BANBURY

the feudal barons, who held their estates and honors from the king, were summoned to attend him in time of war, they were called the ban, or the levy first called out; while the tenants, subordinate to these barons, formed the Arrière ban, or secondary levy.

Banbury. A town in Oxfordshire, England. The castle erected by Alexander de Blois, 1125, has been frequently besieged; in 1646 it was taken by the Parliamentarians and demolished. At Edgecote, or Danesmore, near Banbury, Edward IV. defeated the Lancastrians under the Earl of Pembroke, July 26, 1469, and their leader and his brother were soon after taken prisoners and executed.

Bancal (Fr.). A curved sabre, which was used in France during the Republic and the Empire.

Band, Military. Consists of a body of musicians attached to each army regiment or battalion. The law provides for a band at the Military Academy at West Point, and for each artillery, cavalry, and infantry regiment. A chief musician, who shall be instructor of music, and for each artillery and infantry regiment two principal musicians; each cavalry regiment to have one chief trumpeter. Musicians for regimental bands are enlisted as soldiers, and formed under the direction of the adjutant, but are not permanently detached from their companies, and are instructed in all the duties of a soldier.

Banda Isles. Eastern Archipelago, visited by the Portuguese (1511), who settled on them 1521, but were expelled by the Dutch about 1600. Rohun Island was ceded to the English in 1616. The Bandas were taken by the latter in 1796; restored in 1801; retaken, 1811, and restored in 1816.

Banded-mail. A kind of armor, which consisted of alternate rows of leather or cotton and single chain-mail.

Banderet. In military history, implies the commander-in-chief of the troops of the canton of Berne, in Switzerland.

Banderol. A small flag used in marking out a camp, etc.; a camp color.

Bandes (Fr.). Bands, bodies of infantry. Bandes Françaises; the French infantry was anciently so called; the term, however, became less general, and was confined to the Prevôt des Bandes, or the judge or provostmarshal that tried the men belonging to the French guards.

Banditti. Bands of robbers who infest the mountainous parts of Italy and Greece. Formerly they frequently attacked travelers, hurried them off into their mountain fastnesses, and held them captive until ransomed.

Bandoleer. In ancient military history, a large leathern belt worn over the right shoulder, and hanging under the left arm, to carry some kind of warlike weapons.

Bandoleer. A little wooden case covered with leather; every musketeer used to wear 12 of them hanging on a shoulder-belt; each

case contained the charge of powder for a musket. Bandoleers are now superseded by the cartridge-box.

Banffshire. A maritime county in the northeast of Scotland; it was the scene of many bloody conflicts between the Scots and their Danish invaders, and was the theatre of almost incessant struggles from 1624 to 1645.

Bangalore. A fortified town of Hindostan, in Mysore, which was taken from Tippoo Saib by Lord Cornwallis in 1791.

Baniwas. A tribe of South American Indians living on the Amazon and the Rio Negro.

Banner. Originally a small square flag borne before a banneret, whose arms were embroidered on it; hence, a military ensign; the principal standard of a prince or state; a pennon; a streamer.

Bannered. Furnished with or bearing banners.

Banneret. Was originally a military rank conferred only on such as were able to bring a certain number of vassals into the field; hence, a rank corresponding to this; also, a small banner.

Bannockburn. In Stirlingshire, Scotland; the site of two battles: 1. Between Robert Bruce of Scotland and Edward II. of England, June 24, 1314. The army of Bruce consisted of 30,000; that of Edward of 100,000 men, of whom 52,000 were archers. The English crossed the rivulet to the attack, and Bruce having dug and covered pits, they fell into them and were thrown into confusion. The rout was complete; the English king narrowly escaped, and 50,000 were killed or taken prisoners. 2. At Sanchieburn, near here James II. was defeated and slain on June 11, 1488, by his rebellious nobles.

Banquette. Is the step of earth within the parapet, sufficiently high to enable the defenders, when standing upon it, to fire over the crest of the parapet with ease.

