law, Don Alonso, king of Castile. The city was sacked in 1520 in the civil war at that time raging, and again in the War of the Succession, 1706. It was held for some time in 1837 by the Carlist general Forcadell.

=Orillon.= This may be described as a projection at the shoulder of a bastion beyond the ordinary flank of a curved portion of rampart and parapet, the curve being convex to the ditch. The orillon, introduced during the 17th century, was generally used in conjunction with a retired flank, made ordinarily with a curve concave to the ditch. Both orillon and retired flank are now obsolete.

=Orissa.= An extensive province of Hindostan, in the Deccan. A race of Hindoo princes governed the country till 1592, when they were conquered by the viceroy of Akbar. The French, who had taken possession of a part of the country long known as the Northern Circars, attempted to drive the English (who had formed commercial settlements on the coast) out of India. The result of the contest for supremacy in India between the French and English is well known. The Mahrattas, who had seized a portion of Orissa in 1740, were forced to surrender it to the English in 1803. The soldiers of the East India Company were marched into Orissa at the commencement of the present century, and an engagement was subsequently entered into between the Company and the native chiefs and princes, by which the former bound themselves to perform certain services for the country (as maintaining the river-banks in good repair), while the latter engaged to pay a yearly tribute.

=Orizaba.= A town of Mexico, in the department of Vera Cruz, 60 miles southwest from Vera Cruz. It was occupied by Gen. Prim, in command of the Spanish troops that formed part of the expedition sent by England, France, and Spain to Mexico in March, 1862. A conference was held here shortly after the occupation of the town between the plenipotentiaries of the three powers, when the English and Spanish commissioners determined to withdraw their contingents from Mexico, in accordance with the terms of the treaty of Soledad, while the French on the other hand resolved to push on to the capital, to establish a settled government in the country in lieu of that of Juarez.

=Orkney Islands= (anc. _Orcades_). A cluster of islands in the North Sea, separated from the north coast of Scotland by the Pentland Firth. From an early period the Norsemen resorted to these islands as a convenient spot from which to make a descent on the Scotch and English coasts. In 876 Harald Haarfager conquered both them and the Hebrides; they were conquered by Magnus III. of Norway in 1499, and were ceded to James III. in 1469.

=Orle.= In heraldry, one of the charges known under the charge of sub-ordinaries, said to be the diminutive of a bordure, but differing from it in being detached from the sides of the shield. Or an orle gules was the coat borne by John Baliol. An orle of heraldic charges of any kind denotes a certain number (generally eight) of these charges placed in orle, as in the coat of the old Scottish family of Gladstanes of that Ilk; argent, a savage’s head couped, distilling drops of blood proper, thereon a bonnet composed of bay and holly leaves all proper, within an orle of eight martlets sable.

=Orléans.= An important town of France, capital of the department of Loiret, 75 miles south-southwest from Paris by railway. Orléans, originally called _Genabum_, afterwards _Aureliani_ (probably from the emperor Aurelian), was besieged by Attila in 451, but relieved by the Romans, who here defeated Attila. It afterwards passed into the hands of the Franks, was taken by the Northmen in 855, and again in 865. In 1428 it was besieged by the English under the Duke of Bedford, but was delivered from the besiegers by the inspiriting exertions of Joan of Arc, who on this account is also named the Maid of Orléans. In the civil wars of the 16th century it was besieged in 1563 by the Duke of Guise, who was assassinated before the walls. During the Franco-Prussian war, 1870-71, Orléans was occupied by the Germans, September 27, and evacuated November 10, 1870.

=Ormskirk.= A town of England, county of Lancaster, 12 miles north by east from Liverpool. Near this place, in 1644, the royalists were defeated by the Parliamentary troops with great slaughter.

=Ormus=, or =Ormuz=. A small island in the strait of the same name, at the entrance of the Persian Gulf, and within 10 miles of the Persian coast. It is about 12 miles in circumference, and belongs to the sultan of Muscat. It was occupied by the Portuguese in the 16th century. The town was demolished in 1622 by Shah Abbas, assisted by the English, and its trade was removed to Gombroon.

=Ornamental Fireworks.= See PYROTECHNY.

=Ornaments, Military.= Are those parts of the dress of a soldier which are more for appearance or distinction than for absolute use, as plates for belts, trimmings, etc.

=Orneæ.= An ancient town in Argolis, near the frontiers of the territory of Philius, and 120 stadia from Argus. It was originally independent of Argos, but was subdued by the Argives in the Peloponnesian war, 415 B.C.

=Orteil.= See BERME.

=Ortelsburg.= A town of East Prussia, in the government of Königsberg, 80 miles southeast of Königsberg. Several engagements took place here between the French and Russians in 1807.

=Orthez=, or =Orthes=. A town of France, in the department of the Lower Pyrenees, situated on the Gave de Pau, 25 miles northwest from Pau. It suffered much during the civil wars in France after the Revolution. Near this town the British and Spanish armies commanded by Wellington defeated the French under Soult, February 27, 1814.

