Chapter D: Caldwell, (56)

“The French army, which during its last marches had suffered excessive fatigue, halted at Waardam, in order to recruit its strength, remount the artillery, and clean the musquets that were so subject to take rust from the moist vapors of the Nile. On the 21st of July, 1799, the second battle called the battle of the pyramids, was fought. General Desaix, with his advanced guard, at first made a corps of Mamalukes fall back; the order of battle of the other divisions was nearly the same as on the 13th, being drawn up by echellons of square columns, so as to flank themselves between each other; and the line of battle, which was itself flanked by two villages. Each division was concentrated into a compact body, and formed a square having its baggage in the centre, and the artillery in the intervals of the battalions. This formidable disposition presented a double fire in flank and in front, and opposed an invincible obstacle to the impetuous, but unconnected charges of Murad Bey’s cavalry. To return to the action of the 21st, general Desaix’s advanced guard, and Regnier’s division, formed the right wing of the army, and were at first charged with the greatest impetuosity, by one half of the Mamaluke cavalry; the other half having remained to support the intrenchments of the village of _Embabé_.

“Notwithstanding this determination to anticipate the attack of the French columns, the rash valor of the Mamalukes again failed against those compact bodies, bristling with bayonets, and keeping up, within half musquet shot a most galling fire. While these charges were taking place against his right, and the Mamalukes were retreating in disorder, Bonaparte directing the two divisions of his centre against the intrenchments, ordered the village of _Embabé_ to be turned by means of a ditch which masked this movement, and thus cut to pieces, or rather drove into the Nile, 1500 of the enemy’s cavalry.” In a map lately published by _Heathes_, the number is stated to have been 2000. The attack, which was extremely warm, was conducted by general Marmont. Forty pieces of cannon, the camp of the Mamalukes, their rich spoils, together with upwards of 400 camels, fell into the hands of the conquerors. See pages 119 and 120, of the Epitome of Military Events.

In the year 1801, a large army of Turks with a detachment of the British forces in Egypt, defeated the French close to the pyramids, and took possession of Grand Cairo. This battle eventually decided the fate of Egypt.

PYROBOLY, the art of gunnery, &c.

PYROBOLIST, (_Pyroboliste_, _Fr._) a maker of fire-balls, &c.

PYROETS, in horsemanship, are motions either of one tread or pist, or of two treads or pists.

PYROETS of one tread, or what the French call _de la tête à la queue_, from the head to the tail, are entire and very narrow turns made by a horse upon one tread, and almost at one time, so that his head is placed where his tail was, without putting out his haunches.

PYROETS of two pists, are turns of two treads upon a small compass of ground almost of the length of the horse.

PYROTECHNIE, _Fr._ See PYROTECHNY.

PYROTECHNY, in military matters, the doctrine of artificial fireworks, and firearms, teaching the structure and service, both of those used in war, for the attacking of fortifications, &c. as cannons, bombs, grenadoes, gunpowder, wildfire, &c. and those made for diversion, as serpents, St. Catherine’s wheel, rockets, &c.

PYROTECHNIC, of or appertaining to pyrotechny.

Q.

QUADRANGLE, QUADRANGULAR, a square figure having four right angles.

QUADRANT, in _gunnery_, an instrument made of brass or wood, divided into degrees, and each degree into 10 parts, to lay guns or mortars to any angle of elevation.

The common sort is that whose radii project the quadrant about 12 inches, and whose plummet suspends in its centre, by means of a fine piece of silk; so that, when the long end is introduced into the piece, the plummet shows its elevation.

The best sort has a spiral level fixed to a brass radius; so that, when the long end is introduced into the piece, this radius is turned about its centre till it is level: then its end shews the angle of elevation, or the inclination from the horizon; whereas the first shows that angle from the vertical. See LEVEL.

QUADRAT, or _to quadrat a gun_, is to see it duly placed on its carriage, and that the wheels be of an equal height.

QUADRATE, a square, having four equal and parallel sides.

QUADRATICK _Equations_, are such as retain, on the unknown side, the square of the root, or the number sought.

QUADRATRICE, _Fr._ See QUADRANT.

QUADRATURE, _Fr._ Quadrature.

QUADRILATERAL, (_Quadrilatére_, _Fr._) having four sides.

QUADRILLE, _Fr._ This word is pronounced _Cadrille_. Small parties of horse, richly caparisoned, &c. which used formerly to ride, &c. in tournaments and at public festivals. The Quadrilles were distinguished from one another by the shape or color of the coats which the riders wore. This word is derived from the Italian _Quadriglia_, or _Squadriglia_, being a diminutive of _Squadra_, a company of soldiers drawn up in a square.

QUADRIVIAL, having four roads or ways, meeting in a point.

QUAI, _Fr._ See QUAY.

QUAICHE, or CAICHE, _Fr._ A decked vessel, a ketch.

QUAKER-GUNS. See PASSE VOLANS.

QUALIFICATION. That which makes any person or thing fit for any thing.

_To_ QUALIFY. To fit for any thing. To give in the necessary qualifications for the exercising of a civil or military employment. In a general acceptation of the term, _to qualify_ does not mean to give proofs of mental ability.

QUANTIEME, _Fr._ a term used among the French to signify, not only the day of the month, as _quel quantiéme du mois avons nous?_ what is the day of the month? but likewise the numerical order in which an individual stands upon a muster-roll, &c. viz. _Le quantiéme êtes vous dans votre campagnie?_ How do you rank in your company? or of what standing are you?

QUANTITY, the amount; bulk; weight; that property of any thing which may be increased or diminished.

QUARANTINE, (_Quarantaine_, _Fr._) The time which persons, suspected of having any contagious disorder, are obliged to remain without mixing with the inhabitants of the seaport or town at which they arrive. It takes its name from _quarantaine_, the term of 40 days.

QUARRE, _Fr._ See SQUARE.

_Bataillon_ QUARRE _d’hommes_, _Fr._ A square battalion.