Banquette Slope. Is a slope of earth or timber, place in rear of the banquette when the top cannot be reached by an ordinary step.

Bantam. In Java; here a British factory was established by Capt. Lancaster in 1603. The English and Danes were driven from their factories by the Dutch in 1683. Bantam surrendered to the British in 1811, but was restored to the Dutch at the peace in 1814.

Bantry Bay. In the south of Ireland, where a French fleet bringing succor to the adherents of James II. attacked the English under Admiral Herbert, May 1, 1689. A French squadron of 7 sail of the line and 2 frigates, armed en flute, and 17 transports anchored here for a few days, but without effect, December, 1796. Mutiny of the Bantry Bay squadron took place in December, 1801.

Banyuls-de-Aspres. A town in the department of the Eastern Pyrenees, France,

BAPAUME

which is memorable for the defense which its inhabitants made in 1793, when they compelled 7000 Spaniards, who had attacked them, to surrender.

Bapaume. A fortified town of France, department of Pas-de-Calais. A portion of the allied troops advanced to this place after compelling the French to abandon their fortified position, and to retreat behind the scarpe, in August, 1793.

Baptism of Blood. As the name implies, is the act of being baptized with blood, and was used specially with reference to soldiers who fought on their first battle-field. In the old French service, baptism of blood equalized all grades, and military services, not rank, were the recognized claims for promotion.

Baptism of Fire. A figurative term applied to soldiers who have passed through their first fire in battle.

Bar. A long piece of wood or iron. Bars have various denominations in the construction of artillery-carriages, as sweep- and cross-bars for tumbrils, fore, hind, and under cross-bars for powder-carts, shaft-bars for wagons, and dowel-bars, used in mortarbeds.

Bar. In heraldry, is one of those important figures or charges known as ordinaries. It is formed by two horizontal lines passing over the shield like the fess, but it differs from it in size, the fess occupying a third, the bar only a fifth part of the shield. The fess is also confined to the centre, while the bar may be borne in several parts of the shield.

Barb. The reflected points of the head of an arrow. The armor for horses was so called.

Barbacan, or Barbican. In fortification, a watch-tower for the purpose of descrying an enemy at a distance; advanced works of a place or citadel, properly the boulevards of the gates and walls; a fort at the entrance of a tower or bridge, with a double wall; or an aperture or loop-hole in the walls of a fortress through which to fire upon an enemy.

Barbary. A country in North Africa, considered to comprise Algeria, Morocco, Fez, Tunis, and Tripoli, with their dependencies (all of which see). Piratical states (nominally subject to Turkey) were founded on the coast by Barbarossa about 1518.

Barbets. Were peasants of Piedmont, who abandoned their dwellings when an enemy had taken possession of them. They formed into bodies and defended the Alps.

Barbette. An earthen terrace, raised within a parapet, so high as to enable guns to be fired over the latter, and therefore with a freer range than when worked at an embrasure.

Barbette Carriage. Is a carriage of the stationary class, on which a gun is mounted to fire over a parapet; and a barbette gun is any gun mounted on a barbette carriage.

Barbette Centre-pintle Carriage. See

ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR, SEA-COAST CARRIAGES.

Barbette Front-pintle Carriage. See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR, SEA-COAST CARRIAGES.

Barbole (Fr.). A heavy battle-axe, used in ancient times.

Barboursville, or Cabell Court-house. The capital of Cabell Co., W. Va. It was the scene of a brilliant action between the Confederate and Federal forces, in which the latter were victorious, July 13, 1861.

Barce, or Berche (Fr.). A small gun, shorter and thicker than a falconet, which was formerly used on board ship.

Barcelona. An ancient maritime city in Northeastern Spain, said to have been rebuilt by Hamilcar Barca, father of the great Hannibal, about 233 B.C. The city has suffered much by war. The siege by the French, in 1694, was relieved by the approach of the English fleet commanded by Admiral Russell; but the city was taken by the Earl of Peterborough in 1706; bombarded and taken by the Duke of Berwick and the French in 1714; taken by Napoleon in 1808, and retained till 1814.. It revolted against the queen in 1841, and was bombarded and taken in December, 1842, by Espartero.

