Aries (Lat. “a ram”). An ancient battering-ram. See Battering-ram.
Arizona. A Territory of the United States, originally part of New Mexico, organized February, 1803. For many years known for its Indian hostilities, and conflicts between the Indians and U. S. troops; also for frequent terrible massacres of whites.
Arkansas. One of the Southwestern States of the Union. It was settled by the French in 1685, and formed a part of the great tract purchased from the French in 1803 under the name of Louisiana Territory. It was organized as a Territory in 1819, and admitted as a State in 1836. Arkansas passed an ordinance of secession March 4, 1861; was the scene of several engagements during the civil war, and suffered its share of the hardships of that eventful period. The battles of Pea Ridge and Fayetteville were fought in its territory; Arkansas Post was captured in 1863; and Helena and Little Rock were taken the same year.
Arkansas Indians. A tribe of Indians allied to the Dakotas, who formerly resided on the Ohio. At present they number about 200, and live in the Indian Territory.
Arkansas Post. A village in Arkansas, on the Arkansas River, about 40 miles from its mouth, garrisoned by the Confederates during the civil war. The combined forces of Admiral Porter and Gen. McClernand made an attack upon the place January 11, 1863, and carried it by storm.
Arklow. A town in Ireland, where a battle was fought between the insurgent Irish, amounting to 31,000, and a small regular force of British, which signally defeated them, June 10, 1798.
Arles. A city in the department Mouths-of-the-Rhone, France; said to have been founded 2000 B.C.; was formerly a powerful Roman city; sustained four memorable sieges against the Visigoths, in 425, 429, 452, and 457; besieged by Clovis I., king of the Franks, 508. The Count of Barcelona took possession of it in 1156, and Alfonso II., king of Aragon, in 1167.
Arlon. A town in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium. Here the French, commanded by Jourdan, defeated the Austrians in April, 1793, and again in April, 1794.
Arm. In a military sense, signifies a particular species of troops—thus the artillery is an arm, and the cavalry, and infantry, etc., are each called an arm of the service. The word is also used to denote an instrument of warfare; a weapon of offense or defense.
Arm. To be provided with arms, weapons, or means of attack or resistance; to take arms.
Armament. A body of forces equipped for war;—used as a land force. All arrangements made for the defense of a fortification with musketry and artillery.
Armamentary. An armory; a magazine or arsenal.
Arm a Shot, To. Is to roll rope-yarns about a cross-bar shot in order to facilitate ramming it home, and also to prevent the ends catching any accidental inequalities in the bore.
Armatoles. A Grecian militia of Thessaly, instituted by Selim I. at the beginning of the 16th century, to oppose the raids of the mountaineers called klephtes, or brigands. Later the Armatoles and Klephtes united against the Turks.
Armatura. In ancient military history signified the fixed and established military exercises of the Romans. Under this word is understood the throwing of the spear, javelin, shooting with bows and arrows, etc. Armatura was also an appellation given to the soldiers who were light-armed; and was a name also given to the soldiers in the emperor’s retinue.
Armature. Armor; whatever is worn or used for the protection and defense of the body.
Arm-chest. A portable locker for holding arms, and affording a ready supply of pistols, muskets, or other weapons. Also used in the military service for the transportation of rifles, revolvers, etc.
Arme Courtoise (Fr.). This arm was used in tilts or tournaments during the Middle Ages; it was a kind of sword with a ring or knob placed at the tip of the blade to prevent it causing a dangerous wound.
Armed. Furnished with weapons of offense or defense; furnished with the means of security or protection; furnished with whatever serves to add strength, force, or efficiency. Armed neutrality, the condition of affairs when a nation assumes a threatening position, and maintains an armed force to repel any aggression on the part of belligerent nations between which it is neutral.
Armentiers. A city of the department of the North, France; captured and burned by the English, 1339; pillaged by the French, 1382; destroyed by the Calvinists in 1566; occupied by Marshals de Gassion and de Rantzan, 1645; by Archduke Leopold, 1647; by the French in 1667, and remained a city of France in accordance with the peace treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1668.
Armes de Jet (Fr.). Missive weapons; offensive arms or instruments which act by propulsion, whether by the force of powder, steam, wind, or mechanism.
Armet (Fr.). A helmet or head-piece much in use in the 16th century, and worn with or without the beaver.
Armgaunt. Worn by military service; as, an armgaunt steed.
Armiger. Formerly an armor-bearer, as of a knight; an esquire who bore his shield and rendered other services. In later use, one next in degree to a knight, and entitled to a coat of arms.
Armilausa. A military uniform coat, worn by the Romans over their armor.
Armiludia. A name given by the Romans to the exercises of arms, and also applied to the day on which these exercises took place.
Armilustrium. This name was given by the Romans to a military festival which took place on the 19th of October annually. After review the soldiers offered up sacrifices for the success of the Roman arms.
Armipotent. Powerful in arms; mighty in battle.
Armisonous. Rustling in arms; resounding with arms.
Armistice. A cessation of hostilities between belligerent nations for a considerable time. It is either partial and local, or general. It differs from a mere suspension of arms, which takes place to enable the two armies to bury their dead, their chiefs to hold conferences or pourparlers, and the like. The terms truce (see Truce) and armistice are sometimes used in the same sense.
Armless. Without arms or armor.
Armlet. The name of a piece of armor for the arm, to protect it from the jar of the bow-string.
Armor. Defensive arms for the body; any clothing or covering worn to protect one’s person in battle. In English statutes, armor is used for the whole apparatus of war, including offensive as well as defensive arms. The statutes of armor directed what arms every man should provide. Armor has also been extensively used in England in plating important fortifications as those of Portsmouth, and also in Germany for the forts along the frontier.
Armor-bearer. One who carries the armor of another; an armiger; an esquire.
Armorer. The person who makes, cleans, or repairs arms.
Armorial. Belonging to armor, or to the arms or escutcheon of a family.
Armor Plates. From experiments of the effects of shot and shell on armor plates in England, the following results have been obtained: Where it is required to perforate the plate, the projectile should be of hard material, such as steel, or chilled iron, and the form best suited for this purpose is the pointed ogeeval. The resistance of wrought-iron plates to perforation by steel projectiles varies as the squares of their thickness. Hitting a plate at an angle diminishes the effect as regards the power of perforation in the proportion of the sine of the angle of incidence to unity. The resistance of wrought-iron plates to perforation