=Ortona.= An ancient city of Latium, situated on the confines of the Æquian territory. It is twice mentioned during the wars of the Romans with the latter people: first in 481 B.C., when it was besieged and taken by the Æquians; and again in 457 B.C., when the Æquians by a sudden attack took Corbio, and after putting to the sword the Roman garrison there, made themselves masters of Ortona also; but the consul Horatius engaged and defeated them at Mount Algidus, and after driving them from that position, recovered possession both of Corbio and Ortona. No mention of it is found in later times, and it probably ceased to exist.

=Orvieto.= Called in the time of the Longobards _Urbs Vetus_, of which its present name is a corruption, a city of Italy, province of Perugia; is of Etruscan origin, but of its early history nothing is known. It has been a place of residence and retreat in turbulent times of upwards of thirty popes.

=Osage Indians.= A tribe of aborigines of Dakota stock who are located, to the number of about 2500, on a reservation in Indian Territory. They are divided into eight bands,--the Beavers, Big Chiefs, Big Hills, Black Dogs, Clammores, Half-Breeds, Little Osages, and White Hairs, and have made but little progress in civilization.

=Oschatz.= A town of Saxony, circle of Leipsic, 31 miles east-southeast from Leipsic. It was here that the treaty of peace was concluded between Frederick the Great and the empress Maria Theresa which put an end to the Seven Years’ War, in 1763.

=Osci=, or =Opici=. One of the most ancient tribes of Italy; they inhabited the centre of the peninsula, from which they had driven out the Siculi. Their principal settlement was in Campania, but we also find them in parts of Latium and Samnium. They were subdued by the Sabines and Tyrrhenians, and disappeared from history at a comparatively early period. They were called in their own language _Uskus_.

=Osnabruck=, or =Osnaburg=. A town in Hanover, 71 miles from Hanover. Here was concluded the peace of Westphalia in 1648.

=Ossun.= A town of France, in the department of the Upper Pyrenees, 7 miles southwest from Tarbes. A great battle was fought with the Saracens, in the 8th century, in its neighborhood.

=Ostend.= A fortified seaport town of Belgium, province of West Flanders, situated on the coast of the North Sea, 67 miles northwest from Brussels. During the war of the Dutch against Spain, Ostend sustained a memorable siege for more than three years (1601-4). So tremendous was the bombardment that the noise of the Spanish artillery is said to have been occasionally heard at London. At last, after a loss of 50,000 men on the part of the garrison, and 80,000 on that of the Spaniards, the town surrendered on honorable terms, and the Spanish general Spinola was put in possession of Ostend, now reduced to heaps of ruin. On the death of Charles II. of Spain, the French seized Ostend; but in 1706, after the battle of Ramilies, it was retaken by the allies. It was again taken by the French in 1745, but restored in 1748. In 1756 the French garrisoned this town for the empress queen Maria Theresa. In 1792 the French once more took Ostend, which they evacuated in 1793, but regained in 1794. The English destroyed the works of the Bruges Canal; but the wind shifting before they could re-embark, they surrendered to the French, May 19, 1798.

=Ostrolenka.= A town of Poland, on the Narew. Near here the French repulsed the Russians under Essen, February 16, 1807, and an indecisive and bloody engagement took place between the Poles under Skrzynecki and the Russians under Diebitsch, May 26, 1831.

=Ostrovno.= A village of Russia, in the government of Mohilev, 90 miles northwest from Mohilev. The Russians were defeated here in 1812 by the French.

=Oswego, Fort.= See FORT ONTARIO.

=Oswestry.= A town of England, in Shropshire, 15 miles northwest from Shrewsbury. Oswestry is said to derive its name (originally _Oswaldstree_) from Oswald, the king of Northumbria, who was slain here in the early part of the 7th century, in a battle fought with the ferocious Penda, king of Mercia.

=Otaheite=, or =Tahiti=. The largest of a cluster of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, that were frequently visited by Capt. Cook, and named by him the Society Islands. In 1799, King Pomare ceded the district of Matavai to some English missionaries. Queen Pomare was compelled to put herself under the protection of France, September 7, 1843. She retracted, and Otaheite and the neighboring islands were taken possession of by Admiral Dupetit-Thuars in the name of the French king, November, 1843. The French imprisoned Mr. Prichard, the English consul, March 5, 1844, but the act was censured in France.

=Otchakow.= A small town and seaport of South Russia, in the government of Kherson, 40 miles east-northeast from Odessa. During the Russian wars with Turkey in the 18th century, Otchakow was alternately the property of each, until it was taken by Potemkin in 1788, and definitively annexed to the Russian dominions.

=Otoes.= A tribe of Indians of Dakota stock who reside with the Missourias on a reservation in Nebraska. They are generally peaceful and industrious, and number with their kindred tribe about 450.

=Otomis=, or =Othomis=. An ancient tribe of Indians who are said to have inhabited the Valley of Mexico before the Aztecs. They are now scattered through different parts of the country, and having lost all tribal distinctions are become amalgamated with other Mexican races.