Bard. A fortress and village of Piedmont on the bank of the Dora Baltea, 23 miles south-southeast of Aosta. The fortress is situated on an impregnable rock, and arrested for some time Napoleon's march in the valley of the Dora, at the outset of his campaign of 1800, almost compelling him to abandon it. The garrison consisted of 400 men, and was finally passed only by stratagem. It was subsequently razed by the French (1800), but has since been restored.

Bardewick. A town in Hanover, which was dismantled by Henry the Lion in 1189.

Bareilly. A province of Delhi, Northwest India, ceded to the East India Company by the ruler of Oude, 1801. A mutiny at Bareilly, the capital, was suppressed in April, 1816; on May 7, 1858, it was taken from the cruel Sepoy rebels.

Barezim. A small town in Poland, where the Russians were defeated by the Poles in 1675.

Barfleur. An ancient seaport town in the department of Manche, France, where William the Conqueror equipped the fleet by which he conquered England, 1066. Near it Prince William, duke of Normandy, son of Henry I., in his passage from Normandy, was shipwrecked November 25, 1120. Barfleur was destroyed by the English in the campaign in which they won the battle of Crécy, 1346. The French navy was destroyed near the cape by Admiral Russell after the victory of La Hogue in 1692.

Bari (Southern Italy). The Barium of Horace was in the 9th century a stronghold of the Saracens, and was captured by the emperor Louis II, a descendant of Charlemagne, in 871. In the 10th century it became subject to the Eastern empire, and

BARIL ARDENT

remained so till it was taken by Robert Guiscard, the Norman, about 1060.

Baril Ardent (Fr.). Fire-barrel; a barrel filled with layers of tarred chips intermixed with powder and primed at each end with a shell-fuze; it had holes bored in it for the purpose of admitting air to the burning contents; formerly used for illuminating purposes.

Baril Foudroyant, or D'artifice (Fr.). Of the same nature as the baril ardent, with the addition of grenades placed between the layers of chips. Barils foudroyants were used at the defense of a breech, by rolling them upon the assailants.

Barkam. A fortress on the banks of the Danube. Near here John Sobieski, king of Poland, was defeated by Pasha Ka-Mehemed, October 7, 1683.

Barking-irons. Large dueling pistols. Barnacles. In heraldry, resemble what are now called twitchers, or instruments used by farriers to curb unruly horses. They are frequently introduced into coats of arms as a charge.

Barnet. A town in Hertfordshire, England. Here, at Gladsmore Heath, Edward IV. gained a decisive victory over the Lancastrians on Easter-day, April 14, 1471, when the Earl of Warwick and his brother, the Marquis of Montacute, or Montague, and 10,000 men were slain.

Barometer. An instrument for measuring the weight of the atmosphere. The form ordinarily used was invented in 1643, by Torricelli. It consists of a glass tube filled with mercury inverted in an open cup.

Baron. In England a title of nobility,the grade between the baronet and viscount, -the lowest grade in the House of Lords.

Barons' War. Arose in consequence of the faithlessness of King Henry III. and the oppression of his favorites in 1258. The barons, headed by Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester, and Gilbert de Clare, earl of Gloucester, met at Oxford in 1262, and enacted statutes to which the king objected. In 1263 their disputes were in vain referred to the decision of Louis IX., king of France. War broke out, and on May 14, 1264, the king's party were totally defeated at Lewes, and De Montfort became the virtual ruler of the kingdom. Through treachery the war was renewed, and at the battle of Evesham, August 4, 1265, De Montfort was slain, and the barons were defeated. They, however, did not render their final submission till 1268. Barrackpore. A native town and military cantonment on the river Hoogly, 16 miles from Calcutta, India. In 1857 it became famous as the cradle of the formidable mutiny or rebellion of that year. Several regiments of native troops were stationed at Barrackpore. The men objected to bite off the ends of the cartridges for the Enfield rifle, believing the paper to be polluted by animal fat. The troubles connected therewith-a