QUARREAUX, _Fr._ Darts or arrows which the bowmen anciently used, and which were so called from the iron at the end being square, with a sharp point.

QUARRELS, in a military sense, are disagreements between individuals of that serious nature, as to produce challenges, duels, &c. by the Articles of War, it is specified, that all officers, of what condition soever, have power to quell all quarrels, frays, and disorders, though the persons concerned should belong to another regiment, troop, or company, and either to order officers into arrest, or non-commissioned officers or soldiers to prison, until their proper superior officers shall be made acquainted therewith; and whosoever shall refuse to obey such officer (though of an inferior rank) or shall draw his sword upon him, shall be punished at the discretion of a general court martial.

QUARREL, QUARRY, an arrow with a square head.

QUART, _Fr._ Quarter.

QUART _de Cercle_, _Fr._ A quadrant such as bombardiers use when they take the angles, and give what inclination they think necessary to a mortar.

QUART _de Conversion_, _Fr._ Quarter-wheeling, or quarter-facing. The terms are used in military evolutions.

DEMI-QUART _de Conversion_, _Fr._ Half-quarter-wheel.

QUARTE, _Fr._ In fencing. See CARTE.

QUARTER, in _war_, signifies the sparing of men’s lives, and giving good treatment to a vanquished enemy. Hence, _to give quarter_, _to take quarter_, &c. _donner quartier_, _Fr._ _prendre quartier_, _Fr._

_To_ QUARTER UPON. To oblige persons to receive soldiers, &c. into their dwelling houses, and to provide for them.

QUARTERS. Military stations are so called; as head quarters, home quarters, regimental quarters, &c.

QUARTERS, at a _siege_, the encampment upon one of the most principal passages round a place besieged, to prevent relief and convoys.

_Head_ QUARTERS _of an army_, the place where the commander in chief has his quarters. The quarters of generals of horse are, if possible, in villages behind the right and left wings; and the generals of foot are often in the same place: but the commander in chief should be near the centre of the army.

QUARTERS _of refreshment_, the place or places where troops that have been much harrassed are put to recover themselves, during some part of the campaign.

QUARTER _of assembly_, the place where the troops meet to march from in a body, and is the same as the place of rendezvous.

_Intrenched_ QUARTERS, a place fortified with a ditch and parapet to secure a body of troops.

_Winter_ QUARTERS, sometimes means the space of time included between leaving the camp and taking the field; but more properly the places where the troops are quartered during the winter.

The first business, after the army is in _winter quarters_, is to form the chain of troops to cover the quarters well: which is done either behind a river, under cover of a range of strong posts, or under the protection of fortified towns. Hussars are very useful on this service.

It should be observed, as an invariable maxim, in _winter quarters_, that your regiments be disposed in brigades, to be always under the eye of a general officer; and, if possible, let the regiments be so distributed, as to be each under the command of its own chief.

_In_ QUARTERS. Within the limits prescribed.

_Out of_ QUARTERS. Beyond the limits prescribed. Officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers who sleep out of quarters, without leave, are liable to be tried by a general or regimental court martial, according to the rank they severally hold.

QUARTER-_master_, is an officer, whose principal business is to look after the quarters of the soldiers, their clothing, bread, ammunition, firing, &c. Every regiment of foot, and artillery, has a quarter-master, and every troop of horse one.

QUARTER-_master_-_general_, is a considerable officer in the British army, and should be a man of great judgment and experience, and well skilled in geography: his duty is to mark the marches, and encampments of an army: he should know the country perfectly well, with its rivers, plains, marshes, woods, mountains, defiles, passages, &c. even to the smallest brook. Prior to a march he receives the orders and route from the commanding general, and appoints a place for the quarter-masters of the army to meet him next morning, with whom he marches to the next camp, where after having viewed the ground, he marks out to the regimental quarter-masters the space allowed each regiment for their camp: he chuses the head quarters, and appoints the villages for the generals of the army’s quarters: he appoints a proper place for the encampment of the train of artillery: he conducts foraging parties, as likewise the troops to cover them against assaults, and has a share in regulating the winter quarters and cantonments.

QUARTER _staff_, an old military weapon, made of strong even wood, bigger and heavier than a pike: it is 6¹⁄₂ feet long between the ferrules that keep fast the two pikes of iron stuck into the ends of the staff.

QUARTER, in the _manége_, as to work from quarter to quarter, is to ride a horse three times in upon the first of the four lines of a square; then, changing your hand, to ride him three times upon the second; and so to the third and fourth; always changing hands, and observing the same order.

QUARTER-_facing_, is in the new discipline substituted for the old aukward _oblique marching_; it is also called the _line of science_; in ranks _every man_ turns to the right or left as ordered, and if ordered to march, the lines or ranks thus keep parallel to their former front, but march on a line oblique to it.

QUARTER-_Wheeling_, in the old discipline, was the motion by which the front of a body of men was turned round to where the flank stood, by taking a quarter of a circle; but in the new discipline which reduces all principles to the strictest simplicity, the wheelings take all their proportions from _half a circle_; and for obvious causes, since the wheeling of any number of men on a whole circle, would be only moving them to bring them into the place in which they stood before they were wheeled or moved; now the purpose of wheeling is to change from one position to some other required position, and hence _quarter wheeling_ means a quarter wheel of half a circle; thus wheeling _about_, is changing the front to the rear; and this wheeling is simply half the half circle, or placing the ranks on the same line from which they were moved; the quarter wheel is a movement of ¹⁄₄ of the half circle, or in a line oblique to the line from which they were moved; a regiment quarter wheeled by companies display the regiment in echellon.

QUARTERING _troops_, is to provide them with quarters.

QUARTERON, _one_, _Fr._ A quarteron; one born of a white man and a mulatto woman, or of a mulatto man and a white woman.

QUARTIER, _Fr._ For its general acceptation see QUARTERS.

QUARTIER _d’un Siége_, _Fr._ A station taken, or an encampment made in one of the leading avenues to a besieging town or place. When the _Quartier d’un Siége_ was commanded by a general officer, during the French monarchy, it was called _Quartier du Roi_. The king’s quarters.

