Chapter I: DO HEREBY CERTIFY, upon my word and honor, as an officer and (14)

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VENT _d’un boulet de canon_, _Fr._ The wind of a cannon ball.

_Coup de_ VENT, _Fr._ Heavy weather; a squall.

VENT _reglé_, _Fr._ A regular wind; such as the trade-wind.

_Avoir du_ VENT, _Fr._ In farriery; to be pursy.

VENTS _alizes_, _Fr._ Trade winds.

VENTAIL. That part of a helmet which is made to lift up.

VENTOUSES, _Fr._ Air-holes, ventilators.

VENTRE, _Fr._ Belly; womb. When a piece of ordnance is off its carriage, and lies on the ground, it is said, among the French, to be upon its belly--_etre sur le ventre_.

_Se coucher_ VENTRE _à terre_. To lie down flat on your face. _Le capitaine ordonna à ses soldats de se coucher ventre à terre._ The captain ordered his men to lie on their bellies. This frequently occurs in action, when any part of the line or detached body is so posted as to be within reach of the enemy’s cannon, and not sufficiently near to make use of its own musquetry.

_Demander pardon_ VENTRE _à terre_. To ask pardon in the most abject position.

VERANDA, _Ind._ The covering of houses, being extended beyond the main wall of building, by means of a slanting roof, forming external rooms or passages; a colonade; balcony; gallery.

VERBAL _orders_. Instructions given by word of mouth, which, when communicated through an official channel, are to be considered as equally binding with written ones.

VERBAL, _Fr._ Verbal; given by word of mouth.

_Procès_ VERBAL, _Fr._ A verbal deposition.

VERD, _Fr._ Green. This word is sometimes used in a figurative sense by the French, viz.

_Homme_ VERD _or_ VERT, _Fr._ A resolute man.

_Tête_ VERTE, _Fr._ A giddy thoughtless fellow.

VERD _pour les chevaux_, _Fr._ Green forage or grass. In the _ancien regime_ of France, the cavalry and dragoon horses, when quartered in a flat country, were allowed to be thirty days at grass; the particular period was left to the discretion of the commanding officers. The term was sometimes extended to forty days, without any deduction being made for the ten days; by means of which an emolument accrued to the captains of troops, not only from the horses which were actually sent to grass, but likewise for those that were returned as such.

VERDIGREASE, (_Verd-de-Gris_, _Fr._) A kind of rust of copper, which is of great use among painters. It is also taken medicinally.

VERGE, _Fr._ A yard; a measure; a switch, &c.

VERGE _Rhinlandique_, _Fr._ The Rhinland rod; a measure which is equal to two French toises, or to 12 French feet. It is often used by Dutch engineers, in the measuring of works in a fortification.

VERGE _d’or_, _Fr._ The same as _arbalete_, _arbalestrille_, or Jacob’s staff; in astronomy, a beam of light.

VERGES, _Fr._ Rods.

_Passer par les_ VERGES, _Fr._ A punishment which was formerly practised among the French. The same as running the gauntlet. See PUNITIONS CORPORELLES.

VERGES, _Fr._ Twigs or branches measuring from ten to twelve feet in length, which are used in making fascines.

VERNIS, _Fr._ Varnish.

VEROLE, _Fr._ Great pox, which see. Notwithstanding the prevalence of this disorder in France, and throughout Europe, it is reckoned so dreadful a visitation, that the French have a familiar proverb which says, _Si tu ne crains pas Dieu, au moins crains la verole_; if thou art not afraid of God, dread, at least, the pox. Vaccine should be introduced in all armies.

VERRE _pour prendre hauteur_, _Fr._ A thick colored glass, through which an observation is taken of the sun.

VERRE _pilé_, _Fr._ Broken pieces of glass, which are sometimes used in artificial fire-works.

VERRIN, _Fr._ A machine which is used to raise large weights; such as cannon, &c.

VERROU, _Fr._ A bolt.

VERSER, _Fr._ To spill, to shed.

VERSER _son sang pour la patrie_, _Fr._ To shed one’s blood for the country.

VERTICAL, (_vertical_, _Fr._) Perpendicular.

VERTICAL _point_, (_point vertical_, _Fr._) A term used in astronomy, to express an imaginary point in the heavens, which is supposed to fall perpendicularly upon our heads.

VESTIBULE, _Fr._ Porch; entry; hall.

VESTIBULE, (_vestibule_, _Fr._) In fortification, is that space or covered ground which is in front of guard houses, and is generally supported by pillars. In a more general sense, any large open space before the door or entrance of a house. Daviler derives the word from _vestes_ and _ambulo_, by reason people there begin to let their trains fall. It is properly the outer hall in which persons were accustomed to take off their outer garments or great coats.

VETERAN, (_veteran_, _Fr._) This word comes from the Latin _veteranus_, a soldier in the Roman militia, who was grown old in the service, or who had made a certain number of campaigns, and on that account was entitled to certain benefits and privileges.

Twenty years service were sufficient to entitle a man to the benefit of a veteran. These privileges consisted in being absolved from the military oath, in being excused all the duties and functions of a soldier, and in being allowed a certain salary or appointment.

A French soldier is entitled to the honorable name of veteran, after he has served twenty-four years, without any break in his service,

VETERANCE, _Fr._ The state, condition of an old soldier.

_Lettre de_ VETERANCE, _Fr._ The document or letter which enables an old soldier to claim the rights and privileges of a veteran.

VETERINAIRE, _Fr._ See VETERINARY.

_Ecole_ VETERINAIRE, _Fr._ Veterinary school.

VETERINARIAN, (_Veterinarius_, Lat.) One skilled in the diseases of cattle; a farrier, or horse doctor.

VETERINARY, Appertaining to the science of taking care of cattle.

VETERINARY _surgeon_. The surgeon appointed to take care of the horses in a cavalry or dragoon regiment is so called. He is subordinate and accountable to the veterinary college.

