Centurion. A military officer among the ancient Romans, who commanded a (centum) hundred men.
Century. In an ancient military sense, meant a hundred soldiers, who were employed in working the battering-ram.
Cephalonia. One of the Ionian Islands; was taken from the Ætolians by the Romans 189 B.C., and given to the Athenians by Hadrian in 135. It was conquered by the Normans in 1146, afterwards passed into the possession of the Venetians, and was taken by the English in 1819.
Cephisus. A river in Attica, near which Walter de Brienne, duke of Athens, was defeated and slain by the Catalans in 1311.
Cercelée, or Recercelée. In heraldry, is a cross circling or curling at the ends, like a ram’s horn.
Cercle (Grand-cercle), Fr. A form observed under the old government of France, by which it was directed that every evening at a specific hour the sergeants and corporals of brigade should assemble to receive orders, the former standing in front of the latter. Subsequent to the grand cercle, a smaller one was made in each regiment, when general or regimental orders were again repeated to the sergeants of each regiment, and from them communicated to the officers of the several companies.
Ceremonies, Stated Military. Exercises, such as parades, reviews, inspections, escorts of the color, escorts of honor, funeral honors, guard-mounting, etc.
Cerignola. A town of South Italy, in the province of Capitanata. Here, in 1503, the French were defeated by the Spaniards, and the Duke of Nemours, who commanded the former, was slain.
Cerro Gordo. A celebrated mountain-pass in Mexico, about 60 miles northwest of Vera Cruz. Here an army of about 12,000 Mexicans under Santa Anna was totally defeated by about 8000 U. S. troops under Gen. Scott, April 18, 1847. The Mexicans lost about 1000 killed and wounded, besides 3000 prisoners; the American loss was 431 killed and wounded.
Certificate of Disability. See Disability.
Certificate of Merit. See Merit, Certificate of.
Cessation of Arms. An armistice or truce, agreed to by the commanders of armies, to give them time for a capitulation, or for other purposes.
Ceuta. A fortified seaport of Morocco, opposite Gibraltar. The castle stands on the highest point of the ancient Abyla, one of the pillars of Hercules, terminating a peninsula. This was a Mauritanian town under the Romans, and in 1415 was taken from the Moors by the Portuguese. In 1580 it passed into the possession of the Spanish, in whose hands it afterwards remained.
Ceylon (anc. Taprobane). An island in the Indian Ocean. It was invaded by the Portuguese Almeyda, 1505, but it was known to the Romans in the time of Claudius, 41. The Dutch landed in Ceylon in 1602; they captured the capital, Colombo, in 1503. Intercourse with the British began in 1713. A large portion of the country was taken by them in 1782, but was restored in 1783. The Dutch settlements were seized by the British, 1795. Ceylon was ceded to the British by the peace of Amiens in 1802. The British troops were treacherously massacred or imprisoned by the Adigar of Candy, at Colombo, June 26, 1803. The complete sovereignty of the island was assumed by England in 1815.
Chæronea (Bœotia). Here Greece was ruined by Philip, 32,000 Macedonians defeating 30,000 Thebans, Athenians, etc., August 6 or 7, 338 B.C. Here Archelaus, lieutenant of Mithridates, was defeated by Sylla, and 110,000 Cappadocians were slain, 86 B.C.
Chain. A chain made of a kind of wire, divided into links of an equal length, is made use of by military engineers for setting out works on the ground, because cord lines are apt to shrink and give way.
Chain-ball. See Projectile.
Chain-mail. A kind of armor made of interlaced rings, both flexible and strong; much used in the 12th and 13th centuries.
Chain-shot. See Projectile.
Chair. See Ordnance, Carriages for, Nomenclature of Artillery Carriage.
Chalcedon. In Asia Minor, opposite Byzantium, colonized by Magarians about 684 B.C. It was taken by Darius, 505 B.C.; by the Romans, 74; plundered by the Goths, 259 A.D.; taken by Chosroes the Persian, 609; by Orchan the Turk in 1338.
Chalcis. An ancient Greek city, of great antiquity, the capital of the island of Eubœa. It rose to great eminence, but finally became a tributary of Athens, from whose sway it revolted several times, being as often, however, subdued, and held until the downfall of the Athenian empire at the close of the Peloponnesian war. In later times it was successively occupied by the Macedonians, Antiochus, Mithridates, and the Romans. It joined the Achæans in the last war against the Romans, and the town was in consequence destroyed by Mummius. The modern city of Egripo, or Negropont, built on its site, for a time in possession of the Venetians, was taken by the Turks in 1470.
Chalgrove. In Oxfordshire, England. At a skirmish here with Prince Rupert, June 18, 1643, John Hampden, of the Parliament party, was mortally wounded. A column was erected to his memory, June 18, 1843.
Challenge. The act of a sentinel in questioning or demanding the countersign from those who appear at his post.
Challenge. See Appendix, Articles of War, 26, 27, and 28.
Challenge of Members of Courts-martial. When a member shall be challenged by a prisoner, he must state his cause of challenge, of which the court shall, after due deliberation, determine the relevancy or validity, and decide accordingly; and no challenge to more than one member at a time shall be received by the court.
Châlons-sur-Marne. A town of France, in the department of Marne. Here the emperor Aurelian defeated Tetricus, the last of the pretenders to the throne termed the Thirty Tyrants, 274; and here in 451 Aetius defeated Attila the Hun, compelling him to retire into Pannonia.
Chamade. A signal made for parley by beat of drum.
Chamber. Of a mine, that place where the powder is deposited.
Chamber. In howitzers, and mortars of the old model, was the smallest part of the bore, and contained the charge of powder. In the howitzers the chamber was cylindrical, and was united with the large cylinder of the bore by a conical surface; the angles of intersection of the conical surface with the cylinders of the bore and chamber were rounded (in profile) by arcs of circles. In the 8-inch howitzer, the chamber was united with the cylinder of the bore by spherical surface, in order that the shell might, when necessary, be inserted without a sabot. The chamber is omitted in all cannon of the late models, the cylinder of the bore terminating at the bottom in a semi-ellipsoid. The old chambers were subcaliber. The first use of a chamber larger than the bore occurred, it is believed, in a gun invented by an American named Ferris. The gun had a great range. One of the most important improvements in recent ordnance consists in the use of this chamber. The English, who deserve the credit of first appreciating it, now use it in all their largest guns. See Ordnance, History of.
Chambersburg. The capital of Franklin Co., Pa. This place was the scene of several exciting incidents during the civil war. It was occupied by a party of Confederate cavalry under Gen. Stuart in 1862, by a part