Abattis - A kind of outer intrenchment, consisting of young trees, felled and laid upon the ground a short distance from the parapets of field works, with the points of their larger branches sharpened and extending outward, for retarding the enemy’s advance.

Absence, with Leave and without Leave - Officers, non-commissioned officers and privates are said to be absent with leave, when they have obtained permission to that effect; absent without leave, when they fail to join their regiments on the expiration of their leave.

Accouterments - The belts, pouches, cartridge boxes, etc., of the soldier. The belts, sashes, etc., of the officers, are termed appointments, by the British authorities.

Acquittance-Roll - A roll containing the names and signatures of the privates of each troop or company of a regiment, and showing their respective debits and credits.

Adjutant - The assistant of a commanding officer of a regiment, in the details of regimental duty and discipline.

Adjutant-General - The officer who assists he general of an army in the general details of his duties.

Adjutant-General of the Forces - The chief officer of the general staff.

Advance Guard - The detachment of troops which precedes the march of the main body. The Rear Guard is that which covers its rear.

Agent (Army). The person who transacts the pecuniary business of regiments.

Aid-de-Camp - An officer on the personal staff of a general or field officer, to receive and distribute his orders.

Aiguillette - A decoration consisting of tagged points of bullion cord and loops, worn on the right shoulder of officers of the cavalry.

Aim (To Take). To mark out the object to be struck by a cannon or musket ball.

Alarm Post (in the Field). Is the ground appointed by the quarter-master-general for each regiment or detachment, to march to in case of alarm. In a garrison, it is the place allotted by the governor for the troops to draw up in, on any sudden alarm.

Alignment - A formation in straight lines. The alignment of a battalion is the position of a body of troops drawn up in line. The alignment of a camp signifies the relative position of the tents, etc., so as to form a straight line from given points.

Altimetry - The taking or measuring of altitudes or heights.

Altitude - In cosmography, is the perpendicular height of an object, or its distance from the horizon upward. Altitudes are accessible and inaccessible. Accessible altitude of an object is, that to whose base access can be had, to measure the distance between a given point and the foot of the object on the ground. Inaccessible altitude of an object is, that when the foot or bottom of the object can not be approached, on account of some obstacle, as water, etc. Altitude of a shot or shell is the perpendicular height of the vertex of the curve in which it moves above the horizon.

Ambulant - Changing positions according to circumstances. An ambulant hospital is that which follows an army.

Ambuscade - A detachment of troops placed in concealment to surprise or attack an enemy.

Ambush - A place of concealment from which an enemy may be surprised by a sudden attack.

Amende Honorable - Satisfaction for an offense committed against the rules of honor or military etiquette.

Amplitude - In gunnery, the range of shot, or the horizontal line which measures the distance it has reached.

Ammunition - Powder and ball, shells, bullets, cartridges, grapeshot, tin and case-shot, carcasses, grenades, etc. The ammunition for firearms is fixed and unfixed - The fixed comprises loaded shells, carcasses, and cartridges, filled with powder; also shot fixed to powder. Ball and blank cartridges are also termed fixed ammunition. Unfixed ammunition is round, case, and grape-shot, or shells, not filled with powder.

Approaches - Sunk works and passages carried on toward a besieged fortress, as the trenches, saps, mines, etc.

Armistice - A truce or temporary suspension of hostilities.

Arms (Bells of) or Bell Tents - Tents in the shape of a cone, in which each company’s arms are piled in the field.

Army - Armies are (1) A covering army; (2) A blockading army; (3) An army of observation; (4) An army of reserve; (5) A flying army; (6) the grand and main army; (7) The "standing army," which, in the United States, is always limited by special acts of Congress.

Articles of War - Rules and regulations for the government of the army.

Arsenal - The place where warlike instruments of all kinds are deposited.

Artillery - All projectile machines of war, as cannons, mortars, howitzers, etc., with the requisite apparatus and stores for field and siege service. A Train of Artillery consists of the attendants and carriages which accompany the artillery into the field. A Park of Artillery is the place where the artillery ammunition is encamped ready for service. It is also used to imply a heavy complement of guns.

Back Step. The retrograde movement of a man or body of men without changing the front.

