relative to the general matter, but considerably so for great attention to the arrangement of the words, according to their alphabetical succession. Looking, as I confidently do, to the candour and consideration of that respectable class of military individuals, whose disposition to promote the general good of the service is at least equal to their personal toil and glory in it, I should finally close this long Preface with little courtesy to them, and less advantage to myself, were I to omit soliciting on this occasion, their friendly communications. Hints, suggestions, and corrections, for the improvement of this Dictionary, and of the "Regimental Companion," will be thankfully acknowledged by me, addressed to the Military Library, / Whitehall; observing to every reader that may do me the honour to pcruse either of these publications, Si quid novisti rectius istis, HOR. POSTSCRIPT. Ir will not, I am persuaded, be deemed presumptuous in me to point out specific articles (to which the attention of young officers is principally invited), when I observe, that some of the chief ones have been kindly supplied by gentlemen of acknowledged learning and reputation. I shall, therefore, not scruple to recommend to their occasional perusal the following terms; and in so doing, I beg to be understood by those persons, who have done me the friendship to contribute to the undertaking, that I bave a due sense of the service they have rendered me. I only wish (for the benefit of the army at large) that I had been fortunate enough to merit the countenance of those in power, so far as to have secured the contribution of the different offices, and established institutions of the country. Perhaps I may not be too vain when I say, that I bave laid the groundwork of a valuable compilation. To render it what it ought to be, a national Military Encyclopædia, the professors at Woolwich and High Wycombe should not only lend their theoretical aid, but officers of known ability and experience who are provided for in the several departments, should add their practical observations. An office, or circumscribed department, at a moderate expence to the public, ought, indeed, to be established for the purpose of receiving communications, of translating foreign military works, and of digesting the different fent acts of parliament which relate to the army. This office, or literd, might be subordinate to the commander in chief and to the tary at war; under whose immediate sanction and direction, works of try tendency, as well as official rules and regulations, would be arranged in a clear and short manner. But I am insensibly digressing from the mediate object of this Postscript. I shall therefore take my leave of this new ection of a work, which has been executed by me amidst the hurry efa capital, and, as I have already stated in the Preface, under circumstances of peculiar care, and extraneous occupation. For the errors it conuns, and for some palpable omissions, I must trust to the indulgence of those men, who can make allowances for the situation of the Author, and for the unavoidable imperfections to which every work must be subjected, which has been completed with scarcely any assistance, but that of his Printer. The words which are marked with asterisms have been chiefly given by others. I must here generally observe, that as I have collected materials from established authorities, or at least from books which have been published under the apparent sanction of military institutions, such as Woolwich, &c. I can only refer the scientific reader to the same sources; claiming indulgence for such errors as I may inadvertently have copied, and which might pass bly have been avoided, had I possessed the leisure which every undertaking of this description requires: I trust, however, that few or none will be found in this edition, which are likely to mislead any officer on service. I cannot conclude this article without expressing my acknowledgments to the several gentlemen from whom I have received suggestions; and I beg beg leave to repeat, that every communication, for the improvement of this work, or of the Regimental Companion, will be thankfully acknowledged. It is also necessary to say something more regarding the French terms which are interspersed, and in some instances, apparently out of place. The rule, which I have generally gone by, has been to select not only such words as might be found useful on service, but also those which tend to the elucidation of French military works, or communications. The mere technical ones are attached to their English leaders; and when the phrase has been used amongst us, the English term has followed. In some instances, the leading word has not been succeeded by its French or English adjunct; and where this occurs it will be found, that the term was not used in both languages to signify the fame thing. Thus under Officer in waiting (literally Officier en attendant), which is found in our orderly books, I have not affixed a French term, because the same form is not observed among the French. They have certainly a phrase that corresponds; which is, Le Premier à prendre, and the Le Suppléant. To those, who may peruse the different articles which are occasionally extended beyond the mere etymological or technical explanation of terms, it will not, perhaps, be presumption in me to say, that they will not lay down this volume with sentiments or impressions, which can make them worse men, worse Christians, or worse soldiers than they were, when they took it up; too happy should I be, if, without the imputation of flattery to myself, I could add, they may be better. MILITARY DICTIONARY. ABO TOABANDON, abandonner, Fr. to leave a place to the mercy of an ry, by suddenly retiring from it. Hence to abandon a fortress, &c. ABATIS, Fr. Trees cut down, and So with their branches, &c. turned wards the enemy, as to form a sort of decace for troops stationed behind them. They are made either before rebutts, or other works, to render the atacas difficult, or sometimes along the skirts of a wood, to prevent the enemy fr getting possession of it. In this ase the trunks serve as a breast-work, bend which the troops are posted, and for that reason should be so disposed, that