=Otricoli.= A town of Italy, 37 miles north of Rome. The Neapolitans were defeated by the French in its neighborhood in 1798.

=Ottawas.= A tribe of Algonkin Indians, who formerly resided on the shores of Lake Erie. They subsequently moved to Kansas, and in 1870 settled in Indian Territory, where they now prosper. They are well advanced in civilization. A number of this tribe settled in Canada, where their descendants may yet be found; some are also settled on Lake Michigan with the Chippewas.

=Otterburn= (or Chevy Chase), =Battle of=. Was fought in August, 1388; a fight which Froissart declares to have been the bravest and most chivalrous which was fought in his day. According to the ballad (named Chevy Chase) Percy vowed that he would enter Scotland and take his pleasure for three days in the woods of his rival, and slay the deer therein at will. Douglas, when he heard the vaunt, exclaimed, “Tell him he will find one day more than enough.” Accordingly, at the time of the hay harvest, Percy, with stag-hounds and archers, passed into the domains of his foe, and slew a “hundred fallow deer and harts of grice.” When the English had hastily cooked their game and were about to retire, Earl Douglas, clad in armor and heading his Scottish spears, came on the scene. Haughty challenge and defiance passed between the potentates, and the battle joined. In the centre of the fray the two leaders met. “Yield thee, Percy!” cried Douglas. “I will yield to no Scot that was ever born of a woman!” cried Percy. During this colloquy, an English arrow struck Douglas to the heart. “Fight on, my merry men!” cried he, as he died. Percy, with all the chivalrous feeling of his race, took the dead man by the hand, and vowed that he would have given all his lands to save him, for a braver knight never fell by such a chance. Sir Hugh Montgomery having seen the fall of Douglas, clapped spurs to his horse, dashed on Percy, and struck his spear through his body, a long cloth-yard and more. Although the leaders on both sides had fallen, the battle, which had begun at break of day, continued till the ringing of the curfew-bell. Scotsmen and Englishmen claim the victory. When the battle ended, representatives of every noble family on either side of the border lay on the bloody greensward.

=Oude=, or =Oudh=. A province of British India, separated on the north from Nepaul by the lower ranges of the Himalaya, whence it gradually slopes to the Ganges, which forms its boundary on the south and southwest. The people of this province are of a decidedly warlike disposition; they mainly supply the famous (or infamous) Sepoys of the Bengal army. Oude is believed by Sanscrit scholars to be the ancient Kosala, the oldest seat of civilization in India. The country was conquered by a Mohammedan army in 1195, and made a province of the Mogul empire. In 1753 the vizier of Oude, Saffdar Jung, rebelled against his imperial master, Ahmed Shah, and forced the latter to make the governorship hereditary in his family. When the mutiny of 1857 broke out, Oude became one of the great centres of rebellion. The country was subdued by the British.

=Oudenarde= (Fr. _Audenarde_). A town of Belgium, in East Flanders, 14 miles southwest from Ghent. The town was taken by the French, aided by an English force, in 1658; it was again besieged in 1674 by the stadtholder William (III. of England) of Orange; and in 1706 it was taken by Marlborough. An attempt made by the French to retake it brought on the famous battle of Oudenarde, one of Marlborough’s most celebrated victories, which was gained on July 11, 1708, with the aid of Prince Eugène, over a French army under the Duke of Burgundy and Marshal Villars. After this battle the French king made offers of peace, which were not accepted.

=Oulart= (Southeast Ireland). Here 5000 Irish insurgents attacked the king’s troops in small number, May 27, 1798. The North Cork militia, after great feats of bravery, were cut to pieces, 5 men only escaping.

=Ourique.= A town of Portugal, province of Alemtijo, 30 miles southwest of Beja. Hero Alfonso, count or duke of Portugal, is said to have encountered and signally defeated five Saracen kings and a prodigious army of Moors, July 25, 1139, and to have been hailed king on the spot. Lisbon, the capital, was taken, and he soon after was here crowned as the first king, the Moorish dominion being overthrown.

=Outbar.= To shut out by fortification.

=Outbrave.= To excel in bravery or boldness; to defy.

=Outfit.= In the British service, is the necessaries, uniform, etc., which an officer provides when he is gazetted to a regiment, or as proceeding to India. No allowance is made for an outfit, excepting in case of officers first promoted from the ranks, when £100 is granted to infantry and £150 to cavalry officers.

=Outflank.= To go beyond on the flank or side; to get the better of, as by extending one’s lines beyond or around that of one’s enemy.

=Outgeneral.= To exceed in generalship; to gain advantage over by superior military skill.

=Outguard.= A guard at a distance from the main body of an army; or a guard at the farthest distance; hence, anything for defense placed at a distance from the thing to be defended.

=Outline=, or =Tracing=. Is the succession of lines that show the figure of the works, and indicate the direction in which the defensive masses are laid out, in order to obtain a proper defense.