Backward - The retrograde movement of troops from line into column, and vice versa.

Baggage - The clothes, tents, utensils, etc., belonging to a regiment or an army.

Bags - In military operations, are either sand bags or earth bags; and are used either to repair breaches and the damaged embrasures of batteries, or to raise a parapet in haste, or to repair one that is beaten down by the enemy’s fire.

Balls or Bullets - Consist of lead or iron for the use of small arms or artillery; or they are light or fire balls, and smoke balls. The light or fire ball, which is spherical or oblong, is used during sieges, for the purpose of discovering parties at work, etc. The smoke balls are thrown from mortars to annoy besiegers, continuing to smoke for about half an hour.

Band - The body of musicians attached to every regiment or battalion.

Banderols - Small flags used in marking out a camp, etc.

Banquette - An elevation or step constructed along the interior of the parapet, to enable the shortest men to fire over it.

Barbette - A platform raised behind a parapet or breast-work, that the guns mounted upon it may have a free range over the surrounding country. Guns so placed are said to be mounted en barbette.

Barricades - Obstructions formed in streets and highways, consisting of abattis, breast-works, overturned wagons, carts, etc., to prevent an enemy’s access.

Barriers - Pointed stakes to prevent cavalry or infantry from suddenly rushing in on the besieged.

Base Line, or Base of Operations - The frontier or line of fortresses, on which all the magazines and means of supply of an army are established, and from which the lines of operation proceed.

Bastion - A projection or salient angle from the general outline of a fortress, with an opening toward the body of the place called a gorge.

Baton - The staff or truncheon which is the symbol of a field-marshal’s authority.

Battalion - A body of infantry of two or more companies.

Battalion Men - The soldiers, except those of the two flank companies, belonging to the different companies of an infantry regiment.

Battering Train - A train of artillery used solely for besieging fortresses, inclusive of mortars and howitzers.

Battery - A number of pieces of ordnance, consisting either of guns, howitzers, or mortars, according to the service for which they are required.

Battle Array, or Line of Battle - The order or arrangement of troops in battle.

Battlements - Notches or indentures in the top of old castles or fortified walls, or other buildings, in the form of embrasures, for the greater convenience of firing or looking through.

Bayonet - A weapon first used by the French in 1671, and deriving its name from having been first manufactured in Bayonne. It is now an instrument of war, constructed of several shapes, that is considered of invaluable utility to infantry. It alone is regarded equal to cope with a cavalry charge, while in a direct charge it is used with terrible effect by a well trained soldiery. It was the favorite weapon of Napoleon; and by it Garibaldi has achieved his most brilliant victories. The sword bayonet, recently introduced, is a truly formidable instrument of death. It can be made use of either as a cutting or thrusting instrument. By poising it horizontally, like a quarter-staff, as high as the head of his adversary, the soldier, by a slight movement in the segment of a circle, can sweep its sharp blade across the neck, face and breast of three men opposed to him in line.

Besiege (To). To invest a fortified town with an armed force.

Billeting - The quartering of troops in the houses of towns and villages.

Bivouac - Troops are said to bivouac when they do not encamp, but lie under arms for the night.

Blackhole - A place for confinement of soldiers guilty of insubordination or criminality—more generally called the "Guard House."

Block-house - A wooden fort.

Blockade - Refers to the blockading of essential waterways, inlets, by ships of war.

Body of a Place - The main line of bastions and curtains, or the space inclosed by the enceinte of a fortress.

Boom - A cable or chain floated with masts or spars, placed across the mouth of a river or harbor, to bar the access of an enemy.

Break Ground (To). Commencing the siege of a fortress by opening the trenches.

Breach Loader - A piece which is loaded at the breach instead of at the muzzle. A Muzzle Loader is one which receives the charge at the muzzle.

Breast-work - A parapet breast-high.

Brevet-Rank - A rank in the army higher that that for which pay is received; and which gives precedence, according to the date of the commission, when corps are brigaded. (In the celebrated controversy between Generals Scott and Gaines (1828-29) Congress decided that a brevet did not confer actual rank, and that the order of promotion must follow only the official commission.)

Brevet (The). A term used to express promotion by honor.