QUARTIER _des Vivres_, _Fr._ The park of stores, provisions, &c.

QUARTIER _d’Hiver_, _Fr._ Winter quarters. Count de Turpin has written largely upon this subject. See _Essai sur l’Art de la Guerre_; likewise, _Suite de la Science de la Guerre_, tom. iv. p. 170.

QUARTIER _de Rafraîchissemens_, _Fr._ Those places are so called in which troops are permitted to halt and take up their quarters for any period, during a campaign.

QUARTIER _de Fourrage_, _Fr._ Foraging quarters. When the active operations of a campaign are necessarily interrupted by the inclemency of the season, means are adopted to lessen the heavy expences of winter quarters, by remaining a certain time in foraging quarters. A wise general will take care to live as long as he can upon his enemy’s country, in order to draw as little as possible from his own.

QUARTIER _du Roi_, ou _du Général_, _Fr._ Head quarters, or the spot where the king or the commander in chief resides. When an army takes up its ground in low marshy places, &c. the royal or head quarters are marked out in the most advantageous manner, so as to have the king’s or general’s person secure. When an army went into action or stood in battle array, it was customary, among the French, to say, _Le Quartier du Roi est partout_. The king’s station is every where. Nevertheless, it was always judged prudent, not to expose the royal person or the commander in chief too much. On this principle, head quarters were always established in a place which was surrounded by the best troops, and was supported by epaulements on the right and left, with the addition of a rear guard. Since the revolution, these arrangements have been much changed. It cannot, however, be uninteresting to give a general outline of what was practised during the monarchy. The _Quartier du Roi_ or head quarters, when a town was besieged, were always fixed out of the reach of ordnance, and in a village that was well secured by entrenchments. Before the cannonade commenced, it was usual for the besieged to ascertain the exact station of head quarters, that their fire might not be directed towards them; nor did the real assault of the town take place from that direction. Wherever the king, or, in his absence, the commander in chief took up his quarters, the camp assumed its name from that particular spot or village.

QUARTIER _géneral de la tranchée_, _Fr._ Head quarters or principal station of the trenches. That spot is so called in which the commanding officer of the trenches takes post, and to which all reports of progress, &c. are, from time to time, conveyed. When the siege is somewhat advanced, it is usual to fix this quarters, near the outlet of the last parallel which leads to the head of the saps, in the principal line of attack.

QUARTIER _d’Assemblee_, _Fr._ The ground on which troops assemble to commence their military routes, or to be otherwise prepared for active operations.

_Un_ QUARTIER _bien Retranche_, _Fr._ A quarter that is well entrenched.

_Un_ QUARTIER _Enleve_, _Fr._ Quarters taken possession of by force.

_Officiers de_ QUARTIER, _Fr._ Officers who were upon duty for three months, or during the space of one quarter of a year. This term was used in the old French service, to distinguish such officers from those who did duty throughout the year.

_Etre de_ QUARTIER, _Fr._ To be upon duty for three months.

QUARTIER _Generaux_, _Fr._ General head quarters.

QUARTIER-_Maitre_, _Fr._ Quarter-master. This term, with respect to foreign troops, corresponds with _maréchal des logis_ in a French infantry corps.

QUARTIER-_Mestre General_, _Fr._ Quarter-master-general. Among other armies the same as _marechal général des Logis_ in the old French service. There is a quarter-master-general in the Turkish service, whose immediate duty is to mark out the ground of encampment, the instant he has received orders to that purpose from the grand vizir, or, in his absence, from the seraskier, who is the general in ordinary, and who is always with the army, whether the grand vizir be present or not.

QUATRE, _Fr._ Four.

_To_ QUELL. To crush, to subdue. Military force is sometimes resorted to by the civil magistracy to quell riots, &c. In England, the riot act must be read by a justice of the peace, and if the rioters or insurgents do not disperse, the magistrate may order the officer to do his duty, by firing, &c. upon them. When military law has been proclaimed, there is not any necessity for this preliminary caution.

QUERELLES, _Fr._ quarrels, feuds, &c.

QUERELLE _d’Allemand_, _Fr._ An expression used among the French, to signify a drunken quarrel.

QUERRY. See EQUERRY,

QUEUE. From the French, which signifies tail; an appendage that every British soldier is directed to wear in lieu of a club. Regimental tails were ordered to be nine inches long.

QUEUE D’ARONDE, a corruption of _Queue d’Yronde_. It signifies a piece of wood which is so made that it resembles at each end a swallow’s tail.

QUEUE _d’Yronde_, _ou d’Yrondelle_, _Fr._ See SWALLOW’S TAIL.

QUEUE _du Camp_, _Fr._ Literally means the tail or extremity of the camp. It is the line which is drawn in the rear of the camp, and which is directly opposite to the one in front, called the head of the camp.

QUEUE _de Paon_, _Fr._ Literally means a peacock’s tail. It is used in architecture, to signify the different compartments or spaces which, in a circular figure, spread gradually from the centre to the circumference.

QUEUE _à Queue_, _Fr._ one after another.

_Etre à la_ QUEUE, _Fr._ To be behind, or in the rear.

_Avoir l’ennemi en_ QUEUE, _Fr._ To have the enemy close at your heels.

_To go in_ QUEST _of an enemy_. To send out vedettes, patroles, &c. for the purpose of ascertaining an enemy’s motions.

QUIBERON, _or Quibron_. A small peninsula of France, in Bretagne, in the bishoprick of Vannes, and to the north of Belleisle; as also a small island called the point of Quiberon, separated from the peninsula by a channel, and the sea next it is called the bay of Quiberon. This spot has been rendered remarkable by the expedition which took place in June, 1795. Upwards of 3000 regular troops (composed mostly of French emigrants that had served abroad, with the ill judged addition of some French prisoners, taken out of English gaols) were landed upon the coast. This force was intended as a co-operation with the insurgents of La Vendee, and was afterwards to have been increased by the descent of an English army, under the command of the earl of Moira; who had, indeed, already been instructed to detach a covering body for that purpose; but the British did not land, having been driven from the French coast by stress of weather. The French emigrants were all sacrificed.