=Outlyers.= In the British service, formerly this term applied to men who were permitted to work, on condition that the whole of their pay was left in the hands of their captain for the time they were so employed. This sum the officer appropriated to his own use, to enable him to increase his pay and to keep a handsome table when he mounted guard. It was also a common practice to place on the muster-rolls the names of officers’ children, and instances have occurred of girls receiving men’s pay as outlyers.

=Outlying.= Lying or being at a distance from the main body; as, outlying pickets. Also, being on the exterior or frontier.

=Outmanœuvre.= To surpass in manœuvring.

=Outmarch.= To march faster than; to march so as to leave behind; as, the horse outmarched the foot.

=Outnumber.= To exceed in number; as, the French were outnumbered.

=Outpart.= At a distance from the main body.

=Out-pensioner.= A pensioner attached to a hospital, as Greenwich or Chelsea, England, who has liberty to live where he pleases.

=Outpost.= A post or station without the limits of a camp, or at a distance from the main body of an army. The troops placed at such a station.

=Outposts.= The term, _outposts_, is used at the present time to designate the particular detachments of troops and the method of arranging them, by means of which an army when in bivouac, in camp, or in cantonment, is protected _from surprise_ by an enemy.

=Outrank.= To take the precedence of, or be superior to, in rank; to rank.

=Out-sentry.= A sentry who guards the entrance or approach to a place; an outguard.

=Outside.= In fencing, that part which is to the right of the line of defense.

=Outside Guard.= A guard used with the broadsword and sabre, to defend the outside of the position.

=Outwall.= The exterior wall of a building or fortress.

=Outward Face.= A word of command for troops to face to the right and left from their centre.

=Outwing, To.= To extend the flanks of an army or line in action, so as to gain an advantageous position against the right or left wing of an enemy.

=Outworks.= In fortification, are minor defenses constructed beyond the main body of a work, for the purpose of keeping the enemy at a distance, or commanding certain salient points which it is undesirable that he should occupy. Such works are ravelins, lunettes, hornworks, crown-works, demi-lunes, tenailles, etc. They occur in certain necessary order, as a ravelin before the curtain and tenaille, a hornwork before a ravelin, and so on.

=Ovation.= See TRIUMPH.

=Ovens.= Are always provided in garrisons, so that the troops may bake their own bread. A large saving of flour is thus made, which is the most considerable element of the post fund. A brick oven large enough to bake 500 rations can be constructed in less than twenty-four hours. The cylindrical form is greatly to be preferred, as it is more easily made and requires less material than the ordinary forms. The want of brick for the arch and fireplace of ovens may be supplied in the field by two gabions of semicircular or semi-elliptical form. They are placed one above the other on the flat side, and form a cradle. The interior and exterior is plastered with clay, which must penetrate the interstices of the basket-work. The front and back parts are shut in the same manner, or with sods. The cradle is then covered with earth to retain the heat; and in order that the superincumbent weight may not cause it to give way, withes are attached to the top of the basket-work, passed vertically through the embankment, and then fastened to the longitudinal beam of a wooden horse straddled against the exterior curve. Ovens may also be made of wood or earth. To construct rapidly an earthen oven, dig a slope with a step, and on its prolongation dig the length of the oven in a trench separated from the step by a mass of earth, to be pierced later as the mouth of the oven. Then dig laterally portions of an elliptical arch so as to make the arch a given breadth. This work finished, pierce the mouth, and cover the trench with from three to five sods as arch stones, leaving a chimney-place at the bottom. Ovens for from 100 to 250 rations may be thus made. In some European armies they have very convenient portable ovens.

=Over.= Above in place, position, or authority; as, he was placed in command over Lord Monkton.

=Overcharge.= An excessive charge, as of a gun.

=Overcharge.= To fill with too much powder and ball, as a gun.

=Overcharged Mine.= A mine whose crater is wider at top than it is deep.

=Overlap.= Is to overspread any preceding object. In marching by echelon for the purpose of forming upon any given point, but particularly in wheeling from column into line, troops may lose their relative distances by not taking ground enough; when this occurs, the rear division, company, or section, unavoidably crowds upon its preceding one, and is then said to overlap.

=Overmarch.= To fatigue or wear out by too much marching.

=Overmatch.= To be too powerful for; to conquer; to subdue; to suppress by superior force. Also, one superior in power; one able to overcome.

=Overpower.= To vanquish by force; to subdue; to defeat.

=Overrun.= In a military sense, to ravage, to lay waste. A country which is harassed by incursions is said to be overrun.

=Overseer.= An officer in the ordnance department, who superintends the artificers in the construction of works, etc. He is also called a superintendent.

=Overshoot.= To shoot beyond the mark.

=Overslaugh.= To hinder or stop; as, by an overslaugh or unexpected impediment; as, to overslaugh a military officer, that is, to hinder or stop his promotion or employment by the appointment of another to his rank or duties.

=Overthrow.= Total defeat; discomfiture; rout.

=Overturn.= To overthrow; to conquer.