VETILLES, _Fr._ This word literally signifies trifles. In artificial fire-works they are small serpentine compositions, confined within a single roll of paper. They have generally three lines in diameter.

VEXATIOUS _and groundless_. Charges of accusation, and appeals for redress of wrongs are so called, when the persons who make them cannot substantiate their subject matter. Officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers are liable to be punished at the discretion of a general court martial for vexatious conduct. Charges are sometimes peremptorily dismissed, without permitting them to stand the investigation of a court martial, when they appear vexatious and frivolous.

UGHUN, or _Aughun_, _Ind._ A month which partly corresponds with November; it follows Katik.

VIANDE, _Fr._ Meat; animal food. In the old regime every French soldier was allowed half a pound of meat per day.

M. de Louvois, who was minister of war under the old government of France, formed a plan, recommending, that a quantity of dried meat, reduced to powder, should be distributed to troops on service. He took the idea from a custom which is prevalent in the East. He did not, however, live to fulfil his intentions, although he had already constructed copper ovens that were large enough to contain eight bullocks. Very excellent broth can be made of this powder; one ounce of which boiled in water, will supply a sufficient quantity for four men; and one pound of fresh meat gives one ounce of powder; so that, according to the inventor’s assertion, there is a saving of one pound. The portable soup-balls which are sold for sea use, are of the same nature.

VIBRATION. See PENDULUM.

VICE-ADMIRAL, (_vice-amiral_, _Fr._) A naval officer of the second rank; who takes rank with generals of horse. Louis XIV. who endeavored to establish a French navy in 1669, created two vice-admirals of the fleet, whom he called vice-admiral of the east, and vice-admiral of the west.

VICTOR. A conqueror; generally applied to the chief officer of a successful army.

VICTORY, (_victoire_, _Fr._) The overthrow or defeat of an enemy in war, combat, duel, or the like.

VICTUAILLES, _Fr._ The provisions which are embarked on board ships of war are so called by the French.

VICTUAILLEUR, _Fr._ Victualler.

VICTUALS. Food or sustenance allowed to the troops, under certain regulations, whether on shore or embarked in transports.

VICTUALLERS. See SUTLERS.

VIEUX _corps_, _Fr._ A term used among the French before the revolution, to distinguish certain old regiments. There were six of this description, viz. Picardy, Piedmont, Navarre, Champagne, Normandy, and the marine corps. The three first were formed in 1562, and that of Champagne in 1575. They were then called _Les vieilles bandes_; the ancient or old bands; and before that period, each was known by the name of its colonel.

_Les petits_ VIEUX _corps_, _Fr._ La Tour du Pin, Bourbonnois, Auvergne, Belsunce, Meilly, and the regiment du Roi, or the king’s own, were so called during the French monarchy. All the other regiments ranked according to the several dates of their creation, and the officers took precedence in consequence of it.

VIEW _of a place_. The view of a place is said to be taken when the general, accompanied by an engineer, reconnoitres it, that is, rides round the place, observing its situation, with the nature of the country about it; as hills, valleys, rivers, marshes, woods, hedges, &c.; thence to judge of the most convenient place for opening the trenches and carrying on the approaches; to find out proper places for encamping the army, and for the park of artillery.

_To_ VIEW. See _To_ RECONNOITRE. See _Am. Mil. Lib._

VIF, _Fr._ This word is frequently used among the French to signify the core, or inside of any thing--viz:

VIF _d’un arbre_, _Fr._ The inside of a tree.

VIF _d’une pierre_, _Fr._ The inside of a stone.

VIF _de l’eau_, _Fr._ High water.

VIGIER, _Fr._ To keep watch.

VIGIER _une flotte de vaisseaux marchands_, _Fr._ To convoy a fleet of merchantmen.

VIGIES, _Fr._ A term given to certain rocks under water near the Azores. Vigie likewise signifies a watch, or centinel on board a ship; but it is chiefly used among the Spaniards in South America.

VIGILANT, (_vigilant_, _Fr._) Watchful, attentive.

VIGOROUS, (_vigoreux_, _Fr._) Strong, brisk, active, resolute.

VIGOTE, _Fr._ A model by which the calibres of pieces of ordnance are ascertained, in order to pick out appropriate bullets. This model consists of a plate of sheet iron in which there are holes of different sizes, according to the several calibres of cannon.

VILBREQUIN, _Fr._ A wimble.

VILLE, _Fr._ See TOWN.

VIN, _Fr._ Wine.

VINCIBLE. Conquerable; in a state to be defeated.

VINDAS, _Fr._ See WINDLASS.

VINEGAR, (_Vinaigre_, _Fr._) Vinegar is frequently used in the artillery to cool pieces of ordnance. Two pints of vinegar to four of water is the usual mixture for this purpose.

VINTAINE, _Fr._ A small rope which masons use to prevent stones from hitting against a wall when they draw them up.

VIOLENCE. Force, attack, assault.

VIRAGO. A female warrior; a scold.

VIRER, _Fr._ To change, to turn round. This word is used figuratively by the French, viz. _Tourner et virer_; to beat about the bush; as _Tourner et virer quel-qu’un_, in an active sense, to pump another.

VIREVAU, _Fr._ A draw-beam, a capstan.

VIRE-VOLTE, _Fr._ A quick turning about. It is a term of the manege.

VIROLE, _Fr._ A ferrule; verrel.

VIS, _Fr._ Screw, vice, spindle-tree.

VISIER, VIZIER, VIZIR, (_Visir_, _Fr._) An officer or dignity in the Ottoman Empire; whereof there are two kinds, the first called by the Turks Vizir Azem, or grand Vizir, first created in 1370 by Amurath the First, in order to ease himself of the chief and weightier affairs of the government. The grand Vizir possesses great powers, especially with regard to military affairs. The orders he issues are so thoroughly discretional, that when he quits Constantinople to join the army, he does not even communicate his intentions to the sultan. This system entirely differs from that which is followed by European generals. When the latter take the field, they proceed upon plans that have been previously digested; and although they may occasionally change their dispositions, yet they never deviate from the essential and governing principles.

