A Military Dictionary and Gazetteer. Thomas Wilhelm
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hausse gives the angle correctly only when the line of sight is horizontal. When the elevation is given by elevating arcs or gunner’s quadrant, the angle of elevation becomes the angle of fire, or the angle which the axis of the piece makes with the horizontal. Elevation is necessary to overcome the effect of gravity on the projectile. The degree of elevation increases with the range. In vacuo the elevation corresponding to the maximum range is 45°. In the air the angle of maximum range diminishes with the velocity and increases with diameter and density of the ball. It is greater in mortars than in howitzers, and greater in howitzers than in guns. In mortars it approximates to 42°; in guns it is about 37°.
Ellisburgh. A village of Jefferson Co., N. Y. In 1814 an engagement took place here between the Americans and British, in which the latter were defeated.
Elmina. A fortified town and seaport of West Africa, founded by the Portuguese in 1481; was the first European settlement planted on the coast of Guinea. It was taken by the Dutch in 1637, and was ceded by them to Portugal. It was burned by the British troops in 1873.
Elsass (Fr. Alsace). One of the old German provinces, having the Rhine on the east and the Vosges Mountains on the west. It was ceded to France in 1648; but after the Franco-German war was annexed by Prussia, under treaty of May 10, 1871.
Elswick Compressor. An arrangement for compressing friction plates used in the English navy to take up the recoil of gun-carriages upon their slides. The 7 friction plates arranged longitudinally under the carriage and attached to its lower part, have alternating between them 6 long flat bars attached at their ends to the slide by bolts passing through them, but allowing them a side motion. The plates and bars are tightly clamped by short rocking levers, the lower ends of which act on the outside plates. The levers are worked by collars on a threaded shaft, which catch their upper ends. The shaft is called the compressor shaft, and has a handle or crank on the outside of each cheek or bracket—one is called the adjusting lever, the other the compressor lever. The first is used to give an initial compression to suit the charge, the other is operated by the recoil being forced down by a tripper on the slide. Two forms of the compressor are used—one for the single plate, the other for the double-plate carriage. In the double-plate carriage the adjusting lever can be set to any degree of compression without causing any motion in the compressor shaft or lever.
Elswick Gun. Armstrong gun (which see).
Elvas. A strong frontier town of Portugal, in the province of Alemtejo, situated on a rocky hill, 10 miles northwest from Badajos. It is one of the most important strongholds in Europe. The arsenal and bomb-proof barracks are capable of containing 6000 or 7000 men. In 1808 it was taken and held for five months by the French.
Emaum Ghaur. In Scinde, was a strong fortress in the Thur or Great Sandy Desert, separating that province from the rajpoot state of Jessulmere. It was captured by Sir Charles Napier in January, 1843.
Embark. To put or cause to go on board a vessel or boat; as, to embark troops. To go on board of a ship, boat, or vessel; as, the troops embarked for Egypt.
Embarkation. The act of putting or going on board of a vessel.
Embaterion. A war-song of the Spartans, accompanied by flutes, which they sung marching in time, and rushing on the enemy. The origin of the embaterion is lost in antiquity.
Embattle. To arrange in order of battle; to draw up in array, as troops for battle; also, to prepare or arm for battle.
Embattle. To furnish with battlements. “Embattled” house.
Embattlement. An indented parapet; battlement.
Embezzlement. See Appendix, Articles of War, 60.
Emblazonry. See Blazonry.
Emblee (Fr.). A prompt, sudden, and vigorous attack, which is made against the covert way and outworks of a fortified place.
Embody. To form or collect into a body or united mass; as, to embody troops.
Embrasseur (Fr.). A piece of iron, which grasps the trunnions of a piece of ordnance, when it is raised upon the boring machine, to widen its caliber.
Embrasure. In fortification, is an opening in the parapet, or a hole in the mask wall of a casemate through which the guns are pointed. The sole or bottom of the embrasure is from 21⁄2 to 4 feet (according to the size of the gun) above the platform upon which the gun stands. Parapet embrasures are smallest at the interior opening, which is called the mouth, and is from 11⁄2 to 2 feet wide. The widening of the embrasure is what is called the splay. The sole slopes downward about one in six. Its exterior line, or its intersection with the exterior slope, is usually made half the length of the sole. The line which bisects the sole is called the directrix. The sides are called cheeks. The masses of earth between embrasures are called merlons. When the directrix makes an angle with the direction of the parapet, the embrasure is oblique. The embrasures of casemates have in horizontal section a shape something like an hour-glass. The nearest part is called the throat. This is sometimes closed with iron shutters.
Embrocher. A vulgar term used among French soldiers to signify the act of running a man through the body; literally to spit him.
Emery. A powder made by grinding a mineral—corundum—used by soldiers for cleaning their arms.
Eminence. A high or rising ground, which overlooks and commands the low places about it. Such places, within cannon-shot of any fortified place, are a great disadvantage, if the besiegers become masters of them.
Emir, or Emeer. An Arabic word, equivalent to “ruler,” is a title given to all independent chieftains, and also to all the actual or supposed descendants of Mohammed through his daughter Fatima. In former times, the title of Emir was borne by the leaders in the religious wars of the Mohammedans, and by several ruling families.
Emissary. A person sent by any power that is at war with another, for the purpose of creating disaffection among the people of the latter.
Emousser (Fr.). To blunt, to dull. In a military sense, it signifies to take off the four corners of a battalion, which has formed a square, and to give it, by those means, an octagon figure; from the different obtuse angles of which it may fire in all directions.
Emperor (Imperator). Among the ancient Romans, signified the general of an army, who, for some extraordinary success, had been complimented with this appellation. Subsequently it came to denominate an absolute monarch or supreme commander of an empire. In Europe, the first who bore the title was Charlemagne.
Empilement (Fr.). From empiler, to pile up. The act of disposing shot and shell in the most secure and convenient manner. This generally occurs in arsenals and citadels.
Emprise. A hazardous attempt upon the enemy.
Encamp. To form and occupy a camp; to halt on a march, spread tents, and remain for a night or for a longer time; as, an army or company.
Encampment. The pitching of a camp. The act of pitching huts or tents, as by an army, for temporary lodging, or rest; the place where an army or company is encamped. There are intrenched camps, where an army is intended to be kept some time, protected against the enemy; flying camps, for brief occupation; camps of position, bearing relation to the strategy of the commander; and camps of instruction, to habituate the troops to the duties and