QUICK, with celerity. It forms the cautionary part of a word of command when troops are ordered to move in quick time; as quick-march.

QUICK-_Step_, or _Quick-Time_, is 100 steps of 24 inches each, or 200 feet in a minute, and is the step used in all marchings but guard marching and reviews, when the slow march may be used.

QUICKEST-_Step_, or _Quickest-Time_, is 120 steps of 24 inches each, or 240 feet in a minute. In this step, all wheelings are performed, as also the doublings up of divisions, and their increase or diminution in front.

QUICK-_match_, in _laboratory-works_. See LABORATORY.

QUIETISM. Apathy. Indifference.

QUIETISME, _Fr._ The state of those persons who did not take an active part in the French revolution.

QUIETISTE, _Fr._ A man who did not meddle with the revolution.

QUILTING _grape-shot_, in _gunnery_. See LABORATORY, and TO MAKE GRAPE-SHOT.

QUINQUANGULAR. Having five corners or angles.

QUINTAIN, QUINTIN, An instrument used in the ancient practice of tilting. It consisted of an upright post, on the top of which a cross post turned upon a pivot; at one end of the cross-post was a broad board, and at the other a bag of sand. The practice was to ride against the board with a lance, and at such speed, as to pass by before the sand-bag could strike the tilter on the back.

QUINTAL, _Fr._ one hundred weight. The _Quintal_ varies in different places, according as the pound consists of more or fewer ounces. The English _Quintal_ is 112 pounds, and is divided into quarters.

QUINTE, _Fr._ a low thrust in fencing, delivered at the outside of the position, with the nails turned up, as in low carte. When this thrust is forced over the blade from the guard in carte, it is termed flanconade.

QUINTUPLE. Five fold.

QUIRITES. In ancient Rome, the common citizens were so called, as distinguished from the soldiery.

_To_ QUIT, to leave, to abandon. This word is variously used in military phraseology, viz.

_To_ QUIT _your post_, _To_ QUIT _your ranks_, To retire, without having received any previous order for that purpose, from a station entrusted to your care. Any officer or soldier, who, during the heat of an engagement, shall quit his ranks, may be shot, or otherwise dispatched upon the spot. A sentry who quits his post before he is regularly relieved, is ordered to suffer death, or such other punishment as may be inflicted by a general court-martial.

QUIT _your arms_. A word of command which was formerly given in infantry regiments, but is now laid aside.

QUITTANCE, _Fr._ receipt, acquittance.

QUITTANCE _de finance_, _Fr._ A term formerly used among the French, to express any sum paid into the king’s treasury, for an appointment or place.

QUITTER, _Fr._ to quit.

QUITTER _l’epée_, _Fr._ Figuratively to leave the profession of arms.

QUIVER. A case for arrows.

QUI _vive?_ QUI _va là?_ QUI _est là?_ _Fr._ Who comes there? terms used by the French sentries when they challenge.

_Etre sur le_ QUI _vive_, _Fr._ To be upon the alert.

QUILLON, _Fr._ the cross-bar of the hilt of a sword

_A_ QUIZ. This cant word is frequently used as a substantive to describe a strange, out of the way character. It is a term of ridicule.

_To_ QUIZ. A cant word much in use among fashionable bucks or blades, as certain creatures are called. It signifies to turn another into ridicule, by some allusion to his dress or manners, some ironical word or quaint expression. In other terms, to take unwarrantable liberties with the natural defects, or harmless habits of unoffending individuals. This absurd and childish practice, (which grows out of ignorance, is supported by privileged assumption, and ought to be discouraged by every sensible man) has sometimes found its way into the British army. We need scarcely add, that it has frequently been the cause of the most serious quarrels, and is always contrary to good order and discipline. Commanding officers should, on all occasions, exert their authority, whenever there appears the least tendency to this unmanly, unofficer like, and ungentleman like custom. It ought constantly to be remembered, that the influence of evil is much stronger upon the commonality of mankind, than that of good. If an officer suffer himself to be quizzed by a brother officer, he will, by degrees, become ridiculous to the soldiers; and if he resent it, as he ought to do in _primo limine_, by a manly explanation with the weak fool who attempts to be witty, without possessing one spark of real wit, it is more than probable, that much ill blood will be engendered between them. The British Articles of War have, in some degree, provided against this evil. It is there specifically stated, that no officer, non-commissioned officer, or soldier, shall use any reproachful or provoking speeches or gestures to another, upon pain, if an officer, of being put in arrest (or if a non-commissioned officer, or a soldier, of being imprisoned) and of asking pardon of the party offended, in the presence of his commanding officer.

_A_ QUIZZER. A creature, who without possessing any real wit or humor, affects to turn others into ridicule, by an insolent affectation of the talent. The _thing_ is generally found among those calling themselves fashionable young men, which, (to use a very apposite expression) has more money than wit, plumes itself upon wealth or connexion, and endeavors to make up by noise, turbulence, and privileged contradiction, what it wants in real knowlege and solid understanding. It is sometimes seen at a military mess, and about the purlieus of taverns and gaming tables.

QUOIL, in _gunnery_, a rope laid round in a ring, one turn over another.

QUOINS, in architecture, denote the corners of brick or stone walls.

QUOIN, (_Coin_, _Fr._) a wedge used to lay under the breech of a gun, to raise or depress the metal.

QUOIT, the ancient discus--an Olympic game, still practised in all parts of the world. It consists in throwing a large _iron ring_ to a considerable distance, at a wooden peg, driven into the ground.

QUOTIENT. In arithmetic, the number resulting from the division of a greater number by a smaller, and which shews how often the smaller, or the divisor, is contained in the greater or dividend.

R.