=Oviedo.= A town of Spain, capital of the province of the same name, 55 miles north-northwest of Leon. This city was twice plundered of its ecclesiastical and other treasures during the war of independence, first by Soult, and subsequently by Bonnet.

=Own, King’s= or =Queen’s=. A term which has been attached to some British regiments since the revolution in 1688. Thus the 4th Foot, which landed with William III., was called the 4th King’s Own.

=Owyhee=, or =Hawaii=. An island in the North Pacific Ocean, the most eastern, and by far the largest of the Sandwich Islands. It was on this island that the celebrated Capt. Cook fell a sacrifice to a misunderstanding, or sudden impulse of revenge on the part of the natives, on Sunday, February 14, 1779.

=Ox.= See BULLOCK.

=Oxford.= An ancient and famous city in England, the chief town of the county of Oxford, 55 miles west-northwest from London. The townsmen closed their gates against William the Conqueror, who stormed the town in 1067, and gave it to one of his followers, Robert d’Oyley, who built a castle here to overawe the disaffected Saxons. The paction that terminated the strife between Stephen and Henry II. was drawn up at Oxford. During the great civil war of the 17th century, it was for a while the headquarters of the royalist forces, and was conspicuous for its adherence to the cause of Charles I.

=Oxford Blues.= See HORSE GUARDS, ROYAL.

P.

=Pace= (Lat. _passus_). In its modern acceptation, is the distance, when the legs are extended in walking, between the heel of one foot and that of the other. Among disciplined men the pace becomes one of constant length, and as such is of the utmost value in determining military movements, the relative distances of corps and men being fixed by the number of paces marched, and so on. The pace varies in different countries; in the United States it is 28 inches direct step, and 33 double step; in Great Britain 30 inches direct step, and 33 double step. With the Romans the pace had a different signification; the single extension of the legs was not with them a pace (_passus_), but a step (_gradus_); their pace being the interval between the mark of a heel and the next mark of the same heel, or a double step. This pace was equivalent to 4.84 English feet.

=Pack and Draught Animals.= All animals which are used as beasts of burden and of draught, and all artillery horses are considered under this head. Taking the usual effect of a man’s daily labor as unity, a horse can carry a load on a horizontal plane 4.8 to 6.1 times, and a mule, 7.6 times greater than a man. Taking a man with a wheel-barrow as unity, a horse in a four-wheel wagon can draw 17.5, and in a cart, 24.3, and a mule in a cart, 23.3 times greater burden. On account of the peculiar build of a mule he is a superior pack-animal to the horse. There are from 91 to 130 draught horses required for a field-battery; for siege-train about 1900 (see SIEGE-TRAIN); and 8 for a siege-gun. The load allotted to a light artillery horse is 700 pounds; to a heavy field artillery horse, 800 pounds; and to a siege artillery horse, 1000 pounds, including weight of carriages. It is less than that drawn by a horse of commerce, in consequence of bad roads, bad forage, rapid movements, and forced marches. A team of four horses can draw, with useful effect, including the weight of carriage, 2400 pounds; six horses, 3000 pounds; eight horses, 3600 pounds; and twelve horses, 4800 pounds. It is usual to estimate the weight of a carriage exceeding 1200 pounds as part of the load. A pack-horse can carry 250 to 300 pounds 20 miles a day; and a draught horse, 1600 pounds 23 miles a day, weight of carriage included. Usually a horse can draw seven times as much as he can carry. An ordinary march is about 15 miles at 2¹⁄₂ miles per hour for six hours; this must depend upon the condition of the horses, state of the roads, and various other circumstances. Horses starting fresh, and resting after their work, may, on tolerable roads, perform 2 miles in half an hour; 4 miles in one and a half hours; 8 in four, and 16 in ten hours. The daily allowance of water for a horse is four gallons. For the daily ration of forage supplied to animals in the U. S. service, see FORAGE. An army requires to be accompanied by several thousand pack-animals, sometimes horses, but preferably mules; and in Asia, commonly camels, or even elephants. In battle, the immediate reserves of small-arm ammunition are borne in the rear of divisions by pack-animals; the heavy reserves being in wagons between the army and its base of operations.

_Buffalo._--An animal of the ox tribe, very important and useful to man. It is a native of the East Indies, where it has long been domesticated, and from which it was carried to Egypt and the south of Europe. It was introduced into Italy about the close of the 6th century A.D., is now very generally used as a beast of draught and of burden in that country, as it is also in India; it is also used in the latter country by the military as a beast of burden.

_Bullock._--This beast is admirable for slow draught, especially over rough roads, or through forests, or other places where there are no roads at all. Bullocks stand fire better than any other animals, and used to be employed in India for draught in field-batteries. They must not be hurried; their ordinary pace is from 2 to 2¹⁄₂ miles an hour. If used over hard roads, they require shoeing. They want but little care, and thrive well on poor food. They attain their prime at six years, age to be known by annular swelling on horns, allowing three years for first ring, and one for each of the others. They are used in many parts of India as pack-animals, when they carry a load of 200 pounds.

