Chapter D: Caldwell, (47)

MOUSTACHE, _Fr._ This word was originally derived from the Greek, adopted by the Italians, subsequently by the French, and then used generally. It literally means the hair which is allowed to grow upon the upper lip of a man; and which is better known amongst us by the familiar term whiskers. The French use it in a figurative sense, viz.

_Enlever sur la moustache, jusque sur la moustache de quelqu’un_, _Fr._ To seize or take possession of any thing under the very nose, or in the presence of a person. _Les ennemis sont venus pour défendre cette place, on la leur a enlevée sur la moustache._ The enemy drew near to defend the town, but it was taken under their very whiskers.

_Donner sur la_ MOUSTACHE, _Fr._ To give a slap on the face.

MOUTARDE, _Fr._ means literally mustard. The word, however, is frequently used by the French in a figurative sense, viz. _S’amuser à la moutarde_. To be uselessly employed, or busy about nothing. It is likewise used to express impatience: _La moutarde lui monte au nez_, _Fr._ The mustard rises in his nose, that is, he grows restless and impatient.

_C’est de la_ MOUTARDE _après diner_, _Fr._ This expression is in general use among the French, and signifies, that assistance, &c. is brought when there is no longer need of it. When commissaries, &c. make up a lame account for monies received, it is common to say. _Et le reste en moutarde._

MOUTH. See _Muzzle_.

MOUTH _of_ FIRE. The entrance into the garrison of Gibraltar by the grand battery and the old Mole, is so called by the Spaniards, on account of the formidable appearance of the ordnance from the lines.

MOUTONNIER, _Fr._ Sheep-like; gregarious.

MOUVEMENS _de Tête_, _Fr._ Motions of the head. For the English explanation of these motions, see _eyes_. The French express them in the following manner: _Tête à droite_, right dress.--_Tête à gauche_, left dress.--_Fixe_, front dress.

MOUVEMENS _des troupes sous les armes_, _Fr._ By these are understood the different changes of position, and the various facings which soldiers go through under arms.

MOUVEMENS _de pied ferme_, _Fr._ That exercise, consisting of the manual and facings, which a soldier performs, without quitting his original ground. The left foot on this occasion becomes a standing pivot.

MOUVEMENS _ouverts_, _Fr._ Movements, or evolutions, which are made at open order.

MOUVEMENS _serrés_, _Fr._ Movements, or evolutions, which are made at close order.

MOUVEMENS _opposés_, _Fr._ Opposite movements, or evolutions.

MOUVEMENT, _Fr._ See MOVEMENT.

MOUVEMENT, _Fr._ See MOTION for its general acceptation.

MOUVEMENS, _Fr._ Commotions, broils.

MOYENNE, _Fr._ A piece of ordnance formerly so called. See MINION.

MOYEN. 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 ninety to one hundred toises.

MOYENNE _Ville_, _Fr._ A term given by the French to any town in which the garrison is equal to the third of the inhabitants, and which is not deemed sufficiently important to bear the expence of a citadel; more especially so, because it is not in the power of the inhabitants to form seditious meetings without the knowlege of the soldiers who are quartered on them.

MOYENS _côtés_, _Fr._ In fortification, are those sides which contain from eighty to one hundred and twenty toises in extent: these 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.

MUD-WALLS. The ancient fortifications consisted chiefly of mud or clay, thrown up in any convenient form for defence against sudden inroads.

MUET, _Fr._ See MUTE.

_To_ MUFFLE. To wrap any thing up so as to deaden the sound, which might otherwise issue from the contact of two hard substances. When the French effected their passage over the march Albaredo, on their route to the plain of Marengo, they were so much exposed to the Austrians, that, in order to get their artillery and ammunition over, without being betrayed by the noise of the carriage wheels, and the clattering of the horses’ shoes, both were muffled with bands of hay and straw, and dung was spread over the ground. In this manner they crossed that stupendous rock. Thirty men were put to the drag ropes of each piece, and as many were employed to draw up the caissons.

MUFFLED. Drums are muffled at military funerals or burials, and at military executions, particularly when a soldier is shot for some capital crime.

MUGS. An Indian nation, living on the borders of Bengal and Arracan.

MUHLAGIS, _Fr._ Turkish cavalry which is mounted by expert horsemen, who generally attend the beglierbeys. They are not numerous.

MULATTOS, (_Mulâtre_, _Fr._) In the Indies, denotes one begotten by a negro man on an Indian woman, or by an Indian man on a negro woman. Those begotten of a Spanish woman and Indian man are called _metis_, and those begotten of a savage by a _metis_, are called _jambis_. They also differ very much in color, and in their hair.

Generally speaking, especially in Europe, and in the West Indies, a Mulatto is one begotten by a white man on a negro woman, or by a negro man on a white woman. The word is Spanish, _mulata_, and formed of _mula_, a mule, being begotten as it were of two different species.

Mulattoes abound in the West Indies; so much so, that on the dangerous symptoms of insurrection, which appeared among the blacks after the success of Toussaint in St. Domingo, a proposal was made to the British government by a rich planter, to raise a mulatto corps, as an intermediate check upon the blacks. After six months suspence, the memorial was rejected by the war-minister.

MULCT. A soldier is said to be mulct 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 government.

MULTANGULAR, is said of a figure, or body which has many angles.

MULTILATERAL, having many sides.

MULTIPLE, one number containing another several times: as 9 is the multiple of 3, 16 that of 4, and so on.

MUNIMELL, a strong hold, fortification, &c.

MUNITION, _Fr._ This word is used among the French to express not only victuals and provisions, but also military stores and ammunition.