RABINET, formerly a name given to a small sort of ordnance between a falconet and a base, about one inch and a half diameter in the bore, five feet six inches long, and 300 pounds in weight, loaded with six ounces of powder, and carrying a shot one inch and three-eighths in diameter.

RACHAT _du pain_, _Fr._ a certain pecuniary allowance which was made in the old French service to the officers of each company, for the surplus rations of ammunition bread that were left in the purveyor’s hands. The same rule exists in the British service, when troops are in camp or barracks.

RACINE, _Fr._ See ROOT.

RACLOIR, _Fr._ A scraper. It is used in the artillery to cleanse out mortars.

RACOLER, _Fr._ To entice men to inlist.

RACOLEUR, _Fr._ a crimp, a bringer of recruits, one who entices others to inlist. Men of this description are to be found in all countries where military establishments prevail.

RACORDEMENT, _Fr._ This word is derived from _racorder_, which, in French architecture, signifies to join two pieces of building on one surface, or to unite an old building with a new one.

RADE, _Fr._ Road for ships to ride in.

RADEAUX, _Fr._ Rafters. They are frequently used in sieges, for the purpose of crossing ditches, &c. Chevalier Folard enters largely into the nature of these rafters, particularly in his 4th volume, page 67.

RADIOMETER, (_Radiomètre_, _Fr._) This instrument is sometimes called Jacob’s staff, _bâton de Jacob_. It is used by some to take the sun’s altitude, and by others to ascertain elevations at sea.

RADIUS, the semi-diameter of a circle. In fortification, the radius is distinguished into _exterior_, _interior_, _oblique_, and _right_ _radius_. The three former are noticed each under its initial letter. The latter is a perpendicular line drawn from the centre of a polygon to the exterior side.

RAFFINAGE, _Fr._ a term used by the French to express the operation through which saltpetre passes after it has been boiled once. The literal meaning is _refining_; the act of cleansing any thing from recrementitious matter.

RAFFINER, _Fr._ To refine.

RAFFINOIR, _Fr._ a wooden cask, or copper vessel, in which saltpetre is deposited after it has been boiled once. It usually remains thirty minutes, after which it is let out through a cock fixed for that purpose at the bottom of the vessel.

RAFRAICHISSEMENS, _Fr._ Provisions. See QUARTIER.

RAFRAICHIR, _Fr._ To cool; to spunge; as _rafraichir le canon_; to spunge a cannon.

RAFRAICHIR _une place_, _Fr._ to succor a place by sending in fresh troops and provisions.

RAFRAICHIR _des troupes_, _Fr._ to allow troops to repose; likewise to supply them with fresh provisions.

RAFTS, a kind of frames or floats made by laying pieces of timber together, or across each other, to serve as bridges for troops to pass over rivers.

RAFTERS, are pieces of timber, which, standing by pairs on the transom, wall plate, or raising piece, meet in an angle at the top, and form the roof of a building.

It is a rule in building, that no rafters should stand farther than 12 inches from one another: and as to their sizes and scantlings, that principal rafters, from 12 feet 6 inches to 14 feet 6 inches long, be 5 inches broad at the top, and 8 at the bottom, and 6 inches thick: those from 14 feet 6 inches, to 18 feet 6 inches long, to be 9 inches broad at the foot, 7 inches at the top, and 7 inches thick: and those from 18 feet 6 inches, to 21 feet 6 inches, to be 10 inches broad at the foot, 8 at the top, and 8 thick. Single rafters, 8 feet in length, must have 4¹⁄₂ inches, and 3³⁄₄ in their square. Those of 9 feet long, must be 5, and 4 inches square.

RAJPUTES, _or_ RAUJPOOTS, _Ind._ The second tribe of the four great classes of Hindus; the priests or _Bramins_ are the first. Both classes may be soldiers, and none but members of one or other of these classes can be kings or princes. Rauj means great, and poot means arms, that is great in arms; they are the descendants of the military tribe of Hindus.

RAJAH, _Ind._ This word means an authority equivalent to that of a king. The Rajahs became generally tributary to the Mogul, but were suffered to follow their own modes of government.

RAIE, _Fr._ properly means a seam, furrow, streak.

RAINURE, _Fr._ a grove.

RAIS, _Fr._ a spoke of a wheel.

_To_ RAISE _Troops_. See LEVY.

_To_ RAISE _a plan of a fortress_, is to measure with cords and geometrical instruments, the length of the lines, and the capacity of the angles, that by knowing the length, breadth, and thickness, of all the different parts of a fortification, it may be represented upon paper, so as to find out its advantages and disadvantages.

RAISON, _Fr._ this word is used by the French, in a mathematical sense, to express the relation which one number has to another, and in general, that which exists between one quantity and another. The term is distinguished into _raison arithmétique_, or arithmetical reasoning; and _raison géométrique_, or geometrical reasoning. French carpenters likewise use the term, to shew that pieces of wood, &c. are properly laid, viz. _Des pieces de bois en leur raison_.

RALLIEMENT, _Fr._ Rallying point. It is sometimes written raliment.

_Mot de_ RALLIEMENT, _Fr._ a word or countersign, which is given to out posts, and to sentries that are stationed beyond the lines.

RALLUMER, _Fr._ To light up again, to rekindle, to renew.

RALLY, one of the bugle horn soundings.

_To_ RALLY, (_Rallier_, _Fr._) To bring troops back to order that have been dispersed.

RALLYING, in _war_, re-establishing, or forming together again, troops broken and put to flight.

_To_ RAM, to drive with violence, as with a battering ram.

_To_ RAM down, to force anything downwards, or to fill with any thing driven hard together, as in the charge of firearms.

RAM _down cartridge_, a word of command used in the platoon exercise. See MANUAL.

_Battering_ RAM, in _antiquity_, a military engine used to batter and beat down the walls of places besieged.

The battering ram was of two sorts, the one rude and plain, the other compound. The former seems to have been no more than a great beam, which the soldiers bore on their arms and shoulders, and with one end of it, by main force, assailed the walls. The compound ram is thus described by Josephus: it is a vast beam, like the mast of a ship, strengthened at one end with a head of iron, something resembling that of a ram, whence it took its name. This was hung by the middle with ropes to another beam, which lay across two posts, and hanging thus equally balanced, it was by a great number of men drawn backwards and pushed forwards, striking the wall with its iron head.