The grand Vizir, on the contrary, not only makes the arrangements according to his own judgment, but he even changes an operation that has been previously ordered by the sultan, if, on his arrival at the spot, he should think it expedient to employ the troops in a different way. This absolute power is not, however, without its risk; for if the grand Vizir should fail in his enterprize, it is more than probable that the sultan will cause him to be beheaded: a punishment which has long been familiar to the Turks, from the arbitrary manner in which it is practised, and the frequency of its occurrence.

When the Turks engage an enemy, the grand Vizir generally remains with the reserve, and seldom mingles with the main body, which is soon converted into a mob of desperate combatants. The war which had been carried into Egypt, bid fair to change the whole system of Turkish tactics.

VIZIER _Nawab of Oude_, the prime minister of the Mogul empire; he became sovereign of Oude and Lucknow; he was deposed by the British in 1795, and the sovereignty assumed by the British government.

VISIERE, _Fr._ The _sight_, which is fixed on the barrel of a musquet or firelock.

_To_ VISIT, (_Visiter_, _Fr._) To go to any place, as quarters, barracks, hospital, &c. for the purpose of noticing whether the orders or regulations which have been issued respecting it, are observed.

VISITE _des Postes_, _Fr._ The act of visiting posts, &c.

_Faire la_ VISITE, _Fr._ To visit, to inspect.

VISITEUR, _Fr._ The person who visits or goes the rounds.

VISITING _Officer_. He whose duty it is to visit the guards, barracks, messes, hospital, &c. See ORDERLY OFFICER.

VISOR, VIZARD, That part of the helmet which covered the face.

VITAL AIR, or azote and oxygene, now properly called _nitrogene gas_; the cause of the rapid ignition of gunpowder, is the expansion of the air or oxygene which it contains.

VITCHOURA, _Fr._ A furred coat.

VITESSE, _Fr._ Dispatch; promptitude of action.

VITONIERES, _Fr._ Limber holes.

VIVANDIERS, _Fr._ Victuallers, sutlers, &c.

VIVAT, _Fr._ A familiar exclamation, which is used not only by the French, but by the Dutch, Germans--it comes from the Latin, and signifies literally, May he live!

VIVE _le Roi!_ _Fr._ Long live the king!

VIVE _la Republique!_ _Fr._ Long live the republic!

_Qui vive?_ _Fr._ A military phrase which is used in challenging--Who comes there?

VIVRE, _vivres_, _Fr._ Food, provisions, subsistence. In the _Dictionnaire Militaire_, vol. iii. page 525, is an interesting account of the manner in which troops were subsisted during the first years of the French monarchy.

VIVRES _et leur distribution chez les Turcs_, _Fr._ The kind of provisions, &c. and the manner in which they are distributed among the Turks. The food or provisions for the Turkish soldiery form an immediate part of the military baggage.

The government supplies flour, bread, biscuit, rice, bulgur or peeled barley, butter, mutton, and beef, and grain for the horses, which is almost wholly barley.

The bread is generally moist, not having been leavened, and is almost always ready to mould. On which account the Armenians, who are the bakers, bake every day in ovens that have been constructed under ground for the use of the army. When there is not sufficient time to bake bread, biscuit is distributed among the men.

The ration of bread for each soldier consists of one hundred drams per day, or fifty drams of biscuit, sixty of beef or mutton, twenty-five of butter to bake the peeled barley in, and fifty of rice. The rice is given on Friday every week, on which day they likewise receive a ration of fifty drams of bulgur mixed with butter, as an extraordinary allowance, making a kind of water-gruel.

These provisions are distributed in two different quarters. The meat is given out at the government butchery, where a certain number of Armenians, Greeks, and Jews regularly attend. Each company sends a head cook, who goes with a cart and receives the allowance from a sort of quarter-master serjeant, who is in waiting with a regular return of what is wanted for each oda.

This person is stiled among the Turks _Meidan Chiaous_. He stands upon a spot of ground which is more elevated than the rest, and receives the allowance due to his district.

The distribution of bread, &c. is made within the precincts of the Tefterdar-Bascy, where the Vekil-karet attends as director or superintendant of stores and provisions, and by whose order they are delivered.

When the allowance is brought to the oda or company, the Vekil-karet, a sort of quarter-master, sees it regularly measured out, and if any portions be deficient, he takes note of the same, in order to have them replaced for the benefit of the company. The remainder is then given to the head cook, who divides it into two meals, one for eleven o’clock in the morning, and the other for seven in the evening.

These two meals consist of boiled or stewed meat, mixed with rice, and seasoned with pepper and salt; water-gruel being regularly made for each man on Friday.

There are six kitchen boys or quateri attached to each oda, by which they are paid a certain subsistence. On solemn occasions, and on festival days, the quateri are dressed in long gowns made of skins, with borders to them; they likewise wear a large knife with an encrusted silver handle, which hangs at their side. They serve up the victuals in two copper vessels, that are laid upon a table covered with a skin, round which seven or eight persons may be seated.

VIVRIERS, _Fr._ Clerks and other persons employed by the commissary-general, or contractor for stores and provisions.

Mons. Dupré D’Aulnay, in a work entitled _Traité des Subsistances Militaires_, has suggested the establishment of a regular corps of _Vivriers_ or persons whose sole duty should be to attend to the subsistence of an army, in the field as well as in garrison. His reasoning upon this subject is very acute, full of good sense, and seems calculated to produce that system of economy and wholesome distribution, that, to this day, are so manifestly wanted in all military arrangements.

VIZ, _Ind._ A small coin; it is also a weight equal to about three pounds; but differs much in value according to place.

VIZARUT, _Ind._ The office of Vizier.

VIZIER, _Ind._ Prime minister.