MUNITIONS _de bouche_, _Fr._ Victuals or provisions, (such as bread, salt, meat, vegetables, butter, wine, beer, brandy, &c. which may be procured for soldiers) are so called by the French. Corn, oats, hay, straw, and green forage, for cavalry, bear the same appellation. See SUBSISTENCE.

MUNITIONS _de guerre_, _Fr._ Military stores, such as gunpowder, shot, balls, bullets, matches, &c. See STORES.

MUNITIONNAIRE _ou entrepreneur des vivres_, _Fr._ Military purveyor, or commissary of stores. Amaury Bourguignon, from Niort, a town of Poitou, was the first _munitionnaire_ and _entrepréneur général_, or purveyor-general, among the French. He was appointed in the reign of Henry III. in 1574. See PURVEYOR.

MUNITIONNAIRE _pour la marine_, _Fr._ The head of the victualling office was so called among the French. There was a person on board every ship of war, called _commis_, or clerk, who acted under his orders. The appointment of the latter was somewhat similar to that of a purser in the British navy.

MUNSUBDAR, _Ind._ A title which gives the person invested with it, a right to have the command of ten thousand horse, with the permission of bearing amongst his ensigns that of the fish; neither of which distinctions is ever granted, excepting to persons of the first note in the empire. The office is called a _Munsub_, and it is generally supported by a district named, on which the corps is quartered.

MUR, _Fr._ a wall.

MUR CRENELE, _Fr._ A wall which has small intervals or spaces at the top, that serve more for ornament or ostentation than for real defence. This method of building prevailed very much in former times.

MUR _de face_, _Fr._ Outside wall of any building.

MUR _de face de devant_, _Fr._ Front outside wall; it is likewise called _mur anterieur_.

MUR _de face de derriére_, _Fr._ The wall which forms the backside of a building is so called: it is likewise named _mur postérieur_.

MURS _lateraux_, _Fr._ The side walls of a building.

_Gros_ MURS, _Fr._ All front and partition walls are so called.

MUR _de pierres sèches_, _Fr._ A wall that is built of stone, without mortar or cement. Walls or this construction are seen in several counties in England, particularly in the west country.

MUR _en l’air_, _Fr._ Every wall is so called that does not rise uniformly from a parallel foundation. Walls built upon arches are of this description.

MUR _mitoyen_, _Fr._ Partition wall.

MUR _d’appui_, _Fr._ Wall of support. Any wall that is built to support a quay, terrace, or balcony, or to secure the sides of a bridge, is so called. _Mur de parapet_, or parapet wall, may be considered as a wall of support.

MURAGE. Money appropriated to the repair of military works, was anciently so called.

MURAILLE _de revêtement_, _Fr._ the wall which surrounds a fortified place is so called.

_Charger en_ MURAILLE, _Fr._ To charge or attack an enemy, in a firm, compact, and steady line.

MURAL-_Crown_. See CROWN.

_Couronne_ MURALE, _Fr._ See MURAL-CROWN.

MURDRESSES, in _ancient fortification_, a sort of battlement with interstices, raised on the tops of towers to fire through.

_Ville_ MUREE, _Fr._ A walled town.

MURRION. See MORION.

MURTHERERS, or _murthering pieces_, small pieces of ordnance, having chambers, and made to load at the breech. They were mostly used at sea, in order to clear the decks when an enemy boarded a vessel.

MUSCULUS. Kennett in his Roman Antiquities, page 237, says, “the Musculus is conceived to have been much of the same nature as the _testudines_; but it seems to have been of a smaller size, and composed of stronger materials, being exposed a much longer time to the force of the enemy; for in these _musculi_, the pioneers were sent to the very walls, where they were to continue, while with their dolabræ or pick-axes, and other instruments, they endeavored to undermine the foundations.” Cæsar has described the _muscalus_ at large in his second book of the civil wars.

MUSIC, a general term for the musicians of a _regimental band_.

MUSICIANS. It has been often asked, why the dress of musicians, drummers and fifers, should be of so varied and motley a composition, making them appear more like harlequins and mountebanks, than military appendages? The following anecdote will explain the reason, as far at least as it regards the British service:--The musicians belonging to the English guards formerly wore plain blue coats, so that the instant they came off duty, and frequently in the intervals between, they visited alehouses, &c. without changing their uniform, and thus added considerably to its wear and tear. It will be here remarked, that the clothing of the musicians then fell wholly upon the colonels of regiments; no allowance being specifically made for that article by the public. It is probable, that some general officer undertook to prevent this abuse by obtaining permission to clothe the musicians, &c. in so fantastical a manner that they would be ashamed to exhibit themselves at public-houses, &c.

PHRYGIAN MUSIC. A martial sort of ancient music, which excited men to rage and battle: by this mode Timotheus stirred up Alexander to arms.

_Modes of_ MUSIC. There were three modes among the ancients, which took their names from particular countries, namely, the _Lydian_, the _Phrygian_, and the _Doric_.

MUSKET, MUSQUET, the most serviceable and commodious fire-arm used by an army. It carries a ball of 18 to 1 pound. Its length is 3 feet 6 inches from the muzzle to the pan. The Spaniards were the first who armed part of their foot with musquets. At first they were made very heavy, and could not be fired without a rest: they had match locks, and did execution at a great distance. These kinds of musquets and rests were used in England so late as the beginning of the civil wars.

MUSQUETS were first used at the siege of Rhege, in the year 1521.

MUSQUET BASKETS. These are about a foot, or a foot and an half high, eight or ten inches diameter at bottom, and a foot at the top; so that, being filled with earth, there is room to lay a musquet between them at bottom, being set on low breast-works, or parapets, or upon such as are beaten down.