_Camels._--These animals are used in East India from three to sixteen years of age; about 7 feet high (to top of hump), about 8 feet long from nose to tail; pace about 2 miles an hour, kept up steadily for the longest marches; load for work on service about 400 to 450 pounds. They thrive well upon leaves of trees, and can go without water longer than any other animal. During temporary halts the laden camel can kneel down and rest. They are admirably adapted for carrying long articles, such as scaling-ladders, pontons, etc. The camel is at home in the desert and works well in the plains of India; it is unsuited for hilly countries. After rain in clay soil, and over rocks and stony places, they split up and are consequently useless there. They are good for fording rivers that are deep but not rapid, and where the bottom of the river is shifting sand, the passage of a number of camels over it renders it hard and firm. The average weight of the camel is about 1170 pounds.

_Elephant._--A gigantic animal of the order _Proboscidea_, is the largest and heaviest of existing quadrupeds, and is celebrated for sagacity and docility. The ancient Carthaginians and other nations employed elephants in war, not only as beasts of burden but as combatants. These animals formed part of the army which Hannibal led across the Alps, and they are said to have decided the victory at the battle of Trebia. For a long period the elephant was as important an arm of war as the artillery of modern nations. Seleucus is said to have had more than 100 elephants at the battle of Ipsus. The elephant is the king of beasts of burden, becoming fit for work at twenty years of age, and lasting well to fifty and even sixty years of age. The load for steady work varies from 1680 to 2240 pounds exclusive of the pad; pace from 3 to 3¹⁄₂ miles an hour; when laden can keep up well with infantry in their daily marches; full grown his height is from 10 feet to 11 feet; is most tractable in disposition, is invaluable during marches in countries flooded by rain for extricating carts, guns, and wagons that have stuck in the mud. They are now used in India for the draught of guns in siege-trains; before such guns are taken under fire it is necessary to have the elephants taken out and replaced by bullocks, as the former cannot be made to stand fire. The average weight of an elephant in India is about 6600 pounds. They are often used in hilly countries to carry mountain guns on their back.

_Lama_, or _Llama_.--Is a most useful South American quadruped of the family _Camelidæ_. It was in general use as a beast of burden on the Peruvian Andes at the time of the Spanish conquest, and was the only beast of burden used by the natives of America before the horse and ass were introduced by Europeans. From the peculiar formation of its feet it can walk securely on slopes too rough and steep for any other animal. The burden carried by the lama should not exceed 125 pounds, and its rate of traveling is about 12 to 15 miles per day.

_Mule._--This is an excellent draught animal and almost rivals the horse for general military purposes. Their common load, including weight of pack-saddle, is from 200 to 250 pounds; height varies from 13 to 16 hands. They will eat almost anything, and require less careful management than the horse; the mule from the male ass and the mare is the best; their voices take after the sire. The real value of the mule is felt most strongly in mountainous countries.

=Packer.= A man whose duty it is to place and adjust the loads of pack-animals and to take charge of them upon the march. As packing requires long training and experience, packers are usually hired when needed.

=Packing.= Is the act of making up and adjusting the load of a pack-animal. It may be considered one of the arts.

=Pack-mule.= Mule used for carrying a pack.

=Pack-saddles= (Sp. _aparejos_). Are variously fitted, according to the objects to be carried; some for provisions or ammunition; others for carrying wounded men, tents, and, in mountain warfare, even small cannon. The one in general use in the U. S. army (called _aparejo_) is 4 feet 9 inches long by 2 feet wide.

To “set up” an aparejo.--Prepare straight, smooth sticks, from ¹⁄₂ to 1 inch in diameter (wild-rose stems are the best, but any tough elastic wood will answer), and the coarsest grass that can be obtained. The grass should be cut green, free from flower-stalks, and dried slowly in the shade. Place the aparejo upside-down; take four sticks 1 inch in diameter, cut them to fit tightly, two in the width and two in the length; place one in each end, and one in each side of the compartment. Then place sticks ¹⁄₂ to ³⁄₄ of an inch in diameter, cut to fit tightly, lengthwise of the compartment at intervals of 2 inches. Shake the grass thoroughly, and place layer after layer on the sticks without displacing them, until the compartment is as full as it can be stuffed with the hand. Great care is necessary to insure an equal distribution of the grass in the compartment. The corners are stuffed as hard as possible, a sharp stick being used for the purpose. When the aparejo is stuffed, it should be put on the mule for which it is intended, and the crupper adjusted.

An _aparejo cincha_ is canvas, 72 inches long and 20 wide, folded so as to bring the edges in the centre of the cincha. A semicircle of strong leather pierced with two holes is stitched on one end, and two loops of strong leather on the other.

The _latigo strap_ is strong bridle leather, 72 inches long, 1¹⁄₂ inches wide at one end and tapering to ¹⁄₂ inch at the other. The wide end has holes punched in it. The aparejo cincha and latigo strap are used to tighten the aparejo.