ULANS, _Fr._ This word is sometimes written Hulans. A certain description of militia among the modern Tartars was so called. They formerly did duty in Poland and Lithuania, and served as light cavalry.

It is not exactly known at what epoch the Tartars first came into Poland and Lithuania. Dlugossus, in his history of Poland, book XI. page 243, relates, that there were troops or companies of Tartars attached to the army which was under the command of Alexander Witholde, grand duke of Lithuania. Heidenstein, in his account of Poland, _Rer. Polonic._, page 152, makes mention of a corps of Tartars belonging to the army which Stephen Bathori, king of Poland, carried into the field when he fought the Russians. This corps, according to the same author, was headed by one _Ulan_, who said he was descended from the princes of Tartary.

Although the origin of the word Ulan, as far as it regards the modern militia so called, does not appear to be indisputably ascertained, it is nevertheless well proved, that besides the Tartar chief under Stephen Bathori, the person, who in the reign of Augustus the II. formed the first pulk, or regiment of that description, was not only called Ulan himself, but likewise gave the name to the whole body under his command. This chief is mentioned in the records of the military institution of Poland in 1717. He was then colonel or commandant of the first pulk, or king’s regiment, and there were three captains under him of the same name, viz:--Joseph Ulan, David Ulan, and Cimbey Ulan. In 1744, one of these was captain of a company of Ulans in Bohemia, and was afterwards colonel of a corps of the same description in Poland. He is likewise said to have been descended from the Tartar princes. It is, however, left undecided, whether _Ulan_ be the name of a particular family, or a term given to distinguish some post of honor; or again, whether it barely signify a certain class of turbulent haughty soldiers, such as the Streletz of Russia, or the Janizaries of Constantinople.

If there be any thing which can make us question the authenticity or probability of this account, it is the passage we find in the book already quoted--viz: Dlugossus, where he says liv. XIII. page 403, that in 1467 an ambassador from Tartary had arrived at Petrigkow to announce to king Casimir, that, after the death of Ecziger his son Nordowlad, had ascended the throne of Tartary with the unanimous consent and concurrence of all the princes and _Ulans_. Quitting the etymology of the word, and leaving the original name to the determination of wise and scientific men, we shall confine our present researches to the modern establishment of the Ulans; which, by the best accounts, we find to have happened in 1717.

It is acknowleged by all writers, that the Ulans are a militia, and not a particular nation or class of people; their origin, in this particular, resembles that of the Cossacks. When Augustus II. in 1717 altered the military establishment of Poland, he formed two regiments of Ulans; one consisting of six hundred men, which had already existed, and was called the king’s pulk, and the other of four hundred men, which was given to the great general of the republic.

Augustus III. on his accession to the throne, took both these regiments into his own immediate pay, and afterwards augmented the establishment by raising several other pulks or corps of this description. The Ulans are mounted on Polish or Tartar horses, and do the same duty that is allotted to hussars; with this essential difference, that they are better armed and accoutred, and that their horses excel those of the hussars in strength and swiftness, although they are mostly of the same size. The Ulans have frequently distinguished themselves on service, particularly in Bohemia.

Their principal weapon is a lance five feet long, at the end of which hangs a silk streamer, that serves to frighten the horse of the Ulan’s opponent, by its fluttering and noise. The lance is suspended on his right side, by means of a belt that is worn across the Ulan’s shoulders, or by a small leather thong which goes round his right arm, the end of the lance resting in a sort of stay that is attached to the stirrup. Before the Ulan takes his aim, he plants his lance upon his foot and throws it with so much dexterity, that he seldom misses his object.

The dress of the Ulan consists of a short jacket, trowsers or pantaloons made like those of the Turks, which reach to the ancle bone, and button above the hips. He wears a belt across his waist. The upper garment is a sort of Turkish robe with small facings, which reaches to the calf of the leg; his head is covered with a Polish cap. The color of the streamer which is fixed to the end of the lance, as well as that of the facings, varies according to the different pulks or regiments which it is meant to distinguish. The Ulan is likewise armed with a sabre, and a brace of pistols which hang from his waistbelt.

As the Ulans consider themselves in the light of free and independent gentlemen, every individual amongst them has one servant, if not two, called _pocztowy_ or _pacholeks_, whose sole business is to attend to their baggage and horses. When the Ulans take the field, these servants or batmen form a second or detached line, and fight separately from their masters. They are armed with a carbine, which weapon is looked upon with contempt by their masters, and they clothe themselves in the best manner they can.

The Ulans generally engage the enemy in small platoons or squads, after the manner of the hussars; occasionally breaking into the most desultory order. They rally with the greatest skill, and frequently affect to run away for the purpose of inducing their opponents to pursue them loosely: a circumstance which seldom fails to be fatal to the latter, as the instant the pursuers have quitted their main body, the Ulan wheels to the right about, gets the start of him through the activity of his horse, and obtains that advantage, hand to hand, which the other possessed whilst he acted in close order.

The instant the Ulans charge an enemy, their servants or batmen form and stand in squadrons or platoons, in order to afford them, under circumstances of repulse, a temporary shelter behind, and to check the enemy. The batmen belonging to the Ulans are extremely clever in laying ambushes.

The pay of the Ulans in time of peace is very moderate. Poland, before its infamous dismemberment and partition by Russia, Prussia, and Austria, kept a regular establishment of four squadrons and ten companies on foot. These troops were annually supplied with a thousand rations of bread and forage, which quantity was paid them at the rate of 272 florins, Polish money, per ration. The grand duchy of Lithuania subsisted, in the same manner, fifteen other companies of Ulans. The other pulks were paid by the king. The annual pay of the captains was five rations, and that of the subalterns two; that is 1360 florins to the former, and 544 florins to the latter.