MUSQUETEERS, soldiers armed with musquets; who, on a march, carried only their rests and ammunition, and had boys to bear their musquets after them. They were very slow in loading, not only by reason of the unwieldiness of the pieces, and because they carried the powder and ball separate, but from the time required to prepare and adjust the match: so that their fire was not so brisk as ours is now. Afterwards a lighter kind of matchlock musquet came in use; and they carried their ammunition in bandeliers, to which were hung several little cases of wood, covered with leather, each containing a charge of powder; the balls they carried loose in a pouch, and a priming-horn, hanging by their side. These arms were about the beginning of this century, universally laid aside in Europe, and the troops were armed with flint firelocks.

MUSQUETOONS, a kind of short thick musquet, whose bore is the 38th part of its length: it carries five ounces of iron, or 7¹⁄₂ of lead, with an equal quantity of powder. This is the shortest sort of blunderbusses.

MUSRAL. The noseband of a horse’s bridle.

MUSSUK, _Ind._ A skin in which water is carried.

MUSTACHES. Whiskers, worn by the Asiatics, Germans, Russians, and other foreign troops.

MUSTER, in _a military sense_, a review of troops under arms, to see if they be complete, and in good order; to take an account of their numbers, the condition they are in, viewing their arms, and accoutrements, &c.

MUSTER. This word is derived from the French _mustrer_, to shew. At a muster every man must be properly clothed and accoutred, &c. and answer to his name. The French call it _appel nominatif_. We call it an _Inspection_.

MUSTERS. By sect. 4th of the British Articles of War, it is enacted, that musters shall be taken of the regiments of life guards, horse guards, and foot guards, twice at least in every year, at such times as shall have been or may be appointed, and agreeably to the forms heretofore used therein.

The musters of every other regiment, troop, or company, in the service, are to be taken at such times, and in such manner, as is directed by the late regulations touching regimental and district paymasters, and the mode of mustering, paying, and settling the accompts of the army.

All commanding officers, and others concerned in the mustering, as well of the regiments of life guards, horse guards, and foot guards, as of the other forces, are enjoined to give the utmost care and attention to the making up of the muster rolls with strict exactness and accuracy.

Every officer who shall be convicted before a general court-martial of having signed a false certificate, relating to the absence of either officer, non-commissioned officer, or private soldier, will be cashiered.

Every officer who shall knowingly make a false muster of man or horse, and every officer and commissary, or muster-master, who shall wittingly sign, direct, or allow the signing of the muster rolls, wherein such false muster is contained, shall, upon proof made thereof, by two witnesses before a general court-martial, be cashiered, and suffer such other penalty as he is liable to by the act for punishing mutiny and desertion.

Any commissary or muster-master, who shall be convicted before a general court-martial, of having taken money, by way of gratification, on the mustering any regiment, troop, or company, or on the signing the muster-rolls, shall be displaced from his office, and suffer such other penalty as he is liable to by the said act.

Every colonel, or other field officer, commanding a regiment, troop, or company, and actually residing with it, may give furloughs to non-commissioned officers and soldiers, in such numbers, and for so long a time, as he shall judge to be most consistent with the good of our service; but no non-commissioned officer or soldier, shall, by leave of his captain, or inferior officer, commanding the troop or company, (his field officer not being present) be absent above twenty days in six months; nor shall more than two private men be absent at the same time from their troop or company, unless some extraordinary occasion shall require it; of which occasion the field officer present with and commanding the regiment is to be the judge.

It is strictly forbidden to muster any person as a soldier who does not actually do his duty as a soldier, &c. See LIVERY.

MUSTER-_master-general_, _Commissary-general_ of the MUSTERS, one who takes account of every regiment, their number, horses, arms, &c. reviews them, sees that the horses are well mounted, and all the men well armed and accoutred, &c.

MUSTER-ROLL, (_état nominatif_, _Fr._) a specific list of the officers and men in every regiment, troop, or company, which is delivered to the muster-master, regimental or district paymaster, (as the case may be) whereby they are paid, and their condition is known. The names of the officers are inscribed according to rank, those of the men in alphabetical succession. Adjutants of regiments make out a muster roll, and when the list is called over, every individual must answer to his name. Every muster-roll must be signed by the colonel or commanding officer, the paymaster and adjutant of each regiment, troop, or company: it must likewise be sworn to by the muster-master or paymaster, (as the case may be) before a justice of the peace, previous to its being transmitted to government.

MUSTI. One born of a mulatto father or mother, and a white father or mother.

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, &c. stand unequal.

MUTINE, _or_ MUTINEER, a soldier guilty of mutiny.

MUTINY, in a _military sense_, to rise against authority. Any officer or soldier who shall presume to use traitorous or disrespectful words against the president of the United States, against the vice president, against the congress of the United States, or against the chief magistrate or legislature of any of the United States, in which he may be quartered, is guilty of mutiny.

Any officer or soldier who shall behave himself with contempt or disrespect towards his commanding officer, or shall speak words tending to his hurt or dishonor, is guilty of mutiny.

Any officer or soldier who shall begin, excite, cause, or join in any mutiny or sedition, in the troop, company, or regiment, to which he belongs, or in any other troop, or company, in the service of the United States, or on any party, post, detachment, or guard, on any pretence whatsoever, is guilty of mutiny.

Any officer or soldier who, being present at any mutiny or sedition, does not use his utmost endeavors to suppress the same, or coming to the knowlege of any mutiny, or intended mutiny, does not, without delay, give information to his commanding officer, is guilty of mutiny.