-a mere prelude to the fatal outbreak at Meerut in May-commenced about the

BARRITUS

beginning of February, and continued to assume various degrees of intensity, till at last two regiments of Bengal native infantry had to be disbanded. An intoxicated Sepoy of one of the disbanded regiments attacked and wounded his officer, Lieut. Baugh, with sword and pistol. This fellow, whose name was Mungal Pandy, would seem to have had the equivocal honor of giving the local designation of Pandies to the entire body of insurgents.

Barrack-allowance. In the British army, is a specific allowance of bread, beef, wood, coals, etc., to regiments stationed in barracks.

Barrack-guard. When a regiment is in barracks the principal guard is called the barrack-guard, the officer being responsible for the regularity of the men in barracks, and for all prisoners duly committed to his charge while on that duty.

Barrack-master. The officer who superintends the barracks of soldiers.

Barracks. Are permanent structures for the accommodation of soldiers, as distinguished from huts and tents, which have usually a square or open place in front, for the purpose of drill and parade.

Barrack-sergeants. In the British army, are faithful old sergeants who are selected from the line and placed in charge of barracks, under the superintendence of the barrack-masters.

Barrel. A round vessel or cask, of more length than breadth, and bulging in the middle, made of staves and headings and bound with hoops. Powder-barrels are made to contain 100 pounds each, the barrels being large enough to allow sufficient space for the powder to move when rolled, to prevent its caking. Also any hollow cylinder or tube, as the barrel of a gun. See FIRE-BARREL.

Barricade. An obstruction formed in streets, avenues, etc., so as to block up access to an enemy. They are generally formed of overturned wagons, carriages, large stones, breast works, abatis, or other obstacles at hand.

Barrier. In a general sense means any fortification or strong place on the frontiers of a country. It is likewise a kind of fence composed of stakes and transoms, as overthwart rafters, erected to defend the entrance of a passage, retrenchment, or the like. In the middle of the barrier is a movable bar of wood, which is opened or shut at pleasure. It also implies a gate made of wooden bars, about 5 feet long, perpendicular to the horizon, and kept together by two long bars going across and another crossing diagonally. Barriers are used to stop the cut made through the esplanade before the gate of a town.

Barrier Treaty. A treaty by which the Low Countries were ceded to the emperor Charles VI., and which was signed by the British, Imperial, and Dutch ministers November 15, 1715.

Barritus, or Bardites. A word which

BARROSA

not only signified the battle-cry of the ancient Germans, but all battle-cries were formerly so called.

Barrosa, or Barosa. In Southern Spain, where a battle was fought on March 5, 1811, between the British army, commanded by Maj.-Gen. Sir Thomas Graham, afterwards Lord Lynedoch, and the French under Marshal Victor. After a long conflict, the British achieved one of the most glorious triumphs of the Peninsular war. Although they fought at great disadvantage the British compelled the French to retreat, leaving nearly 3000 dead, 6 pieces of cannon, and an eagle, the first that the British had taken. The loss of the British was 1169 men killed and wounded.

Bar-shot. An obsolete projectile, consisting of two shot connected by a bar of iron.

Bar-sur-Aube. An ancient town of France, on the Aube, in the department of Aube, where the French under Oudinot and MacDonald were defeated by the allies, February 27, 1814.

Bar-sur-Seine. A town in the department of Aube, France; often ruined and sacked during the wars of Burgundy. It was the scene of a severe engagement between Napoleon and the allies, May 25,

1814.

Bartholomew, St. The massacre of St. Bartholomew commenced at Paris on the night of the festival of this saint. According to Sully 70,000 Huguenots, or French Protestants, including women and children, were murdered throughout the kingdom by secret orders from Charles IX., at the instigation of his mother, the queen-dowager, Catherine de Médicis, August 24, 1572.