Plutarch informs us, that Mark Antony, in the Parthian war, made use of a ram 80 feet long: and Vitruvius tells us, that they were sometimes 106, and 120 feet long: to this perhaps the force and strength of the engine was in a great measure owing. The ram at one time was managed by a whole century of soldiers; and they, being exhausted, were seconded by another century; so that it played continually, and without any intermission.

The momentum of a battering ram 28 inches in diameter, 180 feet long, with a head of cast iron of one ton and a half, the whole ram with its iron hoops, &c. weighing 41,112 pounds, and moving by the united strength of 1000 men, will be only equal to that of a ball of 36 pounds, when shot point blank from a cannon.

RAMMER, an instrument used for driving down stones or piles into the ground in military works; or for beating the earth, in order to render it more solid for a foundation.

RAMMER, _or_ RAMROD _of a gun_, the ramrod or gunstick; a rod used in charging a gun, to drive home the powder and shot, as also the wad, which keeps the shot from rolling out. The rammer of a piece of artillery, is a cylinder of wood, whose diameter and length are each equal to the diameter of the shot, with a handle fixed to it, at the end of which is another cylinder, covered with lamb-skin, so as to fit the gun exactly, and called a sponge: it is used to clean the piece before and after it is fired. The ramrod of a musquet is one entire piece of iron.

_Return_ RAMROD. See PLATOON EXERCISE, under MANUAL.

RAMPART, in _fortification_, or, as some call it, but improperly, _rampire_; the great massy bank of earth raised about a place to resist the enemy’s shot, and to cover the buildings, &c. On it is raised a parapet towards the country. It is not above 18 feet high, and about 60 or 70 thick, unless more earth be taken out of the ditch than can be otherwise disposed of. The rampart should be sloped on both sides, and be broad enough to allow the marching of waggons and cannon, besides the parapet which is raised on it. The rampart of the half moons is better for being low, that the small arms of the besieged may the better reach the bottom of the ditch; but it must be so high, as not to be commanded by the covert-way. The rampart is encompassed with a ditch, and is sometimes lined with a fausse-bray and a berme.

RAMPS, (_Rampes_, _Fr._) in _fortification_, are sloping communications, or ways of very gentle ascent, leading from the inward area, or lower part of a work, to the rampart or higher part of it.

RAMS-_horns_, in _fortification_, are a kind of low works made in the ditch, of a circular arc; they were invented by M. Belidor, and serve instead of tenailles.

RAMADAN, _Fr._ a month so called among the Turks, during which period they observe fast days.

RAMASSE, _Fr._ a sort of sledge, in which travellers are conveyed from the tops of mountains that are covered with snow.

RAMASSER, _Fr._ to collect, to get together. _On a ramassé tout ce qu’on a pu trouver de soldats._ They got as many soldiers together as they could.

RAMASSE, _Fr._ Gathered together, collected. This word is likewise used to distinguish men that are hastily raised and embodied, from soldiers who have been regularly disciplined, viz. _Ce ne son pas des troupes reglées, ce sont des gens ramassés._ They are not regular troops, but persons hastily got together.

RAMASSE, _Fr._ strong, vigorous. _Un homme ramasse._ A strong athletic man. _Ramasse_, in this sense, agrees with the English word tight-built, thickset, &c.

RAMAZAN. See RAMADAN.

RAMBERGE, _Fr._ an advice boat.

RAME, _Fr._ an oar. It is likewise called _Aviron_.

_Balle_ RAMEE, _Fr._ Cross-bar shot.

RAMEAUX _de la mine_, _Fr._ Branches belonging to a mine. See GALLERY.

RAMPE _au Pente extrêment douce qu’ont fait le long des talus des ramparts_, _Fr._ a slope, or declivity which is extremely gradual along the talus of ramparts. These slopes contain two toises in breadth, and are cut upon the interior talus. They are made, according to circumstances and the exigencies of the place, sometimes within the angle of the rampart, opposite to the entrance into the bastion, when the latter is full; sometimes along the flanks, or at the flanked angle when the bastion is empty. Pieces of ordnance, ammunition, &c. are conveyed up these slopes to the embrazures of the ramparts.

RANCHER, _Fr._ a sort of ladder which is made of wooden pegs, and is used on various occasions.

RANÇON, _Fr._ Ransom. It was likewise the name of an old French weapon, consisting of a long stake with a sharp iron point at the end, and two blades or wings bent backwards, and extremely keen.

RANCONNER, _Fr._ to ransom.

RANDOM _shot_, in _artillery_, when the piece is elevated at an angle of 45 degrees upon a level plane. See RANGE.

RANG, _Fr._ Rank.

RANG _d’un escadron_ ou _d’un bataillon_, _Fr._ Rank in a squadron of horse, or battalion of infantry. Any straight line which is formed by soldiers standing by the side of each other, is so called.

_Doubler les_ RANGS, _Fr._ to form from rank entire, or to throw one rank into two, and thereby encrease the depth of any given number of men, by diminishing their front. Hence to _double up_, or diminish the front of any leading line.

RANG, _Fr._ the relative rank which is observed in military corps with regard to precedence, tour of duty, &c. In some instances _rang et grade_ mean the same thing.

_De_ RANG, _Fr._ abreast, side by side.

_Paroitre sur les_ RANGS, _Fr._ to enter the list.

_Etre sur les_ RANGS, to be numbered amongst any particular set of men.

_Mettre au_ RANG, _Fr._, to class with, to associate.

_Vaisseau du premier_ RANG, _Fr._ a first rate ship of war.

_Vaisseau du second, ou troisième_ RANG, _Fr._ a second or third rate.

RANGER _la côte_, _Fr._ to sail along the coast.

_Placer par_ RANG _de taille_, _Fr._ To size.