In 1743 marshal Saxe, with the approbation and concurrence of the French court, raised a regiment of Ulans, which was attached to the military establishment of that country. This corps consisted of one thousand men, divided into six squadrons, each squadron composed of one hundred and sixty men, eighty of whom were Ulans, and eighty dragoons. So that the regiment consisted of five hundred Ulans, properly so called, armed and accoutred like those in Poland, and the other five hundred were dragoons, without being considered as the servants or batmen of the Ulans; in which instance they differed from the pacholeks of the Polish Ulans. These dragoons were paid by the king; whereas in Poland each Ulan paid his own servant or batman, who looked to him only for clothing, arms, and subsistence. On the death of marshal Saxe, the Ulans in France were reduced; and the dragoons only kept upon the establishment. They were considered as a regiment; being at first given to count de Frise, who was a major-general in the service, and became their colonel, and they remained on that footing until the revolution.

The uniform of the French Ulans consisted of a green coat or cloak, with green breeches, Hungarian half-boots, pinchbeck helmet with a turban twisted round it of Russian leather; the tail or mane of the helmet consisted of horse-hair, which was colored according to the facings of the brigade; their arms were a lance nine feet long, with a floating streamer at the top, a sabre, and a pistol in the waistbelt.

The dragoons were clothed like other regular troops. Their coat was green, with cream-colored facings and scarlet linings; plain brass buttons, and aiguillette or tagged point, made of red worsted; a fawn colored waistcoat, edged round with scarlet; leather breeches; half-boots that were laced up to the calf of the leg; pinchbeck helmet, with a seal skin turban round it, and two rosettes made of pinchbeck; the top was adorned with horse-hair, which hung behind. Their arms consisted of a fusil with a bayonet, which was always fixed; two pistols and a sabre; the horse was covered with a wolf’s skin. The Ulans rode horses which were somewhat lower than those of the dragoons, and were more active.

At the commencement of the French revolution, particularly in 1792 and 1793, the Ulans belonging to the Imperial army that endeavored to penetrate into France, were the terror of the inhabitants all along the frontiers. The excesses which they committed, and the desolation they occasioned, rendered their very name a signal of alarm. They seldom gave quarter, and they never received it.

ULTIMATUM. A term used in negociations to signify the last condition or conditions upon which propositions, that have been mutually exchanged, can be finally ratified.

ULTRAMARINE. From beyond the sea--foreign. It is also the name of a very delicate sky blue powder made from _lapis lazuli_, and used in the _drawing_ of plans, &c.

ULTRAMONTANE. Derived from the Latin _Ultra_, beyond, and _Mons_, mountain. This term is principally used in relation to Italy and France, which are separated by the Alps. According to Bayley, _Ultramontanus_ is a name given by the Italians to all people who live beyond the Alps.

UMBO. The pointed boss or prominent part in the centre of a shield or buckler

UMBRIERE. The visor of a helmet.

UMPIRE. An arbitrator, or a power which interferes for the adjustment of a dispute or contest.

UNARMED. The state of being without armor or weapons.

_To_ UNCASE. In a military sense to display, to exhibit--As to uncase the colors. It is opposed to the word, _To Case_, which signifies to put up--to enclose.

_To_ UNCOVER. When troops deploy, the different leading companies or divisions, &c. successively uncover those in their rear, by marching out from the light or left of the column.

UNCONDITIONAL. At discretion; not limited by any terms or stipulations.

UNCONQUERED. Not subdued or defeated; in opposition to conquered or defeated.

UNDAUNTED. Not appalled by fear; valiant.

UNDECAGON. A regular polygon of eleven sides or angles.

UNDER. This preposition is variously used in military matters, viz.

UNDER _Command_, (_Sous Ordre_, _Fr._) In subjection to; liable to be ordered to do any particular duty.

UNDER _Cover_, (_à couvert_, _à l’abri_, _Fr._) Shielded, protected, &c. See COVER.

UNDER _Arms_, (_Sous Armes_, _Fr._) A battalion, troop, or company is said to be under arms when the men are drawn up regularly armed and accoutred, &c.

_To_ UNDERMINE. To dig cavities under any thing, so that it may fall, or be blown up; to excavate.

_To_ UNDERMINE. In a figurative sense, to injure by clandestine means. The discipline of the army may be _undermined_ by secret practices and cabals; the want of a fit capacity at the head of the war office, will operate like the want of brains in the human head; and the most enterprizing officer may be undermined by the insinuations of a cowardly parasite and reporter.

UNDERMINER. A sapper, one who digs a mine.

UNDER-_officer_. An inferior officer; one in a subordinate situation.

UNDISCIPLINED. Not yet trained to regularity or order; not perfect in exercise or manœuvres.

_To_ UNFIX. In a military sense, to take off, as _Unfix Bayonet_, on which the soldier disengages the bayonet from his piece, and returns it to the scabbard. The word _return_, as we have already observed, is sometimes used instead of unfix.--But it is improperly used, although it more immediately corresponds with the French term _Remettre_.

UNFORTIFIED. Not strengthened or secured by any walls, bulwarks, or fortifications.

UNFURLED. A standard or colors, when expanded and displayed, is said to be unfurled.

UNGENTLEMANLIKE, UNOFFICERLIKE, (_Malhonnête_, _Grossier_, _Fr._) Not like a gentleman or officer. Conduct unbecoming the character of either is so called. This clause which will be always found to depend on the state of _morals_ and _manners_, affords a vast latitude to a military court, which, after all, is not more free from prejudice or influence than any other tribunal, though they are both jurors and judges. Officers convicted thereof are to be discharged from the service. See ARTICLES OF WAR.

UNHARNESSED. Disarmed; divested of armor or weapons of offence.

UNHORSED. Thrown from the saddle; dismounted.

UNHOSTILE. Not inimical, or belonging to an enemy.

UNIFORM, (_Uniforme_, _Fr._) This word, though in a military sense it signifies the same as regimental, which is used both as a substantive and an adjective, may nevertheless be considered in a more extensive light. Uniform is applied to the different sorts of clothing by which whole armies are distinguished from one another; whereas regimental means properly the dress of the component parts of some national force. Thus the national uniform of the American army is blue, as is that of the modern French, white of the Austrian, green of the Russian, and red of the British, &c. But in each of these armies there are particular corps which are clothed in other colors, and whose clothing is made in a shape peculiar to themselves. Though generally speaking each has an uniform within itself, yet this uniform, strictly considered, is a regimental.

