Britain, Great. The name given in 1604 to England, Wales, and Scotland.
Briteste. A small town of France, in the old province of Guienne; besieged by the Duke of Vendôme in 1622, who was compelled to retreat, without accomplishing his object, after firing 2000 shots; he made five assaults and lost 1500 men.
British Legion. Raised by Lord John Hay, Colonel De Lacy Evans, and others, to assist the queen of Spain against the Carlists in 1835; defeated them at Hernani, May 5, 1836, and at St. Sebastian’s, October 1.
Brittany, or Bretagne (Northwest France). The ancient Armorica. Conquered by Julius Cæsar, 56 B.C. Brittany was formerly united to the monarchy, 1532; held by the Spaniards, 1591; recovered by Henry IV., 1594. The Bretons took part in the Vendean insurrection in 1791.
Brixham. A seaport town in the county of Devon, England. Here William III. (of Orange) landed in England on November 6, 1688.
Brizure, Brizé, or Brisé. Terms used in heraldry to indicate that a charge is bruised or broken.
Broad-axe. A military weapon used in ancient times.
Broadsword. Is a sword with a broad blade, for cutting only, not for stabbing, and therefore not sharp at the point like a sabre.
Broadwell Ring. A gas-check for use in heavy breech-loading guns, invented by L. W. Broadwell. See Breech Mechanism.
Brod (Slavonian). A military frontier fortress of Austria, on the Save, defended by a fort. Here Ziska defeated the emperor Sigismund in 1422.
Broke. Sentence of a court-martial depriving an officer of his commission, or a non-commissioned officer or warrant-officer of his warrant. Also said of a non-commissioned officer being reduced by order.
Brondolo. A fortified village of Northern Italy, on the Brenta-Nuova; it was formerly a flourishing town; destroyed by the Genoese in 1380.
Broni. A town of Redmont, in the province of Alessandria, about 11 miles southeast of Pavia. In its vicinity is the castle of Broni, celebrated in history as the place where Prince Eugène obtained a victory over the French in 1703.
Bronnitza. A town of Russia, in the government of Novgorod, on the Masta. Here the Swedes defeated the Russians in 1614.
Bronze. See Ordnance, Metals for, Bronze.
Bronze. Gun-barrels are bronzed by acting upon them with the chloride or butter of antimony, or with hydrochloric or nitric acids, when the surface of the iron gets partially eaten into, and covered with a thin film of oxide, after which the gun-barrel is thoroughly cleaned, oiled, and burnished. A brownish shade is thus communicated to the barrel, which protects it from rust, and at the same time renders it less conspicuous to an enemy.
Brooke Gun. See Ordnance, Construction of.
Brooklyn. A city and seaport of the United States, at the extremity of Long Island, opposite New York City. In 1776 this part of Long Island was one of the principal localities of the war of independence. Here on August 27, 1776, was fought the first great battle of the Revolutionary war after the Declaration of Independence. The American army occupied Manhattan, Governor’s, and Long Islands, a large force being placed by Washington under the command of Gen. Greene in a fortified camp extending from Wallabout Bay to Gowanus Cove. Unfortunately, Gen. Greene was taken sick, and four days before the battle the command was given to Gen. Putnam. On August 22 the British forces under Lord Howe landed and encamped at the western point of Long Island. About midnight on the 26th the British attacked the American left, and about daybreak on the 27th the Hessians under Von Heister attacked the centre, and were met bravely by the American forces; but an important pass through the hills on their right, called the Jamaica Pass, being left unguarded, a select body of English troops poured through, followed by Percy and Cornwallis with the main army, and, attacking them from the flank and rear, drove the patriots in confusion with heavy loss. On the night of the 29th, Washington succeeded, under cover of a dense fog, in withdrawing all his troops from Brooklyn to New York, and finding it impossible to defend that city, he removed his forces to the heights of Harlem. During the civil war Brooklyn was not surpassed by any city in her zeal for the cause of the Union.
Brother Officers. Those of the same regiment.
Brother Soldier. See Soldier.
Brownbill. The ancient weapon of the English foot soldiers, resembling a battle-axe.
Browning. See Bronze.
Bruges. A city in Belgium. In the 7th century it was the capital of Flanders, and in the 13th and 14th centuries had become almost the commercial metropolis of the world. It suffered much through an insurrection in 1488, and the consequent repression. It was incorporated with France in 1794, with the Netherlands in 1814, and with Belgium in 1830.
Brumaire. A division of the year in the calendar of the French Republic. It is derived from the Latin bruma, “winter,” and included the time from October 23 to November 21. The celebrated 18th Brumaire, which witnessed the overthrow of the Directory and the establishment of the sway of Napoleon, corresponds with November 9, 1799, of the Gregorian calendar.
Brunanburg (supposed by some to be near Ford, Northumberland, England). Anlaf, with an army of Northmen from Ireland, and Constantine III., king of Scots, landed at the mouth of the Humber, and were defeated with very great slaughter at Brunanburg by Athelstan in 937.
Brunette, La. An ancient fortress of Piedmont; dismantled by the French in 1798.
Brünn. Capital of Moravia. Its citadel was blockaded by the Hungarians in 947; the town was besieged by the Swedes in 1645, and by the Prussians in 1742; entered by the French under Murat, November 18, 1805, and by the Prussians, July 13, 1866.
Brunswick. A city of Germany, the capital of a duchy of the same name. It was formerly fortified; besieged in 1761, and a combat took place under its walls in 1813.
Brunt. The troops who sustain the principal shock of the enemy in action are said to bear the brunt of the battle.
Bruttium (now Calabria Ultra). In Southern Italy; the Bruttians and Lucanians defeated and slew Alexander of Epirus at Pandosia, 326 B.C. They were conquered by Rome 277 B.C.
Brüx, or Brix. A town of Bohemia, on the river Bila. Here the Prussians defeated the Austrians in 1759.
Bruyeres-sous-Laon. A town of France, in the department of the Aisne. It was captured and pillaged by the Normans in 882; sacked by the English in 1358 and 1373; Jean de Luxembourg took possession of it in 1433, and the Calvinists in 1567.
Brzesc Litewski. A fortified town of Russia, in the government of Grodno. Here the Russians defeated the Poles in 1794. The Poles were 13,000 strong, out of which 500 were taken prisoners, 300 escaped, and the remainder fell on the field of battle.
Buccellarii.