Bartholomew, St. A West India island held by Sweden. It was colonized by the French in 1648; and has been several times taken and restored by the British. It was ceded to Sweden by France in 1785.

Bartizan. A small stone closet thrown out upon corbels over doorways and on other parts of medieval castles, generally for defensive purposes, but sometimes for the convenience of the inmates.

Bascinet. A light helmet, generally without a visor; so called from its resemblance to a basin.

Baschi. A Turkish_title, signifying a superior commander, officer, chief, etc.; this title is only used in connection with the office title; the most prominent are:

TOPTSCHJY-BASCHI, general of artillery and inspector of forts, etc.

archers.

SOLACKI-BASCHI, sub-commander of the SANDSCHJACK-DARLARS-BASCHI, chief of

BASHKIRS

Bascule Bridge. A kind of draw-bridge with a counterpoise swinging up and down, and usually a pit behind it, in which the counterpoise falls or rises as the bridge rises or falls. Bascule is the arrangement of the counterpoise in bascule bridges.

Base. In fortifications, is the exterior side of the polygon, or that imaginary line which connects the salient angle of two adjacent bastions.

Base. In heraldry, denotes the lower part of the shield.

Base-line. In gunnery, is a line traced around the gun in rear of the vent; also the measured line used to obtain ranges by triangulation.

Base of Operations. That secure line of frontier or fortresses, or strong country occupied by troops, or of sea occupied by fleets, from which forward movements are made, supplies furnished, and upon which a retreat may be made, if necessary.

Base of the Breech. In gunnery, is the rear surface of the breech of a gun.

Basel, Treaty of. This place gives its name to two important treaties of peace, concluded here on April 5 and July 22, 1795, between the representatives of the French Republic, Prussia, and Spain, by which Prussia withdrew from the coalition against France, took under her protection all the states of Northern Germany which should like herself relinquish the war in which the German empire was engaged, and also give up to the victorious republic her possessions beyond the Rhine; whilst Spain gave up her portion of St. Domingo, and prepared the way for that alliance with France which was afterwards productive of consequences so important.

Base-ring. In gunnery, is a projecting band of metal adjoining the base of the breech, and connected with the body of the gun by a concave moulding.

Bashaw. See PASHA.

Bashi-Bazouks. Are irregular troops in the pay of the sultan. Very few of them are Europeans; they are mostly Asiatics, from some of the pashalics in Asiatic Turkey; they are wild, turbulent men, ready to enter the sultan's service under some leader whom they can understand, and still more ready to plunder whenever an opportunity offers. During the Russo-Turkish war of 1854, etc., they had many encounters with the enemy in that kind of irregular warfare which the Russians intrust to Cossack horsemen; but the peaceful villagers had almost as much distrust of the BashiBazouks as of the Russians. They were also partially employed by the British during the Crimean war.

Bashkirs. A race supposed to be descended from the Nogay Tartars, who inhabit the Russian provinces of Ufa and Yekaterinboorg, in the governments of Orenburg and Perm respectively. They are but partially civilized, and are generally employed by Russia as guards on the frontier of Asia.

BASIENTELLO

Basientello (Southern Naples). Here the army of Otto II., in an ambuscade, was nearly cut to pieces by the Greeks and Saracens, July 13, 982; the emperor barely escaped.

Basilisk. An ancient piece of ordnance, which was 10 feet long and weighed 7200 pounds; so called from its supposed resemblance to the serpent of that name, or from

its size.

Basillard. An old term for a poniard.

Basket-hilt. The hilt of a sword, so made as to contain and guard the whole hand.

Basket-hilted. Having a hilt of basket

work.

Baskets. See GABION.

Baslard. A short sword or dagger, worn in the 15th century.

Basnet. See BASCINET.

Basque Provinces (Northwest Spain, Biscay, Guipuzcoa, and Alva). The Basques, considered to be descendants of the ancient Iberi, were termed Vascones by the Romans, whom they successfully resisted. They were subdued with great difficulty by the Goths about 580, and were united to Castile in the 13th and 14th centuries.