With respect to the origin of _military uniforms_, we should make useless enquiries were we to direct our attention to those periods in which the Romans fought covered with metal armor, or with leather which was so dressed and fitted to the body, that the human shape appeared in all its natural formation; nor to those in which the French, almost naked, or at least very lightly clad in thin leather, conquered the ancient Gauls. Better information will be acquired by recurring to the Crusades which were made into Palestine and Constantinople by the Europeans. We shall there find, that the western nations, France, England, &c. first adopted the use of rich garments, which they wore over their armors, and adorned their dresses with furs from Tartary and Russia.

We may then fix the origin of colored dresses to distinguish military corps, &c. in the eleventh century. The Saracens generally wore tunics or close garments under their armor. These garments were made of plain or striped stuffs, and were adopted by the Crusaders under the denomination of coats of arms, _Cottes d’armes_. We refer our readers for further particulars to the author of a French work, entitled, _Traité des marques rationales_, and to page 533, tom. iii. _du Dictionnaire Militaire_; observing, that the uniforms of the French army were not completely settled under the reign of Louis the XIVth, and that the whole has undergone considerable alterations since the present revolution.

UNIFORME _des charretiers des vivres_, _Fr._ Uniform of the old French Waggon Corps. It consisted of white sackcloth edged round with blue worsted, with brass buttons, two in front and three upon each sleeve. They wore a dragoon watering cap, with W upon the front fold, and a tuft at the end. The W and the tuft were made of white worsted.

UNIFORMS.--_Principal color of the military uniforms of the different powers._

UNIFORMITY. Conformity to one pattern; resemblance of one thing to another.

UNION. The national colors are called the union. When there is a blue field with white stripes, quartered in the angle of the American colors, that is of the colors composed of red and white stripes; that blue field is called the Union; and a small colors of blue with white stars is called an _Union_ JACK.

UNIVERSITY. In a general acceptation of the word, any nursery where youth is instructed in languages, arts, and sciences. It likewise means the whole in general, generality.

_To_ UNSPRING. A word of command formerly used in the exercise of cavalry, now obsolete.

_Unspring your carbine._ Quit the reins of your bridle, and take hold of the swivel with the left hand, placing the thumb on the spring, and opening it; at the same time take it out of the ring.

UNTENABLE. Not to be held in possession; incapable of being defended.

UNTRAINED. Not disciplined to exercise or manœuvre.

UNVANQUISHED. Not conquered or defeated.

UNWALLED. Being without walls of defence.

UNWARLIKE. Not fit for or used to war.

UNWEAPONED. Not provided with arms of offence.

VOGUE, _Fr._ The course or way which a galley or ship makes when it is rowed forward.

VOGUER, _Fr._ To make way upon water either by means of sailing or by oars. It also signifies generally to row.

VOIE, _Fr._ Way, means, course of communication.

VOILE, _Fr._ A sail. This word is frequently used by the French to signify the ship itself; as we say, a sail in sight.

VOILE _quarrée ou à trait quarrée_, _Fr._ A square sail, such as the main-sail.

VOILE _Latine_, _Voile à tiers-point, ou a Oreille de Liévre_, _Fr._ A triangular-shaped sail, such as is used in the Mediterranean.

_Jet de_ VOILES, _Fr._ The complete complement of sails for a ship.

_Faire_ VOILE, _Fr._ To go to sea.

VOITURES, _Fr._ Carriages, waggons, &c.

VOL, _Fr._ Theft. The military regulations on this head during the existence of the French monarchy, were extremely rigid and severe.

Whosoever was convicted of having stolen any of the public stores, was sentenced to be strangled; and if any soldier was discovered to have robbed his comrade, either of his necessaries, bread, or subsistence money, he was condemned to death, or to the gallies for life. So nice, indeed, were the French with respect to the honesty of the soldiery in general, that the slightest deviation from it rendered an individual incapable of ever serving again. When the French troops marched through the United States during the revolution so exact was their discipline, that in marching through an orchard loaded with fruit not an apple was touched.

VOLEE, _Fr._ The vacant cylinder of a cannon, which may be considered to reach from the trunnions to the mouth.

VOLEE _et culasse d’une piece_, _Fr._ This term signifies the same as _tête et queue d’une piece_. The mouth or head and breech of a piece of ordnance.

VOLEE, _Fr._ Also signifies a cannon shot, as _Tirer une volee_, to fire a cannon shot.

VOLEE, _Fr._ See SONNETTE.

VOLET, _Fr._ A shutter. It likewise means a small sea compass.

VOLLEY. The discharging of a great number of firearms at the same time.

VOLONTAIRES, _Fr._ See VOLUNTEERS.

VOLONTE, _Fr._ Will, &c. It likewise signifies readiness to do any thing. _Officier, soldat de bonne volonte._ An officer, a soldier that is ready to do any sort of duty.

_Dernieres_ VOLONTES, _Fr._ The last will and testament of a man.

VOLT, (_Volte_, _Fr._) In horsemanship, a bounding turn. It is derived from the Italian word _Volta_; and according to the Farrier’s Dictionary, is a round or a circular tread; a gate of two treads made by a horse going sideways round a centre; so that these two treads make parallel tracks; the one which is made by the fore feet larger, and the other by the hinder feet smaller; the shoulders bearing outwards, and the croupe approaching towards the centre.

_Mettre un cheval sur les_ VOLTES, _Fr._ To make a horse turn round, or perform the volts. They likewise say in the manege, _demi-volte_, half-turn or volt.

VOLTE, _Fr._ In fencing, a sudden movement or leap, which is made to avoid the thrust of an antagonist.

VOLTE-_face_, _Fr._ Right about.