Bridge - See Pontoon and Pontooning.

Bridge-Head - See Tete du Pont.

Brigade - A division of troops, consisting of two or more regiments, under command of a brigadier-general. Mixed Brigade is composed of infantry and cavalry, general used as advanced guards.

Brigade-Major - An officer charged with the detail of the duties of a brigade.

Brown Bess - A sobriquet or nickname, for the old regulation (English) musket.

Bugle-Calls - The sounds of the bugle used in the field or on parade, where the voice would be ineffectual to convey commands.

Bugler - The person who sounds the bugle for advancing, skirmishing, or retreating maneuvers.

Bulletin - The official account of public transactions and military operations. It is more commonly called "Official Report."

Cadence - In tactics, a uniform time and pace in marching.

Cadets - Youths educated at the Military Academy at West Point at the expense of the United States Government. They graduate, after a term of five years, with the rank of second lieutenant in the Unites States army.

Caisson - An ammunition wagon or tumbril. Also a wooden frame or chest, containing loaded shells, and buried at the depth of five or six feet under some work the enemy appears desirous to possess, and which, when he has become master of, is fired by means of the train conveyed through a pipe to it, when the shells becoming inflamed, the assailants are blown up.

Calibre - In gunnery, the diameter of the bore of a cannon.

Caltrops, or Crow’s Feet - Pieces of iron having four points, so disposed that three of them always rest upon the ground, and the fourth stands upward in a perpendicular direction. Each point is three or four inches long. They are scattered over the ground and passages where the enemy is expected to march, especially the cavalry, in order to embarrass their progress.

Camp - The extent of ground occupied by the tents of an army when in the field.

Camp-Colors - The flags or ensigns which mark out the lines of an encampment. Also, small colors placed on the right and left of the parade of a regiment when in the field.

Camp-Color-Men - Those soldiers who carry camp-colors to the field on days of exercise, and plant them to mark out the lines.

Camp (Flying). A strong body of cavalry and infantry always in motion, to cover its own garrisons, and to keep the army of the enemy in continual alarm.

Cannon - Cannons were originally made of iron bars soldered together, and fortified with strong iron hoops. Others were made of thin sheets of iron rolled up together, and hooped; and on emergencies they were made of leather, with places of iron or copper! (More pending).

Canteen - A tin or wooden vessel, in which soldiers carry water or other liquid on the march. The term also signifies a suttling house kept in a garrison or barrack-yard, for the supplying of troops.

Cantonments - The situations in which troops are quartered in towns and villages.

Caponniére - A passage from the body of a place across the ditch to an outwork.

Carbineers or Carabineers - Horsemen armed with carabines (sic), who occasionally act as infantry.

Carcasses - Shells containing a composition of combustibles projected from mortars.

Carronade - A short piece of iron ordnance, originally made on the Carron in Scotland.

Cartel - An agreement for a mutual exchange of prisoners.

Case or Canister Shot - Bullets, pieces of iron, etc., inclosed in a circular tin case, and discharged from heavy pieces of ordnance.

Casemate - A Cave under the rampart, with loopholes through which artillery may be discharged.

Cashiered - Dismissed with ignominy from the service.

Castrametation - The planning and tracing out an encampment.

Casuals or Casualties - A term implying soldiers who die, desert, or have been discharged.

Cat-o-nine-Tails - A whip with five or nine knotted cords used for flogging military offenders.

Cavalry - Horse soldiers.

CDV - Carte de visite.

Chace of a Gun - Its entire length.

Chamade - See Drum.

Chamber of a Cannon - (or mortar). That part of the bore which receives the charge of powder. Chamber of a Mine, is the place where the charge of powder is lodged for the purpose of blowing up the works over it. Chamber of a Battery, is a place sunk under ground for holding powder, loaded shells and fuses, where they may be out of danger, and preserved from rain or moisture.

Chandelier - A moveable parapet, consisting of wooden frames, filled with facines laid to cover working parties in the trenches.

Cheeks of a Gun-carriage - The strong planks forming its sides.

