Ancyra. A town in ancient Galatia, now Angora, or Engour, Asia Minor. Near this city, on July 28, 1402, Timur, or Tamerlane, defeated after a three days’ battle and took prisoner the sultan Bajazet, and is said to have conveyed him to Samarcand in a cage.
Andabatæ. In military antiquity, a kind of gladiators who fought hoodwinked, having a kind of helmet that covered the eyes and face. They fought mounted on horseback, or on chariots.
Andaman Islands. A group of small islands in the Bay of Bengal, which has been used by Great Britain as a penal colony for Hindoos. The Earl of Mayo, governor-general of India, was assassinated here by a convict, February 8, 1872.
Anderlecht. A town near Brussels, in Belgium, where the French under Gen. Dumouriez defeated the Austrians, November 13, 1792.
Andernach. A city in Rhenish Prussia; near here the emperor Charles I. was totally defeated by Louis of Saxony, on October 8, 876.
Andersonville. A post-village of Sumter Co., Ga., about 65 miles south-southwest of Macon. Here was located a Confederate military prison in which Union soldiers were confined during the civil war. So severe was the treatment which they received here (nearly 13,000 having died), that a general feeling of horror was excited against the superintendent, Capt. Henry Wirz; and after the close of the war he was tried for inhuman treatment of the prisoners, found guilty, and executed November, 1865. The place is now the site of a national cemetery.
Andrew, St., or The Thistle, Order of. A nominally military order of knighthood in Scotland. The principal ensign of this order is a gold collar, composed of thistles interlinked with amulets of gold, having pendent thereto the image of St. Andrew with his cross and the motto, Nemo me impune lacessit.
Andrew, St., Knights of. Is also a nominal military order instituted by Peter III. of Muscovy in 1698.
Andrussov, Peace of. This peace was ratified (January 30, 1667) between Russia and Poland for 13 years, with mutual concessions, although the latter power had been generally victorious.
Anelace, or Anlace. A kind of knife or dagger worn at the girdle by civilians till about the end of the 15th century.
Anemometer, or Wind-gauge. An instrument wherewith to measure the direction and velocity of wind under its varying forces—used in the Signal service.
Aneroid Barometer. A pocket instrument indicating variations in atmospheric pressure. Used in military surveys to obtain the height of mountains. It consists of a circular metallic box, hermetically sealed, from which the air has been extracted. The play of the thin, metallic cover under atmospheric pressure, is made to operate a hand pointing to a scale on the dial-face.
Angaria. According to ancient military writers, means a guard of soldiers posted in any place for the security of it. Angaria, in civil law, implies a service by compulsion; as, furnishing horses and carriages for conveying corn and other stores for the army.
Angeliaphori. Reconnoitring parties of the Grecian army.
Angel-shot. A kind of chain-shot. See Chain-shot.
Angers. Principal city of the department of Maine-et-Loire, France. It was sacked by the Normans during the 9th century; taken and retaken several times by the Bretons, English, and French.
Anghiari. A city of Tuscany, where the Florentines under Berardino Ubaldini were defeated by the Milanese general Torello, in 1425, and in 1440 the Florentine general Orsini defeated the Milanese general Piccinino.
Angle. In geometry, is the inclination of two lines meeting one another in a point, or the portion of space lying between two lines, or between two or more surfaces meeting in a common point called the vertex. Angles are of various kinds according to the lines or sides which form them. Those most frequently referred to in fortification and gunnery are:
Angle, Diminished, is that formed by the exterior side and the line of defense.
Angle, Flanked, or Salient, is the projecting angle formed by the two faces of a bastion.
Angle, Interior Flanking, is that which is formed by the meeting of the line of defense and the curtain.
Angle of Arrival. The angle of arrival is the angle which the tangent to the trajectory at the crest of the parapet makes with the horizon.
Angle of Departure, or Angle of Projection, is the angle which the tangent makes with the horizontal at the muzzle.
Angle of Elevation, or Angle of Fire, in gunnery, is that which the axis of the barrel makes with the horizontal line.
Angle of Fall, in gunnery, is the angle made at the point of fall by the tangent to the trajectory with a horizontal line in the plane of fire.
Angle of Fire, in gunnery, is the angle included between the line of fire and horizon; on account of the balloting of the projectile, the angle of fire is not always equal to the angle of departure, or projection.
Angle of Incidence is that which the line of direction of a ray of light, ball from a gun, etc., makes at the point where it first touches the body it strikes against, with a line drawn perpendicularly to the surface of that body.
Angle of Reflection is the angle intercepted between the line of direction of a body rebounding after it has struck against another body, and a perpendicular erected at the point of contact.
Angle of Sight, in gunnery, is the angle included between the line of sight and line of fire. Angles of sight are divided into natural and artificial angles of sight, corresponding to the natural and artificial lines of sight, which inclose them. See Pointing.
Angle of the Centre is the angle formed at the centre of the polygon by lines drawn thence to the points of two adjacent bastions.
Angle of the Epaule, or Shoulder, is formed by one face and one flank of the bastion.
Angle of the Face is formed by the angle of the face and the line of defense produced till they intersect each other.
Angle of the Flank is that formed by the flank and curtain.
Angle of the Line of Defense is that angle made by the flank and the line of defense.
Angle of the Polygon is that formed by the meeting of two of the sides of the polygon; it is likewise called the polygon angle.
Angle of the Tenaille, or Flanking Angle, is made by two lines fichant—that is, the faces of the two bastions extended until they meet in an angle towards the curtain, and is that which always carries its point towards the outworks.
Angle, Re-entering. An angle whose vertex points inward, or towards the place. A re-entering angle which is not defended by a flanking fire is said to be dead.
Angles. An ancient German tribe from which England derives its name. They occupied a narrow district in the south of Sleswick, whence some of them passed over in the 5th century, in conjunction with other Saxon tribes, into Britain, where they conquered the native Britons, and established the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. See Heptarchy.
Anglou. A place in Armenia where a Persian army 4000 strong defeated and cut to pieces a Roman army of 30,000, in 543.
Angon.