_Faire_ VOLTE-_face_, _Fr._ To come to the right about. It is chiefly applicable to a cavalry movement; and sometimes generally used to express any species of facing about, viz. _Les ennemis fuirent jusqu’à un certain endroit, ou ils firent volte face_; the enemy fled to a certain spot, where they faced about.

VOLTE, is also used as a sea phrase among the French to express the track which a vessel sails; likewise the different movements and tacks that a ship makes in preparing for action.

VOLTER, _Fr._ In fencing, to volt; to change ground in order to avoid the thrust of an antagonist.

VOLTIGER, _Fr._ To float; to stream out; to hover about; _La cavalrie voltige autour du camp_; the cavalry hovers about the camp. It also means, in the manege, to ride a wooden horse for the purpose of acquiring a good seat.

VOLTIGUER, _Fr._ A vaulter; a jumper; a hoverer; the French have trained their light troops to run, vault, and bear fatigues; these troops act as riflemen on foot or horseback; swim rivers with their arms; and vault behind horsemen to be transported rapidly to some point where it is necessary to make an impression. These corps were formed from an observance of the hardiness and intrepidity of American riflemen, by general _Berthier_, who served in America with Rochambeau.

VOLUNTEER. In a general acceptation of the word, any one who enters into the service of his own accord. The signification of it is more or less extensive, according to the conditions on which a man voluntarily engages to bear arms.

VOLUNTEERS are also bodies of men who assemble in time of war to defend their respective districts, and this generally without pay.

_To_ VOLUNTEER. To engage in any affair of one’s own accord. Officers and soldiers often volunteer their services on the most desperate occasions; sometimes specifically, and sometimes generally. Hence to volunteer for any particular enterprize, or to volunteer for general service. In some instances soldiers volunteer for a limited period, and within certain boundaries.

Volunteers approach nearer to the regular establishment than the militia.

VOUGE, _Fr._ A sort of hedging bill. It likewise signifies an axe, which the ancient bowmen of France had fixed to their halberts. It is also called a hunter’s staff.

VOUSSOIR or VOUSSURE, _Fr._ The bending of a vault.

VOUTE, _Fr._ A vault; an arch.

VOYAGE _sur Mer_, _Fr._ A sea voyage. The French call a voyage to the East Indies, _Un voyage de long cours._

UP. An adverb frequently used in military phraseology, viz. _Up in arms_; in a state of insurrection.

_To draw_ UP. To put in regular array, as to draw _up_ a regiment.

VRILLE, _Fr._ A wimble.

VRILLER, _Fr._ Among fireworkers, to rise in a spiral manner, as sky-rockets do.

USAAR, _Ind._ The name of a month, which partly corresponds with June; it follows Jeyt.

_To_ USE. To employ to any particular purpose; to bring into action; as he his choicest troops on that decisive day.

USTENSILES, _Fr._ The necessary articles which a soldier has a right to be supplied with.

USTENSILES _de magazins_, _Fr._ Under this word are comprehended all the various tools, implements, &c. which are required in military magazines and storehouses.

USTENSILES _d’un vaisseau_, _Fr._ Every thing which is necessary in the navigation of a ship.

USTENSILES _de canon_, _Fr._ Every thing which is required to load and unload a piece of ordnance, viz. the rammer, spunge, priming horn, wedges, &c.

UTENSILS. In a military sense, are necessaries due to every soldier.

In the British service it is directed to be provided for the use of regimental hospitals, that each hospital ought to be furnished with a slipper bath, or bathing tub, two water buckets, one dozen of Osnaburgh towels, one dozen of flannel cloths, half a dozen of large sponges, combs, razors, and soap; two large kettles capable of making soup for 30 men, two large tea kettles, two large tea pots, two sauce pans, 40 tin cans of one pint each, 40 spoons, one dozen of knives and forks, two close stools, two bed-pans, and two urinals.

A regiment, consisting of 1000 men, and provided with three medical persons, ought to be furnished with hospital necessaries and utensils for at least 40 patients. It should be provided with 40 cotton night caps, 40 sets of bedding, in the proportion of four for every hundred men; each set consisting of one paillasse, one straw mattrass, one bolster, three sheets, two blankets, and one rug.

For regiments of a smaller number, the quantity of hospital necessaries will of course be proportionally reduced.

_Bakery_ UTENSILS. The following list of bakery utensils, being the proportion requisite for an army of 36,000 men, has been extracted from the British commissary, to which useful treatise we refer the military reader for a specific description of field ovens, &c. and field bakery, page 16, &c.

12 double iron ovens, 11 feet long, 9 feet diameter, and 3 feet high; 28 troughs and their covers, 16 feet long, 3 feet wide, and 3 feet deep, to kneed the dough.

12 large canvas tents (having double coverings) 32 feet long, and 24 feet wide, to make the bread in.

4 ditto, to cool and deposit the bread in.

2 ditto, to deposit the meal and empty sacks in.

200 boards, 8 feet long, and 1¹⁄₂ feet wide, to carry the bread to the oven and back when baked; 24 small scales to weigh the dough, with weights from half an ounce to 6 lbs.; 24 small lamps for night work; 24 small hatchets; 24 scrapers, to scrape the dough from the troughs; 12 copper kettles, containing each from 10 to 12 pails of water; 12 trevets for ditto; 12 barrels with handles, to carry water, containing each from 6 to 7 pails.

12 pails, to draw water; 24 yokes and hooks, to carry the barrels by hand; 24 iron peles, to shove and draw the bread from the ovens; 24 iron pitchforks, to turn and move the firewood and coals in the ovens; 24 spare handles, 14 feet long, for the peles and pitchforks; 24 rakes, with handles of the same length, to clear away the coals and cinders from the ovens; 4 large scales, to weigh the sacks and barrels of meal, and capable of weighing 500 lb.; 4 triangles for the said scales; to each must be added 500 lb. of weights, 3 of 100 lb. each, 2 of 50 lb. each, and downwards to half a pound.