Under the aparejo is placed a saddle-blanket, and a corona, or upper saddle-blanket; the latter is made by stitching two or three folds of old blanket or other woolen cloth together. It is the same size as the saddle-blanket and used over it.

The _hammer-cloth_ is made of matting or canvas, of a size to exactly cover the aparejo. Two pieces of hard wood 20 inches long, 2 inches wide, 1¹⁄₂ inches thick, flat on one side, round on the other, and beveled to an edge at the ends, are placed 6 inches from the ends of the cloth. They have leather caps stitched over their ends. The hammer-cloth is used over the aparejo and under the aparejo cincha.

The _sling-rope_ is of half-inch rope, 16 feet long.

The _lash-rope_ is of one and a fourth inch hemp rope, 32 to 36 feet long; one end spliced to the cincha ring, the other end served.

The _cincha_ is strong canvas, 33 inches long by 11 inches wide; two rectangular pieces of strong leather 8 inches long by 5¹⁄₂ inches wide are stitched on one end, one on either side; in one of these pieces of leather there is a slit through which a hard-wood hook is passed and firmly fastened with a leather thong. There is a ring 3 inches in diameter securely stitched in the other end of the cincha.

There is also a pack-cover made of canvas, 5 feet square; and a blind made of leather, with strings and loop of the same material. The aparejo when securely placed on the pack-animal is a very serviceable pack-saddle, and cannot readily be displaced.

=Pack-train.= A number of loaded pack-animals with their drivers. Pack-trains are employed in mountainous countries or regions impassable for vehicles to carry supplies for armies. The mule is more generally serviceable in this work than the horse.

=Padua= (anc. _Patavium_, It. _Padova_). A town of Italy, capital of the province of the same name. It is surrounded by walls and ditches, and is fortified by bastions. Patavium was founded by the Trojan chief Antenor, and according to Strabo, it could send an army of 120,000 men into the field. The Patavians were constantly at war with, and successfully withstood, the Cisalpine Gauls; and in 301 B.C. they also defeated Cleonymus the Lacedæmonian, who had unexpectedly landed at the mouth of the _Medoacus_ (the modern Brenta), and attacked them. Patavium fell eventually under the power of Rome, though it seems to have retained a semblance of independence. In 452 its prosperity came suddenly to an end, when it was taken and destroyed by Attila; and in 601 it was again taken and burnt to the ground by Agilulf, king of the Longobards. It rose, however, from its ashes, and in the 10th century it had already become, as it has continued, one of the most important cities of Upper Italy. In 1164 Padua formed, with Verona, Vicenza, and Treviso, a league for the protection of their liberties against Frederick I. (Barbarossa); in 1167 it joined the great Lombard League; and by the peace of Constance in 1183 had at length its liberties acknowledged. In 1239, Eccelino da Romano made himself master of it, and after having practiced unheard-of cruelties, in 1256 he was driven out and defeated by a crusade formed against him by most of the towns in Upper Italy. After a period of stormy independence, Padua in 1337 fell under the sway of the house of Carrara, who held it till the year 1405, when it was taken by the republic of Venice, with which, in 1797, it passed into the hands of Austria, by the treaty of Campo Formio. In 1866 it was ceded to Napoleon III., and by him transferred to the kingdom of Italy.

=Pæones.= A powerful Thracian people, who in early times were spread over a great part of Macedonia and Thrace. Their country was called Pæonia. The Pæonian tribes on the lower course of the Strymon were subdued by the Persians, 513 B.C.; but the tribes in the north of the country maintained their independence. They frequently invaded and plundered the territories of the Macedonian monarchs; but they were eventually subdued by Philip, the father of Alexander the Great. After the conquest of Macedonia by the Romans, 168, the part of Pæonia east of the Axius formed the second, and the part of Pæonia west of the Axius formed the third of the four districts into which Macedonia was divided by the Romans.

=Pæstum= (anc. _Posidonia_, It. _Pesto_). Anciently a Greek city of Lucania, in the present Neapolitan province of Principato Citeriore, on the _Sinus Pæstanus_, now the Gulf of Salerno. It was founded by the Trœzenians and the Sybarites some time between 650 and 610 B.C. It was subdued by the Samnites of Lucania, who named it Pæstum, and slowly declined in prosperity after it fell into the hands of the Romans, who established a colony here about 273 B.C. In 210 B.C. it furnished ships to the squadron with which D. Quintus repaired to the siege of Tarentum; and in the following year it was among the eighteen colonies which still professed readiness to furnish supplies to the Roman armies. In the 10th century it was burnt by the Saracens, and the site is now occupied by the modern village of Pesto.

=Pageant.= In ancient military history, a triumphal car, chariot, or arch, variously adorned with colors, flags, etc., carried about in public shows, processions, etc. Also gorgeous show or spectacle.

=Pagræ= (now _Pagras_, _Bagras_, _Bargas_). A city of Syria, on the eastern side of Mount Amanus, at the foot of the pass called by Ptolemy the Syrian Gates, on the road from Antioch to Alexandria, the scene of the battle between Alexander Balas and Demetrius Nicator, 145 B.C.