Chevaux-de-Frize (Friesland Horses). Obstacles consisting of a beam of timber, with strong takes pointed with iron, driven through it in different directions, used for defending avenues and passages, for impeding river channels, stopping up breaches, and impeding assaults. [The terms takes its derivation fro the apparatus having been first used at the siege of Groningen, in Friesland, in the year 1658, against the cavalry of the enemy].

Chevrons - The marks on the sleeves of the coats of non-commissioned officers.

Circumvallation (Line of). A fortification of earth, consisting of a parapet or breastwork and trench, to cover the besiegers against any attempt of the enemy, in favor of the besieged.

Club (To). In a military sense, to through into confusion; to deform through ignorance or inadvertency. To Club a Battalion is to throw it into confusion. The more common use of the word, however, in this country, implies to use the musket or rifle as a club in a close fight.

Color-Sergeant - The regimental sergeant whose duty it is to attend to the colors in the field.

Colors (Regimental). Are two in each regiment, one the national ensign stars and stripes, the other the regimental color.

Column - A body of troops in deep file and narrow front. Troops are in close column when they are close together; in open column, when they are intervals sufficient for wheeling into line when requisite.

COM - commisssioned

Commissary - That department of military economy which is charged with the care of the provisions, tents, etc., of an army.

Contribution - An imposition or tax paid, in provisions or money, by the inhabitants of a town or country to an enemy.

Convention - An agreement for the suspension of hostilities, or the evacuation of a post, etc.

Cordon - A chain of posts, or an imaginary line of separation between two hostile armies, either in the field or in winter-quarters. Also used to signify bodies of troops stationed at detached intervals filled up by unceasing patrolling, for preventing the escape of an enemy, or to prevent his sudden irruption into a country. Also used to express the coping of the escarp of the ditch of a fortress.

Corporal (in the army). A non-commissioned officer under the sergeant. His duty is to place and relieve sentinels and to take charge of a squad in drill. (In the navy), an inferior officer under the master at arms.

Corporal (Lance). A soldier who acts as corporal, with only the pay of a private.

Corps - A body of troops.

Corps d’Armée - A portion of a grand army possessed of all the constituents of a separate or an independent army.

Cover - In military parlance, signifies security or protection.

Covered Way - A space extending from the counterscarp to the crest of the glacis, and surrounding the boy of the fortress with its outworks.

Counter approach - A trench or passage carried out by the besieged to counteract the works of the besiegers.

Counterforts or Buttresses - Solid works of masonry built behind walls to strengthen them.

Counter-Guard. A work placed before bastions to cover the opposite flanks from being seen from the covered way.

Countermarch (To). To change the front of an army, battalion, etc., by an inversion of its several component parts.

Counter Mining - (See Mining).

Counterscarp - The exterior slope of the ditch of a fortress.

Countersign - A word or number exchanged between sentries on duty in camp or garrison. Also the watchword demanded by sentries from those who approach their posts.

Counter Trench - (See Trench).

Countervallation (Line of). A breastwork with a ditch before it to defend the besiegers against the enterprises of the garrison.

Coup-de-Main - A sudden and vigorous attack.

Coup-d’-Œil - The seeing at a glance of the eye, the features of a country, or the position of any enemy. The term also implies the judicious selection of the most advantageous position for an encampment, or a field of battle.

Court of Inquiry - A meeting of officers to inquire into the conduct of a command of an expedition, to ascertain whether there be ground for a court-martial.

Courts-Martial - Military courts appointed for the investigation and punishment of offenses committed by officers and soldiers in breach of the articles of war: they are three; 1. General; 2. District; and 3. Regimental.

CPL - Corporal

Crémaillère - An indented or zigzag outline, resembling the teeth of a saw.

Crenellated - Loop-holed.

Crenaux - Loop-holes.

Culverin - A long cannon.

Cunette - A trench in the middle of a dry ditch.

Cuirass - Defensive armor, covering the body of the wearer from the neck to the waist. Not now used.

Cuirassiers - Heavy cavalry, clad in cuirasses. Not in service now.

Curtain - That part of the rampart which connects two contiguous bastions.

Cut-off - In military parlance, signifies to intercept, or hinder from union or return.

Cylinder of a Gun - The whole length of the bore of a piece of ordnance.