VULNERABLE. Susceptive of wounds; liable to external injuries; capable of being taken; as, the town is extremely vulnerable in such a quarter. It is also applied to military dispositions, viz. the army was vulnerable in the centre or on the left wing.

An assemblage of men without arms, or with arms but without discipline, or having discipline and arms, without officers are _vulnerable_.

WAD, (_Bourre_, _Fr._) In _gunnery_, a substance made of hay or straw, and sometimes of tow rolled up tight in a ball. It serves to be put into a gun after the powder, and rammed home, to prevent the powder from being scattered, which would have no effect if left unconfined.

WAD-_mill_. A hollow form of wood to make the wads of a proper size.

WAD-_hook_. A strong iron screw, like those that serve for drawing corks, mounted upon a wooden handle, to draw out the wads, or any part of cartridges, which often remain in guns, and when accumulated stop up the vent.

WADA or WADADARY, _Ind._ A farm of a district.

WADABUNDY, _Ind._ Stated periods or dates, on which money is to be paid.

WADADAR, _Ind._ A government officer, who is responsible for the rents of a zemindary.

WADDING. Oakum, hay or straw, or any other article generally carried along with the guns to be made into wads.

_Experiments relative to the effects of_ WADDING. The quantity of powder requisite to raise a shell weighing 218 lb. clear of the mortar and bed was found to be 4 oz. 2 dr. without any wadding; but with the help of a little wadding, rammed over the powder, 3 oz. 1 dr. were sufficient. The powder, requisite to raise a shell weighing 106 lb. clear of the mortar and bed, was found to be 2 oz. 6 dr. without any wadding; but with wadding, properly rammed over the powder, 2 oz. were found to be sufficient.

To raise a shell of 16 lb. 4 dr. were sufficient without wadding, and only 3 dr. with wadding.

And to raise a shell of 8 lb. 2 dr. were enough without wadding, and 1 dr. two-thirds with wadding.

From the above experiments it may be observed, that the judicious ramming of a little wadding over the powder, adds about ¹⁄₄ part of the whole effect.

WAGGON, in _the army_, (_Chariot_, _Fr._) is a four-wheel carriage, drawn by four horses, and for sundry uses.

_Ammunition_-WAGGON. (_Chariot d’artillerie_, _Fr._) A carriage made for transporting all kinds of stores, as also to carry bread, it being lined round in the inside with basket-work. See CAISSON.

WAGGON-_Train_. The waggons, caissons, carts, &c. provided for the use of an army are so called. One great engine, on which the movements of an army depend, is a proper establishment of waggons. In all wars great abuses have, as well as great ignorance, prevailed in this department.

In the seven years war the British had a general contractor for the waggon train, and his contract was kept up until the year before the peace, when that government bought the train of him. In the American war, waggons were considered almost as a privilege by the departments to which they were attached, until Brook Watson was appointed commissary general, who found it necessary to make great reforms in that branch of the service. The same gentleman, when he went out to the continent of Europe with the duke of York in 1793, made use of the waggons of different contractors: but in the beginning of 1794, an experiment was made by raising a corps called the corps of royal waggoners, and purchasing waggons and horses. Its miserable state became proverbial in the army: it failed completely in every part, and on many occasions, the service suffered very materially in consequence of the abuses of contractors.

The idea of this corps was probably taken from the fine well regulated establishment of the French, from whom the Austrians copied it as a standing establishment, having officers and men trained to the service, and a system improved and perfect.

The British waggon-train was sold, and every purchaser of not less than fifty waggons was admitted to the advantages of a contract for all the waggons he purchased; he was insured the duration of his contract for three months, and was only to deposit one-third of the cost, allowing the remainder to be paid out of his earnings. The form of the contract and the pay of the waggons were previously fixed, and by this mode a most advantageous sale was procured, while a new set of contractors were introduced, with the additional advantage of obliging old contractors to reduce their prices, and to come under the same terms.

_The space of ground occupied by a waggon with four horses_ is about 16 yards; a mile will therefore hold 110 waggons; but allowing a short distance between each waggon in travelling, a mile may be said to contain about 100 waggons. Waggons in convoy may travel from one to two miles per hour, according to the roads and other circumstances. A great object in convoys is to preserve the horses as much as possible from fatigue. For this purpose, if the convoy amounts to many hundred waggons, they must be divided into divisions of not more than 500 each. Should it consist of thousands, it will be advisable to divide them into _grand_ divisions, and then again into subdivisions of 500 each: by this means, and the time of departure being calculated by the following rules, each division may remain at rest, till just before its time of movement; and which will prevent the necessity of the latter part of a large convoy being harassed for a considerable time before its turn to move.

Rule 1. _To find the time in which any number of waggons may be driven off_: Divide the number of waggons by 100, and multiply by the time of travelling one mile.

Rule 2. _To find the time in which any number of waggons will drive over any number of miles_: To the time they take in driving off, add the time any one of the waggons takes to travel the distance.

The different divisions of the convoy should be numbered, and obliged each day to change the order of their marching.

WAGGONER, (_Charretier_, _Fr._) One who drives a waggon.

_Corps of_ WAGGONERS, (_Corps de Charretiers_, _Fr._) A body of men employed in the commissariate, so called.

WAGRAM, _battle of_. Decided the war between France and Austria in 1809.

WAKANAGUR, _Ind._ A writer of occurrences.

WAINROPE. The large cord with which the load is tied on the waggon.

WAIT. To lie in wait; to lay wait. See AMBUSH.

WALL. A series of brick, stone, or other materials carried upwards and cemented with mortar. When used in the plural number, wall signifies fortification; works built for defence.

_To be driven to the_ WALL, (_Etre acculé_, _Fr._) A figurative term signifying to be so pressed, that you can neither advance nor retreat.

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A military dictionaryChapter I: DO HEREBY CERTIFY, upon my word and honor, as an officer and (14)

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