the parts may, if possible, flank each other. To ABDICATE, abdiquer, Fr. to gae ap voluntarily any place of trust, as to abdicate the crown. The French use the word abdiquer in the same maner that we do to resign; hence abdiqur le commandement d'une armée, une Cognie, to resign the command of an army, of a company. ABLECTI, in military antiquity, a euce or select part of the soldiery in the Roman armies, picked out of those ced extraordinarii. ABOIS, Fr. a term used among the Preach to signify extreme distress. Thus an army, which is hemmed in on all des in a fortress or camp, and is in want of provisions, &c. is said to be aux The word comes from aboyer, to back; perhaps the term at bay is derived frat, as the stag at bay. ABOI-VENTS, Fr. In fortification, sad odgments constructed in a covertay, or in any other part of a fortified || A BR place, to protect soldiers from the inclemency of the weather. ABOLLA, in military antiquity, a warm kind of garment, generally lined or doubled, used both by the Greeks and Romans, chiefly out of the city, in following the camp. ABONNEMENT, Fr. an engagement entered into by a country, town, corporation, &c. for the purpose of supplying the exigencies of the state in time of war, or of granting provisions, &c. to an army. ABORD, Fr. attack, onset. ABOUT, a technical word to express the movement, by which a body of troops changes its front or aspect, by facing according to any given word of command. Right-ABOUT, is when the soldier by placing the toe of the right foot on a line in contact with the heel of the left, makes a pivot of the latter, and completely changes the situation of his person, by a semi-circular movement to the right. Left-ABOUT, is when the soldier by placing the heel of his right foot on a line with the great toe of the left, changes the situation of his person, by a semicircular movement to the left. When troops are under arms, they are sometimes put to the left-about, in order to prevent the clashing of the pouches, which frequently occurs in the semicircular movement to the right. ABREAST, a term formerly used to express any number of men in front. At present they are determined by files. ABREUVOIR, Fr. a reservoir for water; A water; any spot dug for the purpose of retaining water. This must always be attended to when a regular camp is! first formed. ABRI, Fr. shelter, cover. Eire à l'abri, to be under cover, as of a wood, hillock, &c. ABRIS, Fr. Places of shelter. ABSCISSA, in military mathematics, signities any part of the diameter or axis of a curve, contained between its vertex or some other fixed point, and the intersection of the ordinate. In the parabola, the abscissa is a third proportional to the parameter and the ordinate. In the ellipsis, the square of the ordinate is equal to the rectangle under the parameter and abscissa, lessened by another rectangle under the said abscissa, and a fourth proportional to the axis, the parameter, and the abscissa. In the hyperbola, the squares of the ordinates are as the rectangles of the abscissa by another line, compounded of the abscissa and the transverse axis. But it must be remembered, that the two proportions relating to the ellipsis and hyperbola, the origin of the abscissa, or point from whence they began to be reckoned, is supposed to be the vertex of the curve, or, which amounts to the same thing, the point where the axis meets it; for if the origin of the abscissa be taken from the centre, as is often done, the above proportions will not be true. ABSENT, a term used in the British army. It forms a part of regimental reports and general returns, to account for the deficiency of any given number of officers or soldiers; and is usually distinguished under two principal heads, viz. ABSENT with leave, officers with permission, or non-commissioned officers and soldiers on furlough; excused parade or field duty. ABSENT without leave. Men who desert are frequently reported absent without leave, for the specific purpose of bringing their crime under regimental cognizance, and to prevent them from being tried capitally for desertion, according to the Mutiny Act. ABSOLUTE Gravity, in philosophy, is the whole force by which a body, shell, or shot, is impelled towards the center. See GRAVITY. ABSOLUTE Number, in Algebra, is the known quantity which possesses entirely one side of the equation. Thus, in the equation, zz + 105, = 64, the number 64, possessing entirely one side of the equation, is called the absolute number, and is equal to the square of the unknown root 1, added to 105, or to 10 times r. ABUTMENT. See BRIDGES. ACADEMY, in antiquity, the name of a villa situated about a mile from the city of Athens, where Plato and his followers assembled for conversing on philosophical subjects; and hence they acquired the name of Academics. An The term Academy is frequently used among the moderns for a regular society, or company, of learned persons, instituted under the protection of a prince, for the cultivation and improveiment of arts or sciences. Some authors confound academy with university; but, though much the same in Latin, they are very different things in English. university is, properly, a body composed of graduates in the several faculties; of professors, who teach in the public schools; of regents or tutors, and students who learn under them, and aspire likewise to degrees: whereas an academy was originally not intended for teaching, or to profess any art, but to improve it; it was not for novices to be instructed in, but for those who were more knowing, for persons of distinguished abilities to confer in, and coinmunicate their lights and discoveries to each other, for their mutual benefit and improvement. The first academy we read of, was established by Charlemagne, at the motion of Alcuin; it was composed of the chief wits of the court, the emperor himself being a member. Military ACADEMY. We have in England two royal military academies, one at Woolwich, and one at Portsmouth. The first was established by his late Majesty King George II. by warrants bearing date the 30th day of April, and the 18th day of November, 1741, endowed and supported, for the instructing of the people belonging to the military branch of ordnance, in the se |