Any officer or soldier, who shall strike his superior officer, or draw, or offer to draw, or shall lift up any weapon, or offer any violence against him, being in the execution of his office, on any pretence whatsoever, or shall disobey any lawful command of his superior officer, is guilty of mutiny. See WAR.

MUTINY-_Act_, an act which passes every year in the British house of commons, to answer some specific military purposes; and by which the army is continued on a peace or war establishment.

MUZZLE _of a gun or mortar_, the extremity at which the powder and ball are put in.

MUZZLE-RING _of a gun_, that which encompasses and strengthens the muzzle, or mouth of a cannon.

MYRIAD, denotes the number ten thousand.

MYRIARCH. The captain, or commander of ten thousand men.

MYRMIDONS. In antiquity, a people of Thessaly, of whom it is fabled, that they arose from ants, upon a prayer put up to Jupiter, by Æacus, after his kingdom had been depopulated by a pestilence. In Homer, and in Virgil, the Myrmidons are Achilles’s soldiers. The term Myrmidon is used in modern times to express any rude ruffian, or hireling assassin; the same as _Hessian_.

MYRMILLONES. A sort of combatants among the Romans, who had on the top of their cask or helmet, the representation of a fish; and in their engagements with the Retiarii, if they were caught and wrapped in the net, it was not possible for them to escape.

MYSORE. An extensive country in the East Indies, which borders on the Carnatic to the S. W. bounded on the East by the south part of the Carnatic, and the district of Tritchinopoly. It extends west within 30 miles of the sea coast of Malabar. Seringapatam was the capital. It was wantonly attacked, taken, and partitioned twice, and at last completely occupied and incorporated with the British conquests.

N.

NABOB, _Ind._ a corruption from Nawaub, the plural of naib. The title means a deputy, but it is often assumed in India without a right to it. As the real signification and import of this word is not generally known, we shall extract a passage out of Mr. Orme’s History of the Carnatic, that will place them in the clearest point of view:

“Most of the countries which had been conquered by the great Mogul in the peninsula of India, are comprised under one viceroyalty, called from its situation decan, or south. From the word soubah, signifying a province, the viceroy of this vast territory is called soubahdar, and by Europeans sometimes the subah. Of the countries under his jurisdiction, some were entirely subjected to the throne of Delhi, and governed by mahomedans, whom Europeans improperly call Moors; whilst others remained under the government of their original Indian princes or Rajahs, and were suffered to follow their ancient modes on condition of paying tribute to the great Mogul. The Moorish governors depending on the soubah, assumed, when treating with their inferiors, the title of nabob, which (as we have already observed) signifies deputy: but this in the registers of the throne (of Delhi) is synonimous to soubahdar, and the greatest part of those who styled themselves nabobs were ranked at Delhi under the title of phousdar, which is much inferior to that which they assumed. The Europeans established in the territories of these pseudo-nabobs (if we may be allowed the expression) following the example of the natives with whom they have most intercourse, have agreed to give them the title they so much affect.

“A nabob ought to hold his commission from Delhi, and if at his death a successor has not been previously appointed by the great Mogul, the soubah has the right of naming a person to administer the nabobship, until the will of the sovereign is known; but a nabob thus appointed by a soubah was not deemed authentically established until he had been confirmed from Delhi. The soubah received from the several nabobs the annual revenues of the crown, and remitted them to the treasury of the empire. The nabobs were obliged to accompany him in all military expeditions within the extent of his viceroyalty, but not in any without that extent. These regulations were intended to place them in such a state of dependence on the soubah, as should render them subservient to the interests of the empire, and at the same time leave them in a state of independence, which would render it difficult for the soubah to make use of their assistance to brave the throne.

Nabobs, however, often kept possession of their governments in opposition both to the soubah and the throne; and what is more extraordinary in the offices of a despotic state, both soubahs and nabobs have named their successors, who have often succeeded with as little opposition as if they had been the heirs apparent of an hereditary dominion.” It is, perhaps, superfluous to observe, that the British have taken the place of the mogul, and that nabobs are made and unmade much more freely and frequently than European kings in modern times.

NABOBSHIP. The office of a nabob. The Carnatic was one of the most considerable nabobships dependent on the soubah of Decan. From its capital it was likewise named the province of Arcot; but its present limits are greatly inferior to those which bounded the ancient Carnatic before it was conquered by the great Mogul; for we do not find that the nabobs of Arcot ever extended their authority beyond the river Gondegama to the north, the great chain of mountains to the west, and the borders of the provinces of Tritchinopoly, Tanjore, and Mysore to the south. The sea bounds it to the east. It was not before the beginning of last century that this country was entirely reduced by the Mahomedans. For further particulars respecting nabobs, see pages 27 and 28 in the Dissertation prefixed to the History of the Carnatic.

NACELLE, _Fr._ A small boat that has neither mast nor sail. It is properly called a ferry-boat.

NADIR. In astronomy, is that point in the heavens which is directly under our feet, and is diametrically opposite to the zenith, or point over our heads. The word is pure Arabic, signifying the same thing. The zenith and the nadir are the two poles of the horizon, each 90° distant from it, and consequently each in the meridian.

NAGARA, _Ind._ The drum made from a hollow cylinder of teak wood, and the ends covered with goat skin; it is suspended from the left shoulder to the right side, and beat with a stick made of teak wood.

NAGER, _Fr._ to swim.

_Se sauver à la_ NAGE, to save oneself by swimming.

NAGGUR, _Ind._ The principal drum in Asiatic armies, commonly allowed only to persons of high dignity. The _bass drum_.

NAIB, _Ind._ a deputy. The governor of a town under a nawaub or nabob is so called in India.

