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 changesan 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.
VIZIERNawab 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.Thesight, which is fixed on the barrel of a musquet or firelock.
ToVISIT, (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.
Visitedes Postes,Fr.The act of visiting posts, &c.
Faire laVisite,Fr.To visit, to inspect.
Visiteur,Fr.The person who visits or goes the rounds.
VisitingOfficer. He whose duty it is to visit the guards, barracks, messes, hospital, &c. SeeOrderly Officer.
VISOR,-VIZARD,
That part of the helmet which covered the face.
VITALAIR, or azote and oxygene, now properly callednitrogene 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!
Vivele Roi!Fr.Long live the king!
Vivela 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 theDictionnaire 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.
Vivreset 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 TurksMeidan 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 solemnoccasions, 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 entitledTraité des Subsistances Militaires, has suggested the establishment of a regular corps ofVivriersor 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 oneUlan, 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, whetherUlanbe 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 andUlans. 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 throwsit 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, calledpocztowyorpacholeks, 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, thathave 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 fromlapis lazuli, and used in thedrawingof plans, &c.
ULTRAMONTANE. Derived from the LatinUltra, beyond, andMons, mountain. This term is principally used in relation to Italy and France, which are separated by the Alps. According to Bayley,Ultramontanusis 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.
ToUNCASE. 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.
ToUNCOVER. 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.
UnderCommand, (Sous Ordre,Fr.) In subjection to; liable to be ordered to do any particular duty.
UnderCover, (à couvert,à l’abri,Fr.) Shielded, protected, &c. SeeCover.
UnderArms, (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.
ToUNDERMINE. To dig cavities under any thing, so that it may fall, or be blown up; to excavate.
ToUndermine. In a figurative sense, to injure by clandestine means. The discipline of the army may beunderminedby 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.
ToUNFIX. In a military sense, to take off, asUnfix Bayonet, on which the soldier disengages the bayonet from his piece, and returns it to the scabbard. The wordreturn, as we have already observed, is sometimes used instead of unfix.—But it is improperly used, although it more immediately corresponds with the French termRemettre.
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 ofmoralsandmanners, 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. SeeArticles 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 ofmilitary 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 recurringto 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.
Uniformedes 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 anUnionJack.
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.
ToUNSPRING. 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.
Voilequarrée ou à trait quarrée,Fr.A square sail, such as the main-sail.
VoileLatine,Voile à tiers-point, ou a Oreille de Liévre,Fr.A triangular-shaped sail, such as is used in the Mediterranean.
Jet deVoiles,Fr.The complete complement of sails for a ship.
FaireVoile,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.
Voleeet culasse d’une piece,Fr.This term signifies the same astête et queue d’une piece. The mouth or head and breech of a piece of ordnance.
Volee,Fr.Also signifies a cannon shot, asTirer une volee, to fire a cannon shot.
Volee,Fr.SeeSonnette.
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.SeeVolunteers.
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.
DernieresVolontes,Fr.The last will and testament of a man.
VOLT, (Volte,Fr.) In horsemanship, a bounding turn. It is derived from the Italian wordVolta; 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 lesVOLTES,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.
FaireVOLTE-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 generalBerthier, 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.
Volunteersare also bodies of menwho assemble in time of war to defend their respective districts, and this generally without pay.
ToVolunteer. 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.
VOUSSOIRorVOUSSURE,Fr.The bending of a vault.
VOUTE,Fr.A vault; an arch.
VOYAGEsur 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 drawUP. To put in regular array, as to drawupa 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.
ToUSE. 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.
Ustensilesde magazins,Fr.Under this word are comprehended all the various tools, implements, &c. which are required in military magazines and storehouses.
Ustensilesd’un vaisseau,Fr.Every thing which is necessary in the navigation of a ship.
Ustensilesde 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.
BakeryUtensils. 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 arevulnerable.