A MILITARY DICTIONARY, COMPRISING TERMS, SCIENTIFIC AND OTHERWISE, CONNECTED COMPILED BY MAJOR-GENERAL G. E. VOYLE, RETIRED ROYAL (BENGAL) ARTILLERY, AUTHOR OF THE 'GUNNER'S AID.' ASSISTED BY CAPTAIN G. DE SAINT-CLAIR-STEVENSON, F.R.G.S. ANCIEN OFFICIER D'ÉTAT-MAJOR AUXILIAIRE. "What is obvious is not always known, and what is known is not THIRD EDITION. DEDICATED BY PERMISSION TO H.R.H. THE DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE. LONDON: WILLIAM CLOWES & SONS, 13 CHARING CROSS. 1876. War 138.76 HARVARD LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS. PREFACE. IN bringing out a new edition of my Dictionary, I have kept in view the object I had originally in its compilation-the production of a general work of reference-and as such I now offer it to all who take an interest in military affairs. The number of expensive books to which the military student must have recourse, in order to obtain the varied information required in the different branches of the service, struck me some years ago as being a source of great inconvenience. To avoid this, I considered it advisable to bring out a work, by condensing into one volume all that is indispensable, as well as much with which it is desirable an officer should become acquainted. This Dictionary, which passed through two editions, was published in India some years ago.* But in these days of rapid and constant transition, not only in the matériel of an army, but also in drill, organisation, and tactics, when new inventions are continually brought forward and introduced into the service, it is difficult without a work of this character to acquire the knowledge of these changes. A new edition of the Dictionary was therefore thought necessary, and that book, revised, corrected, and greatly enlarged, is now offered to the public. Matter foreign to the British army has been introduced in this edition, so as to enable the military student to compare the organisation, arms, &c. of continental armies with those of his own service. The Dictionary contains also descriptions of ancient armour, and of arms, lately in the service, which have become obsolete, as it may be of some interest to follow the changes which have taken place in the mode and means of fighting from the earliest period down to the present time. The insertion of veterinary terms and of remedies for the common * A Dictionary of Artillery and other Military and Scientific Terms,' compiled by Colonel Voyle, R.A., second edition. (Calcutta: Thacker, Spink, and Co.) |