NAIC, _or_ NAIK, a subaltern officer in the sepoys; a corporal.

_Drill_ NAIC, _or_ NAICK, a subaltern officer belonging to the native infantry in India, answering to our drill corporal. Every battalion of native infantry has two drill havildars or serjeants, and two drill-naicks, called _non-effective_, attached to it.

NAILS of various sorts are used in artillery. See CARRIAGE.

_Garnish_ NAILS, in _travelling carriages_, have pointed heads like diamonds, with a small narrow neck: they serve to fasten the plates with roses, to cover the sidepieces from the ends of the trunnion-plates to 5 or 6 inches beyond the centre of the carriage.

_Diamond headed_ NAILS, small nails, whose heads are made like a flat diamond, and serve to fix the plates upon travelling carriages.

_Rose bud_ NAILS, are small round headed nails, driven in the centre of the roses of the plates.

_Counter sunk_ NAILS, those that have flat round heads, sunk into the iron plates, so as to be even with the outside of it.

_Streak_ NAILS, are those which fasten the streaks to the fellies of the wheels.

_Box pin_ NAILS, small nails without heads, to pin the nave boxes, to the naves.

_Stub_ NAILS, are driven on the outside of the nave hoops, to keep them in their places.

_Flat headed_ NAILS, to fasten the locker or any sort of hinges.

_Dog_ NAILS, have flat round heads; and one part of the shank next to the head is also round.

_To_ NAIL, _spike_, or _cloy_, cannon, _enclouer le canon_, _Fr._ When circumstances make it necessary to abandon cannon, or when the enemy’s artillery are seized, and it is not however possible to take them away; it is proper to nail them up, in order to render them useless; which is done by driving a large nail or iron spike into the vent of a piece of artillery, to render it unserviceable. There are various contrivances to force the nail out, as also sundry machines invented for that purpose, but they have never been found of general use; so that the best method is to drill a new vent.

One Gasper Vimercalus was the first who invented the nailing of cannon. He was a native of Bremen, and made use of his invention first in nailing up the artillery of Sigismund Malatesta.

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 Rajpoots. In 1755, the king of Travancore, with the assistance of a French officer, called Launoy, disciplined 10,000 Naires in the method of European infantry.

NAGARKANNA, _Ind._ the place where all the drums and war music are kept.

NAUKODA. A native captain or pilot so called in India.

NANA, _Ind._ the title which is given to a chief of the Marattahs. It more properly signifies the acting head of the government, and general of the forces.

NAPPE _de feu_, _Fr._ See JETS DE FEU.

NARROW, of small breadth.

NARROW _Front_. A battalion, &c. is said to assume a narrow front, when it goes from line into column, upon the safe principles of compression.

_The_ NARROWS, an important position on the entrance of the Hudson’s river, N. York; strong works are erecting there, at the expence of that state.

_The_ NARROW, a channel which runs between the Margate sands and the Main.

NASIR-JUNG, _Ind._ victorious, or triumphant in war.

NATION, a people; also a country. As the American nation, the French nation. It is more generally used in the first sense; as, _The nation at large seems disposed to resist every attempt that the British may make to reduce us to our former condition of colonies; and to maintain the freedom of the seas_.

NATIONAL, that which concerns or belongs to a whole nation.

NATIONAL _troops_, are those raised under the authority of _Congress_, in contradistinction to the _Militia_, which may be called _States troops_, being organized by the several _States_.

NATIVE, in general, denotes a person born in a certain place, but more particularly it refers to the proper residence of the parents, and where the person has his education.

NATIVE _Cavalry_, a body of troops so called in India, in contradistinction to the European regiments. According to the regulations printed at Calcutta in 1797, each regiment was directed to have six troops, consisting of two captains, one captain-lieutenant, six lieutenants, three cornets, two serjeants, six subidars, six jemidars, 18 havildars, 18 naicks, six trumpeters, 420 troopers, six puckallies. The staff consists of one adjutant, one quarter-master, one paymaster, one surgeon’s mate, one serjeant-major, one quarter-master serjeant, one drill havildar, one drill naick, one trumpeter-major, six pay-havildars, six farriers, and one native doctor.

Each regiment to be commanded by a· field officer.

NATIVE _Infantry_. A body of troops under the immediate direction of the presidency of Bengal, composed of the natives of India. According to the regulations published at Calcutta in 1797, it is directed, that the battalions of native infantry should be formed into regiments of two battalions each, with ten companies in each battalion, the regiment to consist of one colonel, two lieutenant-colonels, two majors, (junior lieutenant-colonel, and junior major, to be without companies) seven captains, 1 captain-lieutenant, 22 lieutenants, 10 ensigns, two serjeants, 20 subidars, 20 jemidars, 100 havildars, 100 naicks, 40 drums and fifes, 1600 privates for Bengal, 1800 privates for Madras and Bombay, 20 puckallies. The staff consists of two adjutants, one paymaster, one surgeon, two mates, one serjeant-major, one quarter-master serjeant, two native doctors, one drum-major, one fife-major, two drill havildars, and two drill naicks.

The peace establishment of these corps was ordered to consist of four regiments, to be commanded by two lieutenant-colonels to the two first, and two majors to the 3d and 4th regiments; a brigade major to be allowed to the cavalry. The whole, when raised, were to be commanded by a colonel commandant. But, at the period mentioned, only two regiments of native cavalry were raised, and twelve regiments of native infantry.