RANGE, in _gunnery_, the distance from the battery to the point where the shot or shell touches the ground.

_Point blank_ RANGE, when the piece lies in a horizontal direction, and upon a level plane, without any elevation or depression, the shot is said to take a point blank range. See POINT BLANK.

RANGEE, _Fr._ a series of things placed upon the same line.

RANGE, EE, _Fr._ the participle of _Ranger_, drawn out or placed in regular order.

_Bataille_ RANGEE, _Fr._ a pitched or set battle, in which two armies are drawn up opposite to one another.

RANGER, _Fr._ to place in a certain line or order.

RANGEZ _vous_, _Fr._ a term in general use among the French when any number of persons are ordered to clear the way, by drawing up on one side or the other of a street or road.

RANGING, in _war_, disposing the troops in proper order for an engagement, manœuvres, or march, &c.

RANK. Range of subordination, degree of authority. The relative situations which officers hold with respect to each other, or to military things in general. Hence _regimental rank_, _local rank_, _rank in the army_, &c.

One of the egregious errors of the British military institutions is, that the officers belonging to the life guards are entitled to the rank of lieutenant colonel, when they obtain, or purchase a majority, provided they have been seven years. Their commissions in this case run major and lieutenant colonel. But if an officer should not have completed either of those periods, he obtains the rank of major only, until its completion. A lieutenant colonel receives the rank of full colonel if he has been seven years major, or twenty one years in the British service. Cornets in the life guards rank as sub-lieutenants in their own corps, and as first lieutenants in the army. The English fuzileers enjoy the same privilege. Sub-lieutenants in the Welsh fuzileers rank only as second lieutenants in the army. Marines do the same.

With respect to rank in general, the following are the rules of the British army, by which the relative rank of the officers of the regulars, militia, fencibles, yeomanry cavalry, and volunteer corps, is to be determined.

Officers of the regular forces command the officers of equal degree, belonging to the other services; with the exception after mentioned.

Officers of the militia, fencibles, yeomanry cavalry, and volunteer corps, rank together according to the dates of their respective commissions.

Notwithstanding this regulation, such officers of fencibles as have commissions dated on or before the 25th July, 1798, continue to rank with the officers of the regular forces of equal degree, according to the dates of their respective commissions: unless when acting in conjunction also with officers of the militia; in which case, if the commission of the fencible officer be of a junior date to that of a militia officer, of the same degree, the regular officer of equal rank, although his commission be of a junior date to that of the fencible officer, commands both.

It will further be observed, that all commands in the regular forces fall to the eldest officers in the same circumstances, whether of cavalry or infantry, entire or in parties. In case two commissions of the same date interfere, a retrospect is to be had to former commissions. Should it happen, as it possibly may, that the original commissions interfere, it must be decided by lot.

In page 49 of the Articles of War, it is laid down, that the eldest officer is to command when any troops of the horse guards, and the regiment of horse guards, shall do duty together; or when any of the life guards, horse or foot guards, shall do duty with any other corps. The regiments of life guards, doing duty unmixed, are to be considered as one corps; and the officers are to take rank according to the dates of their commissions. The same holds good with respect to the foot guards. Regular officers with whom militia officers take rank as youngest, command officers of equal degree in the fencibles, yeomanry cavalry, and volunteer corps, who are to rank together according to the dares of commissions.

_To_ RANK _with_, to hold the same relative situation with regard to others. Thus post captains of three years standing in the royal navy rank with colonels in the army; and lieutenants in the guards rank with captains in the line or regulars. Officers in the militia rank generally with the regular forces as junior of their respective commissions. An ensign in the guards ranks no higher than an ensign in the regulars.

_To_ RANK _with_, in a figurative sense, to be in equal estimation, to bear the same character for skill and valor, &c. viz. lord Nelson ranks with the bravest seaman that England, or any other country, has ever produced; Bonaparte with the greatest general in ancient or modern history; Washington with Cincinnatus; and Montgomery with Wolfe, Decatur with Desaix, or Lannes.

_Brevet_-RANK. Rank without pay, nominal distinction, which sometimes entitles the holder of it to command in mixed service.

Brigade majors rank with captains, provided they have that rank in the army, independent of their staff appointment. But aids-de-camp do not possess any rank in that capacity with regard to the army. The latter constitutes a part of the general’s family, and are paid out of his allowance; they are in fact the mere carriers of his orders in the field, and his domestic inmates at home, &c. The former belonging to the brigade, and are a necessary part of its effective force.

There is likewise a sort of brevet rank which exists in the several regiments belonging to the British service, and is confined to the rank and file, or corporals and private soldiers. Thus a lance serjeant is a corporal who does the duty of serjeant without the pay or emoluments of the latter; and a lance corporal is a private soldier who does the duty of corporal. So that _lance_, which comes from _lansquenet_, which signifies a private soldier, and is derived from the German, and when put before serjeant or corporal, points out that a private soldier has the brevet rank of one of those situations. Captains of companies appoint or reduce lance serjeants or corporals, according to their judgment.

RANK, _and precedence in the army and navy_, are as follow:

_Engineers_ RANK. Chief, as colonel; director, as lieutenant colonel; sub-director, as major; engineer in ordinary, as captain; engineer extraordinary, as captain lieutenant; sub-engineer, as lieutenant; practitioner engineer, as ensign.

_Navy_ RANK. Admiral, or commander in chief of the British fleet, has the rank of a field marshal; admirals, with their flags on the main top-mast head, rank with generals of horse and foot; vice-admirals, with lieutenant generals; rear-admirals, as major generals; commodores, with broad pendants, as brigadier generals; captains of post ships, after three years from the date of their first commission, as colonel; other captains, as commanding post ships, as lieutenant colonels; captains not taking post, as majors; lieutenants as captains.

The rank and precedence of sea officers in the classes abovementioned, are to take place according to the seniority of their respective commissions in the sea service. Post captains commanding ships or vessels that do not give post, rank only as majors during the time they command those vessels.