=Pah.= The name of the stockaded intrenchments of the New Zealanders.

=Pah-Ute Indians.= A tribe of aborigines of Shoshone stock, who, to the number of 2000, reside on two reservations in Nevada. (See INDIANS AND THEIR AGENCIES.) They are a peaceable race, but are low down in the scale of civilization.

=Pailler= (_Fr._). An ancient body of French militia. The soldiers belonging to it were probably so called either from the circumstance of their wearing straw in their helmets, in order to know one another in action, or because they were accustomed to set fire to the habitations of their enemies with bundles of straw, which they always carried with them for that purpose.

=Paladin= (_Fr._). A name given to those ancient knights who were either what the French call _comtes du palais_, “counts of the palace,” or princes lineally descended from Charlemagne and other old kings.

=Paladin.= A term originally derived from the counts Palatine, or of the palace, who were the highest dignitaries in the Byzantine court, and thence used generally for a lord or chieftain, and by the Italian romantic poets for a knight-errant.

=Palæsta= (now _Palasa_). A town of Epirus, on the coast of Chaonia, and a little south of the Acroceraunian Mountains. Here Cæsar landed his forces when he crossed over to Greece to carry on the war against Pompey.

=Palæstra.= In Grecian antiquity, a public building where the youth exercised themselves in the military art, wrestling, running, etc.

=Palais Royal.= A heterogeneous mass of buildings on the eastern side of the Rue Richelieu, in Paris, composed of a palace, theatres, public gardens, shops, cafés, etc. The old palace was built between 1624 and 1636 on the site of the Hôtel Rambouillet by Cardinal Richelieu, who, at his death, bequeathed it to Louis XIII. It was taken possession of by the republican government, and used for the sittings of the tribunes during the Reign of Terror. The palace was sacked by the mob during the revolution of 1848.

=Palanka.= A species of permanent intrenched camp attached to Turkish frontier fortresses, in which the ramparts are revetted with large beams, rising 7 or 8 feet above the earthwork, so as to form a strong palisade above.

=Palanquin= (Hind. _palki_). A vehicle commonly used in Hindostan, China, Japan, and other Asiatic countries by travelers. The palanquin in use in Hindostan is a wooden box, about 8 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 4 feet high, with wooden shutters, which can be opened or shut at pleasure, and constructed like Venetian blinds for the purpose of admitting fresh air, while, at the same time, they exclude the scorching rays of the sun and the heavy showers of rain so common in that country. At each end of the palanquin, on the outside, two iron rings are fixed, and the _hammals_, or palanquin-bearers, of whom there are four, two at each end, support the palanquin by a pole passing through these rings. Traveling in this mode is continued both by day and night, and the palanquin is accompanied by a train of attendants, who carry the traveler’s clothes and whatever articles he may not immediately need. Similar modes of traveling have been at various times in use in Western Europe, but only for short distances. The Roman _lectica_ (“litter”), the French _chaise à porteurs_, and the English sedan-chair were the forms of vehicles most in use, and the two latter were in general use in towns till they were superseded by coaches, etc. The Roman litter was one of the criteria of its owner’s wealth, the rich man generally exhibiting the prosperous condition of his affairs by the multitude of the bearers and other attendants accompanying him.

=Palatinate, The= (Ger. _Pfalz_). A name applied to two German states, which were united previously to the year 1620. They were distinguished as the Upper and Lower Palatinate. The Upper now forms apart of the kingdom of Bavaria, and the Lower a part of Rhenish Prussia, situated on both sides of the Rhine, between Worms and Carlsruhe. By the peace of Lunéville (1801), the Duke Maximilian of Zweibrücken was compelled to cede a portion of the Rhenish Palatinate to France, a part to Baden, a part to Hesse-Darmstadt, and a part to Nassau. Treaties of Paris of 1814 and 1815 re-assigned the Palatinate lands beyond the Rhine to Germany, Bavaria receiving the largest share, and the remainder being divided between Hesse-Darmstadt and Prussia.

=Palatine.= A town of Montgomery Co., N. Y., on the north side of the Mohawk River. Near here, at Stone Arabia, an engagement took place October 18, 1780, between the Tories under Johnson and the Continental militia under Col. John Brown, in which the latter were defeated and their leader slain.

=Pale.= In heraldry, one of the figures known as ordinaries, consisting of a horizontal band in the middle of the shield, of which it is said to occupy one-third. Several charges of any kind are said to be “in pale” when they stand over each other horizontally, as do the three lions of England. A shield divided through the middle by a horizontal line is said to be “parted per pale.” The pallet is the diminutive of the pale, and is most generally not borne singly. Three pallets gules were the arms of Raymond, count of Provence. When the field is divided into an even number of parts by perpendicular lines, it is called “paly of” so many pieces. When divided by lines perpendicular and bendways crossing, it is called “paly bendy.” An endorse is a further diminutive of the pallet, and a pale placed between two endorses is said to be endorsed.