Basque Roads (Western France). Four French ships of the line, riding at anchor here, were attacked by Lords Gambier and Cochrane (the latter commanding the fireships), and all, with a great number of merchant and other vessels, were destroyed, April 11-12, 1809. Cochrane accused Gambier of neglecting to support him, and thereby allowing the French to escape. At a court-martial Lord Gambier was acquitted. Bassée, La. A town in the department of the North, France, formerly fortified. It sustained several sieges. Louis XIV. captured it from the Spaniards and caused it to be dismantled.

Basseterre Roads, St. Christopher's, West Indies. Here the French admiral, the Comte de Grasse, was repulsed with loss in three desperate attacks on the British fleet, commanded by Sir Thomas Graves, January 25– 26, 1782.

Basson (Northern Italy). Here the Austrians under Wurmser were defeated by the French under Massena, September 8, 1796.

Bassorah, Basrah, or Bussorah (Asia Minor). A Turkish city, founded by the Caliph Omar about 635. It has been several times taken and retaken by the Persians and Turks.

Bass Rock. An isle in the Frith of Forth, Southern Scotland; granted to the Landers in 1316; purchased for a state prison, 1671; taken by the Jacobites, 1690; surrendered, 1694; granted to the Dalrymples, 1706.

Bastard, or Batarde (Fr.). An ancient piece of ordnance of about 8 pounds calibre, 9 feet long, and weighing 1950 pounds. It was invented by Jean Maurique de Lard, master-general of ordnance under Charles V. of France in 1535. He also had several

bastards cast of a larger calibre. This term was also applied to guns of an unusual make or proportion, whether longer or shorter.

Bastarnæ, or Basternæ. A warlike German people who migrated to the country near the mouth of the Danube. They are first mentioned in the wars of Philip and Perseus against the Romans, and at a later period they frequently devastated Thrace, and were engaged in wars with the Roman governors of the province of Macedonia. In 30 B.C. they were defeated by Marcus Crassus, and driven across the Danube, and we find them, at a later period, partly settled between the Tyras (now Dniester) and Borysthenes (now Dnieper), and partly at the mouth of the Danube, under the name of Peucini, from their inhabiting the island of Peuce, at the mouth of the river.

Bastia. A fortified seaport town, and formerly capital of Corsica, on its northeast coast, and 67 miles from Ajaccio; besieged without success by the Piedmontese in 1748; captured by the English, 1794.

Bastide (Fr.). In ancient times, a bastion, block-house, fortress, or outer fortifications.

Bastile. Originally, a temporary wooden tower used in warfare; hence, any tower or fortification.

Bastile, or Bastille (Paris). A castle built by Charles V., king of France, in 1369, for the defense of Paris against the English; completed in 1383, and afterwards used as a state prison. Henry IV. and his veteran army assailed it in vain in the siege of Paris during the war, 1587-94. On July 14-15, 1789, it was pulled down by the populace, the governor and other officers seized, conducted to the Place de Grève, their hands and heads were cut off, and the heads carried on pikes through the streets.

Bastinado. A punishment among the Turkish soldiers, which is performed by beating them with a cane or flat of a sword on the soles of their feet.

Bastion. A work consisting of two faces and two flanks, all the angles being salient. Two bastions are connected by means of a curtain, which is screened by the angle made by the prolongation of the corresponding faces of two bastions, and flanked by the line of defense. Bastions contain, sheltered by their parapets, marksmen, artillery, platform, and guards. They are protected by galleries of mines, and by demi-lunes and lunettes outside the ditch, and by palisades, if the ditch is inundated. The faces of the bastion are the parts exposed to being enfiladed by ricochet batteries, and also to being battered in breach.

BASTION, COMPOSED, is where two sides of the interior polygon are very unequal, which makes the gorges also unequal.

BASTION, CUT, is that which, instead of a point, has a re-entering angle.

BASTION, DEFORMED, is when the irregularity of the lines and angles puts the bastion out of shape; as, when it wants a demi