It was further directed, that upon the completion of the native cavalry, the promotions of officers should proceed by seniority in their respective regiments, until they arrived to the rank of captain, and afterwards to rise in the whole corps to the rank of major, and to the command of regiments. The promotion to major, and command of regiments, was subjected to the same principle, as in the infantry, in regard to being unfit. But if field officers of cavalry were superceded in consequence of being unfit to command, they were to be allowed to retire with the pay of lieutenant-colonel of infantry.

The promotions in the native infantry were to take place according to seniority in their respective regiments, to the rank of lieutenant-colonels, and afterwards to colonels, and command of regiments, with the following proviso:

That should the senior lieutenant-colonels appear to the government at the presidency, either upon representation of the commander in chief, or by any other means, to be unfit for the command of regiments, they were to be passed over, and junior officers promoted. But the reasons for such supercession were to be entered on the records, for the information of the court of directors.

The same principle was directed to be applied to the European infantry, to the promotion of officers of artillery to the command of battalions, and of corps; to the chief engineers, to the colonels commandants, and officers to command regiments of cavalry, and to the rank of major-generals from that of colonels.

It was further ordained, that should any captains or subalterns obtain leave from that period to exchange from one regiment to another, they were to come into the regiment to which they were removed as youngest of their respective ranks, according to the practice in the British establishment.

It was also ordered, that each regiment of native cavalry, and native infantry, in the absence of the colonel, should be under the general command of the senior lieutenant-colonel, who was to have the particular command of the 1st battalion, and the junior lieutenant-colonel that of the second battalion.

The same regulation prevails in the Indian, or native corps, with respect to the appointment of paymasters, that exists in the royal service.

About the same period, a very satisfactory regulation took place in favor of the European and native or company’s troops, to prevent the growth of much existing jealousy between them and the king’s troops. To give every officer of the company a king’s commission, of the same date with that which he received from the company, with a retrospect founded on the date of the king’s commission they then held, so as to prevent supercession by the various promotions which had recently taken place by general brevet in the British army.

NATURAL FORTIFICATION, consists in those natural obstacles which are found in some countries, and which impede or prevent the approach of an enemy. Thus a place, the avenues to which are easily closed, or which is surrounded by impassable rivers or marshes, is defended by natural fortification.

NAUAB, _Ind._ See NABOB.

NAVAL, _Fr._ This word is used to convey the same meaning among the French that it does with us, viz. _armée navale_, naval armament; _combat naval_, sea fight, or naval combat; _forces navales_, naval forces. It is remarked in the Dictionnaire de l’Academie Francoise, that _naval_, when used in the masculine gender, is not susceptible of the plural number.

NAVAL _armament_, the fitting out a fleet, with all kinds of provisions and military stores, for actual service.

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 semi-circle, 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 pales of wood, like those in their artificial harbors; before these the vessels of burthen were placed in such order, that they might serve instead of a wall, and gave protection to those without; in which 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 every where in Homer: but this seems only to have been practised 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 _Roman antiquity_, a crown conferred, among the Romans, on persons who, in sea engagements, distinguished themselves. A. Gellius says, in general, the naval crown was adorned with prows of ships. Lipsius distinguishes two kinds; the first he supposes plain, and given to the common soldiers; the other rostrated, and only given to generals or admirals, who had gained some important victory at sea.

NAVAL _officers_, are admirals, captains, lieutenants, masters, boatswains, midshipmen, gunners, &c.

NAVAL _engagement_, implies, in general, either a sea-fight between single ships, or whole fleets of men of war, or gallies, &c.

NAVAL TACTICS, or the art of war carried on by ships at sea; this being limited to the possibilities of navigation, is therefore much less susceptible of that variety of stratagem which belongs to the hostility of armies on land, and comprehends beside the knowlege of military operation, that of the movement of ships under all circumstances of wind, weather, and also of the structure of ships and rigging.

The tactics of the ancients consisted in the formation of position by which they could bear down upon and pierce the sides, or board vessels, and decide the conflict hand to hand; the invention of gunpowder has had the same effect upon naval as upon land tactics, that they can fight without coming to close quarters.

The Dutch, French, and British have been most distinguished for naval tactics; but they have been principally reduced to fixed rules like the armies of modern times, by the French and English. M. Morogues is the most copious author on the subject in modern times. M. Bourde de Villehuet, in his work called _La Manœuvrier_, has also published a most valuable treatise. M. Girmoard has treated of the subject as a science.

A Treatise has been published in English by Mr. Clerk, who was not a professional seaman, in which new principles were introduced, and those of the French adopted. The battles of April 1782, and of the Nile and Trafalgar were fought upon the new principles.

NAVE, in _gun-carriages_, that part of a wheel in which the arms of the axletree move, and in which the spokes are driven and supported. See WHEEL.

NAVE-_hoops_, are flat iron rings to bind the nave: there are generally three on each nave.

NAVE-_boxes_, were formerly made of brass; but experience has shewn 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 axletree against the nave.

NAVIGATION, the theory and art of conducting a ship by sea, from one port to another, or of disposing and influencing her machinery, by the force of the wind, so as to begin and continue her motion at sea.

NAVIRE _de guerre_, a man of war.

NAVIRE _Merchand_, _Fr._ a merchantman. It is likewise called _vaisseau marchand_.

NAULAGE, NAULIS, _Fr._ Freight or fare.

NAULISER, _Fr._ to freight or hire a vessel.