Nothing in this shall give any pretence to land officers to command any of his majesty’s squadrons; nor to any sea officer to command on shore; nor shall either have right to demand the military honors due to their respective ranks, unless upon actual service.

RANK, is a straight line made by the soldiers of a battalion, or squadron, drawn up side by side: this order was established for the marches, and for regulating the different bodies of troops and officers which compose an army.

_Doubling of the_ RANKS, is the changing one rank to two, by telling off the files, _one_, _two_, _one_, _two_, &c. and by the word, _even files to the rear double_; this method is frequently used in the manœuvres of a regiment.

RANK _and file_, men carrying the firelock, and standing in the ranks, are called rank and file. Thus corporals are included in the return which is made under that head.

RANKS _and files_, are the horizontal and vertical lines of soldiers when drawn up for service, &c.

RAPE, _Fr._ a rasp, a file.

RAPIDES, _Fr._ Falls in a river are so called; as the falls in the rivers Ohio and St. Laurence, &c.

RAPIER, (_Rapiére_, _Fr._) formerly signified a long, old fashioned broadsword, such as those worn by the Scotch regiments; but now is understood only to mean a small sword, in contradistinction to a broad sword.

RAPINE, _Fr._ Rapine, plunder,

RAPPORT, _Fr._ Report.

RAPPORT, _Fr._ in mathematics, a term frequently used among the French. It bears the same import as _raison_, and signifies the relation which two quantities have one with another. Thus the _rapport_ or relation between twelve and six is the same as between six and three.

RAPPORTEUR, _Fr._ in geometry, an instrument made in the figure of a half-circle, and divided into one hundred and eighty degrees. We call it a _protractor_. It is used for the purpose of ascertaining the openings in angles, and to take plans upon paper.

RAREFACTION, the extension of the parts of a body, by which it is made to take up more room than it did before. It is essentially connected with gunnery; for in proportion to the rapid combustion and consequent rarefaction of air, produced by the ignition of gunpowder confined in the chamber of a gun, so will be the force of expulsion with which the charge is propelled.

RAS, _Fr._ Every barge and vessel, &c. which is without any deck or upward covering, is called by the French _batiment ras_.

RASANTE, _Fr._ See LIGNE RASANTE.

RASANT, RAZANT, in _fortification_, rasant flank, or line, is that part of the curtain or flank whence the shot projected raze or glance along the surface of the opposite bastion.

RASE, _Fr._ Pitch and tar mixed with tow for the purpose of caulking a ship.

RASLE, _Fr._ This word is used in some parts of France to signify rafter, and means the same as chevron.

RASALDAR, _Ind._ the commander of _Rasallah_, which is ten thousand horsemen armed.

RASSEMBLER, _Fr._ to collect together.

RASSEMBLER _des troups_, _Fr._ to call troops or forces together.

RASSEMBLER _les debris d’une armée_, _Fr._ to collect together the broken parts, or scattered remnants of an army. It is likewise used with the personal pronoun, viz. _Tous les soldats dispersés se rassemblerent autour du drapeau._ All the soldiers or troops that had been dispersed, gathered together round the standard or colors.

RASSEMBLER _les forces d’un cheval_, to put a horse well upon his haunches.

RASSIS, _Fr._ Stale; as _pain rassis_, stale bread.

RASSURER, _Fr._ to restore confidence, to encourage, to invigorate. _Quelques soldats commencionent à s’ébranler, quand l’exemple de leur capitaine les rassura._ Some soldiers began to give way, when the example of their captain inspired them with fresh confidence.

RAT, _Fr._ literally means rat. It is used in a figurative sense, viz. _Une arme à feu a pris un rat._ A musquet has missed fire.

RAT. _Fr._ a sort of floating platform made of planks which are tied together upon two or three masts. It is used in caulking ships, &c.

RATAN, a cane used by serjeants of companies, in the British service in drilling the men, and with which, in other countries, the non-commissioned officers and privates, are beaten for slight offences; the Austrian discipline was thus conducted, till they have been beaten out of their manhood and self-respect. The Prussians abolished this barbarous custom after the battle of Jena.

RATELIER, _Fr._ a rack used in armories, &c. for the purpose of keeping firearms arranged in proper order.

RATER, _Fr._ to miss fire. _Son pistolet a rate._ His pistol has missed fire.

RATER likewise means, figuratively, to be unsuccessful in an application. _Il a rate sa charge._ He did not get the commission.

RATES _of subsistence_, See PAY.

RATION, a certain allowance which is given in bread, &c. or forage when troops are on service, for an officer or soldier in the British service.

_Complete Ration of the small species._

Flour, or bread 1¹⁄₂ lbs.
Beef 1
Or pork ¹⁄₂
Peas ¹⁄₄ pint.
Butter, or cheese 1 oz.
Rice 1 oz.

When the small species are not issued, 1¹⁄₂ lbs. of flour or bread, with 1¹⁄₂ lbs. of beef, or 10 oz. of pork, forms a complete ration: or 3 lbs. of beef; or 2 lbs. of cheese; or half a pound of rice, forms a complete ration.

At sea the ration is different. The following table contains the allowance for six soldiers, or four seamen on board of ship, for each day in the week. Women are provisioned at a half and children at one fourth of a soldier’s allowance, but receive no rum.

+----------+------+--------------+--------------------+
| | |Beer, gallons,| |
| | |or half pints | |
| Days of | |of spirits, or| Beef, |
| the Week.|Bread.|pints of wine.| pieces of 8 lbs. |
+----------+------+--------------+--------------------+
| | lb. | | |
|Sunday, | 4 | 4 | -- |
|Monday, | 4 | 4 | -- |
|Tuesday, | 4 | 4 | 1 |
|Wednesday,| 4 | 4 |or 6lbs. of flour |
|Thursday, | 4 | 4 |or ¹⁄₂lb. of suet |
|Friday, | 4 | 4 |and 1lb. of raisins.|
|Saturday, | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| | | | or as above. |
+----------+------+--------------+--------------------+