Almeria. City and seaport in Andalusia, Spain; captured from the Moors in 1147, by the united troops of Alfonso VII., king of Castile, Garcias, king of Navarre, and Raymond, count of Barcelona.
Almexial, Battle of. Between the Spaniards and Portuguese in 1663. The Portuguese were commanded by Sanctius Manuel, count of Vilaflor, and the celebrated Count Frederick von Schomberg, the latter being the veritable hero of the day. The Portuguese gained a great victory; the Spanish army was commanded by Don Juan of Austria, son of Philip IV.
Almissa (Dalminium). City in Dalmatia, Austria; it was the ancient capital of Dalmatia, but was ruined by Scipio Nasica in 156 B.C.
Almogavares. See Catalans.
Almohades. Mohammedan partisans, followers of El-Mehedi in Africa, about 1120. They subdued Morocco, 1145; entered Spain and took Seville, Cordova, and Granada, 1146–56; ruled Spain until 1232, and Africa until 1278.
Almonacid-de-Zorita. A town in the province of Guadalaxara, Spain, where the French defeated the Spaniards in 1809.
Almora. City in Bengal, which the English captured in 1815, and still hold.
Almoravides. Mohammedan partisans in Africa, rose about 1050; entered Spain by invitation, 1086; were overcome by the Almohades in 1147.
Alney. An island in the Severn, Gloucestershire, England. Here a combat is asserted to have taken place between Edmund Ironside and Canute the Great, in the sight of their armies. The latter was wounded, and proposed a division of the kingdom, the south part falling to Edmund. Edmund was murdered at Oxford shortly after, it is said, by Aedric Streon, and Canute obtained possession of the whole kingdom, 1016.
Alnwick (Sax. Elnwix). On the river Alne in Northumberland, England, was given at the Conquest to Ivo de Vesco. It has belonged to the Percies since 1310. Malcolm, king of Scotland, besieged Alnwick in 1093, where he and his sons were killed. It was taken by David I. in 1136, and attacked in 1174, by William the Lion, who was defeated and taken prisoner. It was owned by King John in 1215, and by the Scots in 1448. Since 1854 the castle has been repaired and enlarged with great taste and at unsparing expense.
Alost. A city in Belgium, captured and dismantled by Turenne in 1667, then abandoned to the allies after the battle of Ramillies, in 1706.
Alps. European mountains. Those between France and Italy were passed by Hannibal, 218 B.C.; by the Romans, 154 B.C., and by Napoleon I., May, 1800.
Alsace. See Elsass.
Altenheim. A village on the banks of the Rhine, grand duchy of Baden, where the French under Count de Lorges fought the Imperials, July 30, 1675, neither side being victorious; the French army retreated after the death of Turenne.
Altenkirchen. A town in the Prussian Rhine province, where several battles were fought during the war of the Republic, in one of which Gen. Marceau was killed, while protecting the retreat of Gen. Jourdan, September 20, 1796.
Altiscope. A device which enables a person to see an object in spite of intervening obstacles. In gunnery it is used to point a piece without exposing the person of the gunner. The simplest form consists of a small mirror set in the line of the sights, which reflects the sights and the object aimed at to the eye of the gunner. This form of reflecting sight is used with the Moncrieff counterpoise carriage, and has been recently proposed by Col. Laidley (U. S. Ordnance Corps) for small-arms.
Altitude. Height, or distance from the ground, measured upwards, and may be both accessible and inaccessible. Altitude of a shot or shell, is the perpendicular height of the vortex of the curve in which it moves above the horizon. Altitude of the eye, in perspective is a right line let fall from the eye, perpendicular to the geometrical plane.
Alumbagh. A palace with other buildings near Lucknow, Oude, India, taken from the rebels and heroically defended by the British under Sir James Outram, during the mutiny, September, 1857. He defeated an attack of 30,000 Sepoys on January 12, 1858, and of 20,000 on February 21.
Aluminium Bronze. An alloy of copper and aluminium, having great strength and hardness. See Ordnance, Metals for.
Alure. An old term for the gutter or drain along a battlement or parapet wall.
Alveda. An ancient city in Spain, where a battle was fought between Ramire I., king of the Austurias, and the Moors under the famous Abdolrahman, or Abd-el-Rahm; according to Spanish history, the Moors lost 60,000 men.
Amantea, or Amantia. City and seaport in Naples; sustained a siege against the French in 1806. It is believed that this city is the ancient Nepetum.
Amazons. Female warriors. Tribes, either real or imaginary, belonging to Africa and Asia, among which the custom prevailed for the females to go to war; preparing themselves for that purpose by destroying the right breast, in order to use the bow with greater ease. According to Greek tradition, an Amazon tribe invaded Africa, and was repulsed by Theseus, who afterwards married their queen. Hence all female warriors have been called Amazons.
Amberg. A town in Bavaria, where the French were defeated by the Austrians in 1796.
Ambit. The compass or circuit of any work or place, as of a fortification or encampment, etc.
Ambition. In a military sense, signifies a desire of greater posts or honors. Every person in the army or navy ought to have a spirit of emulation to arrive at the very summit of the profession by his personal merit.
Amblef. Ancient residence of the kings of France on the river of the same name, in Germany. Here Charles Martel defeated Chilperic II. and Rangenfroi, mayor of the Neustrians, 716.
Ambulances. Are flying hospitals, so organized that they can follow an army in all its movements, and are intended to succor the wounded as soon as possible; a two- or four-wheeled vehicle for conveying the wounded from the field; called also an ambulance-cart.
Ambuscade. A snare set for an enemy either to surprise him when marching without precaution, or to draw him on by different stratagems to attack him with a superior force.
Ambush. A place of concealment where an enemy may be surprised by a sudden attack.
Ame. A French term, similar in its import to the word chamber, as applied to cannon, etc.
Amende Honorable (Fr.). In the old armies, of France, signified an apology for some injury done to another, or satisfaction given for an offense committed against the rules of honor or military etiquette, and was also applied to an infamous kind of punishment inflicted upon traitors, parricides, or sacrilegious persons, in the following manner: The offender being delivered into the hands of the hangman, his shirt stripped off, a rope put about his neck, and a taper in his hand; then he was led into the court, where he begged pardon of God, the court, and his country. Sometimes the punishment ended there; but sometimes it was only a prelude to death, or banishment to the galleys. It prevails yet in some parts of Europe.
Amenebourg. A place in Hanover which was captured from the English by the French in 1762.
Amentatæ. A sort of lance used by the Romans, which had a leathern strap attached to the centre of it.
Amentum. A leathern strap used by the Romans, Greeks, and Galicians, to throw lances. It was fastened around the second and third fingers, a knot was tied on it, which at the throwing of the lance loosened itself.
America. One of the great divisions of the earth’s surface,