NAUMACHIÆ,or sea-fights, are described as early as the time of the first Punic war, when the Romans first initiated their men in the knowlege of sea affairs. After the improvement of many years, they were designed as well for the gratifying the sight as for increasing their naval experience and discipline; and therefore composed one of the solemn shows, by which the magistrates or emperors, or any affectors of popularity, so often made their court to the people. It will be observed from this passage out of Kennett’s Roman Antiquities, page 269, that the necessity which Rome was under of fighting Carthage upon her own element, gave rise to their naval manœuvres. But the overgrown empire of the former, and the subsequent corruption of her people, soon converted these powerful auxiliaries to the legions, by whom she had conquered the universe, into instruments of pleasure and debauchery. Lampridius, in the life of the emperor Heliogabalus, relates, that, in a representation of a naval fight, he filled the channel where the vessels were to ride with wine instead of water. A story scarcely credible, though we have the highest conceptions of that wretch’s prodigious luxury and extravagance. The frequent threats which the French emperor has put forth, and the similitude which he draws between France and Great Britain to Rome and Carthage, may probably lead to great na- exertions.

NAUTICAL _planisphere_, a description of the terrestrial globe upon a plane, for the use of mariners: but more usually called _chart_.

NAVY, implies, in general, any fleet or assembly of ships. It is, however, more particularly understood of the vessels of war that belong to a kingdom or state.

NAVY DEPARTMENT of the United States, has the charge of the naval affairs, and of the military marine corps.

_Number and Kind of Ordnance for each of the Ships in the British Navy._

+------+-----++---------------------++-----------+
| | || No. of Guns || |
| | No. || of each Kind. ||Carronades.|
| | of ++--+--+--+--+--+--+---++--+--+--+--+
|Rates.|Guns.||42|32|24|18|12| 9| 6 ||32|24|18|12|
+------+-----++--+--+--+--+--+--+---++--+--+--+--+
|1st. | 100 ||28|--|28|--|30|--|18 || 2| 6|--|--|
|2d. | 98 ||--|28|--|30|40|--|--}|| 2|--| 6|--|
| { | 80 ||--|26|--|26|--|24| 4}|| | | | |
| { | 74 ||--|28|--|28|--|18|--}|| 2|--| 6|--|
|3d. { | 70 ||--|28|--|28|--|14|-- || | | | |
| { | 64 ||--|--|26|26|--|12|-- ||--| 2| 6|--|
|4th. {| 60 ||--|--|24|--|26|--|10 ||--|--|--|--|
| {| 50 ||--|--|22|--|22|--| 6 ||--| 6|--| 6|
| { | 44 ||--|--|--|20|22|--| 6 ||--|--| 8|--|
|5th.{ | 36 ||--|--|--|26| 2| 8|-- || 8|--|--|--|
| { | 32 ||--|--|--|--|26|--| 6 ||--| 6|--|--|
| {| 28 ||--|--|--|--|--|24| 4 ||--| 6|--|--|
|6th. {| 24 ||--|--|--|--|--|22| 2 ||--| 2| 6|--|
| {| 20 ||--|--|--|--|--|20|-- ||--|--|--| 8|
|Sloops| 18 ||--|--|--|--|--|--|18 ||--|--|--| 8|
+------+-----++--+--+--+--+--+--+---++--+--+--+--+

_Dimensions of Ships, Number of Men, and Draught of Water._

+------+---------+--------+----------------------+---------+
| | | | | Depth |
|Number| Length | | Complement of | of water|
| of | on the | Extreme+--------+-------------+ required|
| Guns.|Gun-deck.|Breadth.|Sailors.| Marines. |for each.|
+------+---------+--------+--------+-------------+---------+
| | Ft. In. |Ft. In. | N^{o.} | Officers. | Feet. |
| 110 | 190 -- | 53 -- |} 875 |} |} 24 |
| 100 | 186 -- | 52 -- |} |} |} |
| 98 | 180 -- | 50 -- | } 750 |} 1 Captain | } 23 |
| 90 | 177 6 | 49 -- | } |} 3 Subalt’s.| } |
| 80 | 182 -- | 49 6 |} |} |} |
| 74 | 182 -- | 48 7 |} 650 |} |} 18 |
| 74 | 169 -- | 46 11 |} |} |} |
| 64 | 160 -- | 44 6 |} |1 Cap. 2 Sub.|} |
| 50 | 146 -- | 40 6 | 420 |2 Lieuten’ts.| } |
| 44 | 140 9 | 38 8 |} |} | } 16 |
| 38 | 144 -- | 39 -- |} 300 |} | } |
| 36 | 142 -- | 38 -- |} |} | } |
| 32 | 126 -- | 35 4 |} |} 1 Subalt. | 15 |
| 28 | 120 -- | 33 6 | } |} | |
| 24 | 114 7 | 32 3 | } 200 |} | |
| 20 | 108 -- | 30 -- | } |} | |
| 18 | 110 -- | 29 6 |} 125 | }Serjeant. | 13 |
| 16 | 106 -- | 28 -- |} | } | |
+------+---------+--------+--------+-------------+---------+
| N. B. The usual complement of Marines is one for |
| every Gun in a British Ship of War. |
+----------------------------------------------------------+

NAVY-_board_, together with its civil and military departments, in England, consists of a lord high admiral, or lords commissioners for executing this office; one first lord commissioner, and six other lords commissioners, with a number of inferior officers, and clerks.

NAVY, is also a collective body of officers employed in the military sea-service.

NAWAUB, _Ind._ See NABOB.

NEABUT, _Ind._ a deputyship, or lieutenancy: from naib, a deputy.

NECESSARIES, in a military sense, are such articles as are ordered to be given to every soldier.

NEESHUNGPAT, _Ind._ a violent assault without bloodshed.

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

NEGATIVE _Penalties_. Certain laws whereby persons are secluded from military rank, &c. without inflicting any positive pains.

NEGLECT _of_ DUTY. Officers or soldiers convicted of neglect of duty, are punishable at the discretion of a court-martial.

