Azotus. See Ashdod.
Aztecs. The ruling tribe in Mexico at the time of the Spanish invasion, 1519.
Azure. A French word used in heraldry to signify blue. In engraving arms it is always represented by horizontal lines.
B.
Baalbec. An ancient city of Syria. From the accounts of Oriental writers, it was a place of importance down to the time of the Moslem invasion of Syria. After the capture of Damascus, it was regularly invested by the Moslems, and after a courageous defense at length capitulated; sacked and dismantled by the caliph of Damascus, and the principal inhabitants put to the sword, 748; pillaged by Timour Bey, 1400; afterwards subjected to Turkish supremacy; pillaged August 8, 1860, and the Christian inhabitants massacred by the Mohammedans.
Bab-el-Thaza. A place in Algeria where the French fought the Arabs, April 22, 1842.
Babylon. One of the oldest and most celebrated cities in the world, the ancient capital of the Babylonio-Chaldean empire, was situated in an extensive plain on the Euphrates, about 60 miles south of Bagdad. The modern town of Hillah is supposed to occupy a portion of its site. About 588 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, captured Jerusalem, burned the great temple of Solomon, and carried away the Jews as captives to Babylon. Cyrus besieged Babylon, took it by stratagem in 538, and put to death the king Belshazzar, after which the kingdom of Babylon ceased to exist. The city was occupied by Darius in 518, and taken by Alexander the Great in 331. Alexander having selected it as the capital of his empire, died there in 323 B.C.
Bacchi. Two ancient warlike machines; the one resembled a battering-ram, the other cast out fire.
Bachelier (Fr.). A young squire, or knight, who has passed through his first campaign, and received the belt of the order.
Bachevaleureux. A term which, in the old French language, signified warrior, brave, valiant, etc.
Backing. The heavy plating of wood, or of wood and iron, used to support and strengthen iron plates.
Back-plate. A piece of armor for covering the back.
Back-sight. See Sight, Rear.
Back-step. The retrograde movement of a man, or a body of men, without changing front.
Backsword. A sword with one sharp edge. In England, a stick with a basket handle, used in rustic amusements; the game in which it is used; called also “single stick.”
Backwards. A technical word made use of in the British service to express the retrograde movement of troops from line into column, and vice versa. Also a word of command in the U. S. service, to cause a man, or body of men, to march to the rear without changing front.
Bactria (now Bokhara). A province of the Persian empire; it was inhabited by a rude and warlike people, who were subdued by Cyrus or his next successors. It was included in the conquests of Alexander, and formed a part of the kingdom of the Selucidæ until 255 B.C., when Theodotus, its governor, revolted from Antiochus II., and founded the Greek kingdom of Bactria; overthrown by the Parthians 134 or 125 B.C.
Bacule. A kind of portcullis or gate, made like a pitfall, with a counterpoise. See Bascule Bridge.
Badajos (Southwest Spain). An important barrier fortress, surrendered to the French, under Soult, March 11, 1811; was invested by the British, under Lord Wellington, on March 16, 1812, and stormed and taken on April 6, 1812. The French retreated in haste.
Badaleers. Musket-charges of powder in tin or copper tubes, worn dangling from a shoulder-belt, before the introduction of cartridges.
Baddesdown Hill, or Mount Badon. Near Bath, England, where Bede says the Britons defeated the Saxons, 493; others say in 511 or 520.
Badelaire, or Bandelaire (Fr.). A short, broad, curved, and double-edged pointed sword.
Baden (Southwest Germany). A grand duchy; broke out in insurrection and joined by the free city of Rastadt, May, 1849; the Prussians entered it, and defeated the insurgents commanded by Mierolawski, June 15, 1849. Noted as the place where the Emperor Napoleon III., the prince regent of Prussia, and the German kings and princes held an interview, June 16, 1860.
Badge. A distinctive mark, token, or sign, worn on the person. Corps badges were worn to distinguish the army corps during the civil war, 1861–65. Marksmen’s badges are given to good shots in most armies.
Badon, Mount. The scene of a battle said to have been fought by King Arthur against the Saxons who invaded his kingdom, and in which the latter were signally defeated. By some writers Badon has been identified with Bath, by others in Berkshire.
Bæcula. An ancient town in Hispania Tarraconensis, west of Castulo, where the Romans under Scipio defeated the Carthaginians under Hasdrubal, 209 B.C.
Bagaudes. A name given to the peasants of Gaul, who revolted against the Romans in 270; they pillaged cities and villages and massacred the Roman officers; two of the insurgent chiefs, Aliandus and Amandus, were elected emperors; their reign was of short duration; besieged in their camp near the confluence of the Seine and Marne, where Saint-Maur is now situated, they died in arms. This place was named for a long time “Camp des Bagaudes.”
Bagdad. In Asiatic Turkey, built by Al Mansour, and made the seat of the Saracen empire about 762; taken by the Tartars, and a period put to the Saracen rule, 1258; often taken by the Persians, and retaken by the Turks, with great slaughter; the latter took it in 1638, and have held it since.
Baggage. The clothes, tents, utensils of divers sorts, and provisions, etc., belonging to an army, or part of an army.
Baggonet. The old term for bayonet.
Bagpipe. The name of a musical warlike instrument, of the wind kind, used by the Scotch regiments, and sometimes by the Irish. Bagpipes were used by the Danes, by the Romans, and by the Asiatics. The Greeks also had an instrument composed of a pipe and blown-up skin. The bagpipe has been a favorite instrument among the Scots. There are two varieties, the one with long pipes, sounded with the mouth; the other, with short pipes, filled with air by a bellows, and played on with the fingers. The first, the loudest and most ear-piercing of all music, is the genuine Highland pipe, and was suited to the warlike genius of that people. It formerly roused their courage to battle, alarmed them when secure, and collected them when scattered, solaced them in their long and painful marches, and in time of peace kept up the memory of the gallantry of their ancestors by the tunes composed after signal victories. The other is the Irish bagpipe.
Bags. Articles used in field fortifications, and in works to cover a besieging army. Sand-bags, which are generally 16 inches in diameter, and 30 high, are filled with earth or sand, to repair breaches and embrasures of batteries, when damaged by the enemy’s fire or by the blast of the guns. They are also placed on parapets, so arranged as to form a covering for men to fire through. Earth-bags