NEGROES, blacks, moors. The people brought from Guinea, and other parts of Africa, as slaves, and sent into the colonies of America, to cultivate sugar, tobacco, indigo, &c. and to dig in the mines of Peru or Mexico.

NELLI-COTAH, a fort situated about forty miles to the south of Tinivelly, in the East Indies. This fort has been rendered memorable by the manner in which it was carried by the English in 1755, and the barbarity with which a garrison was treated which had not killed a man and had called for quarter, and yet men, women, and children were massacred. The detachment consisted of 100 Europeans, and 300 sepoys, with two field pieces. These troops (to quote Mr. Orme’s words in his History of the Carnatic, page 386, book V.) set out at midnight and performed the march in 18 hours: the polygar, startled at the suddenness of their approach, sent out a deputy, who pretended he came to capitulate, and promised that his master would pay the money demanded of him in a few days; but suspicions being entertained of his veracity, it was determined to detain him as a pledge for the execution of what he had promised, and he was accordingly delivered over to the charge of a guard. The troops were so much fatigued by the excessive march they had just made, that even the advanced centinels could not keep awake; and the deputy perceiving all the soldiers who were appointed to guard him, fast asleep, made his escape out of the camp, and returned to the fort; from whence the polygar had sent him only to gain time, in order to make the necessary preparations for his defence. This being discovered early in the morning, it was determined to storm the place, of which the defences were nothing more than a mud wall with round towers. The troops had not brought any scaling ladders, but the outside of the wall was sloping, and had many clefts worn in it by the rain, so that the assault, although hazardous, was nevertheless practicable. It was made both by the Europeans and the sepoys with undaunted courage, in several parties at the same time; each of which gained the parapet without being once repulsed, when the garrison retired to the buildings of the fort, where they called out for quarter; but the soldiers, put all they met to the sword, not excepting the women and children; suffering only six persons, out of four hundred, to escape alive: shameful to relate, the troops and officers who bore the greatest part in this shocking barbarity, were the bravest of Englishmen, having most of them served under colonel Lawrence, on the plains of Tritchinopoly: but those who contemplate human nature will find many reasons, supported by examples, to dissent from the common opinion, that cruelty is incompatible with courage.

NESHAUNBURDAR, _Ind._ an ensign.

NETHERLANDS, that part of modern France which lies next to the North sea; it was once called the circle of Burgundy, and sometimes the Low Countries, so called from being situated between France, Lorrain, Germany, and the ocean.

They were formerly divided into 17 provinces, four of which were dukedoms, viz. Brabant, Limburg, Luxemburg, and Guelderland; seven were earldoms, viz. Flanders, Artois, Hainault, Holland, Zealand, Namur, and Zutphen; and five Baronies, viz. West Friezland, Mechlin, Utrecht, Overysell, and Groningen.

These were originally governed by distinct lords or princes, but were all united under Philip the good, duke of Burgundy, who left them to his son Charles, surnamed the Hardy, who being killed at Nancy, in 1477, the 17 provinces fell to his only daughter, Mary of Burgundy, who by marrying with Maximilian the First, of Germany, carried them into the house of Austria.

The kings of France claimed a right to Artois, Flanders, &c. In the reign of king Philip II. of Spain, William of Nassau, prince of Orange, and several other discontented noblemen, gave beginning to those disturbances which terminated in the separation of Holland, and the other countries known by the name of the _United Provinces_, occasioned by the dread of the inquisition, the insupportable rigor of the government of the Duke of Alva, and the violent encroachments of the Spaniards upon the liberties and privileges of the countries.

The Netherlands, comprehending Holland, have undergone material alterations during the progress of the French Revolution. Brabant and Flanders, which belonged to the house of Austria, have been annexed to France, and form several of its departments. Holland, upon the expulsion of the Stadtholder, was allowed to call itself an independent country, in alliance with France; but the British co-operating with the adherents of the Stadtholder, exposed it to repeated invasions, to put an end to these conspiracies, after twice expelling the English, the government was changed, and it is now distinguished by the name of the Batavian kingdom.

NETTOYER _les Magazins_, _Fr._ in artillery, signifies to remove the different pieces of ordnance, for the purpose of having them carefully examined, &c. and to have the stores and ammunition so arranged as not to receive damage. This duty is generally performed by small parties of solders, under the command of serjeants, who are detached from the different guards of a garrison town. In the old French service the _commissaire d’artillerie_ superintended the execution of this necessary duty, and the soldiers who were employed, got relieved from any further attendance as part of the guard, the instant their work was done.

NETTOYER, _ou enfiler_, _Fr._ to scour or enfilade.

NETTOYER _la courtine_, _Fr._ to scour, or fire through the whole extent of the curtain.

NETTOYER _le rampart_, _Fr._ to scour the rampart.

NETTOYER _le tranchée_, _Fr._ to scour or clear the trenches. This is effected by means of a vigorous sally which the garrison of a besieged place make upon the besiegers; when they beat in the guard, drive off the artificers and workmen, level the parapet, break up and choak the line of circumvallation, and spike or nail the cannon.

NEUTRAL, neither of the one nor the other.

NEUTRALITE, _Fr._ See NEUTRALITY.

_Garder la_ NEUTRALITE, _Fr._ To be neutral.

_Accorder la_ NEUTRALITE, _Fr._ To allow others to be neutral, or to grant neutrality.

_Observer la_ NEUTRALITE, _Fr._ To observe a strict neutrality.

_Violer la_ NEUTRALITE, _Fr._ To violate the laws of neutrality.

_Demeurer dans la_ NEUTRALITE, _Fr._ To remain in a state of neutrality.