Part 102

CROSS, the ensign or grand standard borne by the crusaders in the holy-war.

CROSS-fire, in the art of war, is when the lines of fire of two or more adjoining sides of a field-redoubt, &c. cross one another; it is frequently used to prevent an enemy’s passing a defile. It may be two ways obtained: first, by constructing the redoubt with the face opposite the defile, tenailled; that is, forming a re-entering angle. The other way is, to defend the defile by 2 redoubts, whose faces command the passage, flanking each other at the same time.

CROSS-bar shot, shot with iron bars crossing through them, sometimes standing 6 or 8 inches out at both sides: they are used at sea, for destroying the enemy’s rigging. At a siege they are of great service in demolishing the enemy’s palisading, &c.

CROSS-bars. See CARRIAGES.

CROSS-bow, a missive weapon used to propel arrows, &c. previous to the use of gunpowder.

CROTCHET, of cavalry. See CROSS.

CROW, an iron bar used as a lever, in moving heavy ordnance, or carriages, &c.

CROWS-feet, or CALTROPS, in the art of war, are 4 pointed irons, so made that what way soever they fall, one point is always uppermost. The short ones are about 4 inches in length, and the long ones 6 or 7. The short ones are thrown on bridges, &c. and the long ones on the earth, both to incommode the cavalry, that they may not approach without great difficulty.

CROWN-work, in fortification, an out work that takes up more ground than any other. It consists of a large gorge, and two sides terminating towards the country in two demi-bastions, each of which is joined by a particular curtain, forming two half bastions and one whole one: they are made before the curtain, or the bastion, and generally serve to inclose some buildings which cannot be brought within the body of the place, or to cover the town gates, or else to occupy a spot of ground which might be advantageous to the enemy. See FORTIFICATION.

CROWNED horned-work, in fortification, is a horn-work, with a crown-work before it.

CROWNS, in ancient military history, were of various uses and denominations, viz.

Oval CROWN, corona ovalis, given to a general who, without effusion of blood, had conquered the enemy.

Naval CROWN, corona navalis distributed to those who first should board an enemy’s ship.

Camp CROWN, corona castrensis, the reward of those who first passed the palisades of, and forced an enemy’s camp.

Mural CROWN, corona muralis, the recompense and mark of honor due to those who first mounted the breach at an assault of a besieged town.

Civic CROWN, corona civica, more esteemed than the preceding: it was the distinguishing mark of those who had saved the life of a Roman citizen in battle. It was given to Cicero for dissipating the conspiracy of Catiline, and denied to Cæsar, because he embrued his hands in the blood of his fellow citizens.

Triumphal CROWN, corona triumphalis, the symbol of victory, and presented to a general who gained any signal advantage to the republic.

Grass CROWN, corona graminea was delivered by the whole Roman people to any general who had relieved an army invested or besieged by the enemy. The other crowns were distributed by the emperors and generals; this was given to Fabius by the Roman people, for obliging Hannibal to decamp from Rome.

Olive CROWN, corona oliva, the symbol of peace, and presented to the negotiators of it.

CROISADE CRUSADE in military history, also called a holy war, barbarous expeditions of the Christians against the Saracens or Turks for the recovery of the holy land, and so called from those who engaged in it wearing a cross on their clothes.

CUBE a solid, consisting of 6 equal square sides. The solidity of any cube is found by multiplying the superficial content of any one of the sides by the height. Cubes are to one another in the triplicate ratio of their diagonals.

CUBE-root, is the side of one of the squares constituting the cube.

CUBIC foot, implies so much as is contained in a cube whose side is 1 foot, or 12 inches.

CUBIC hyperbola, is a figure expressed by the equation x y² = a, having 2 asymptotes, and consisting of 2 hyperbolas, lying in the adjoining angles of the asymptotes, and not in the opposite angles, like the Apollonian hyperbola, being otherwise called, by Sir Isaac Newton, in his enumeratio linearum tertii ordinis, an hyperbolismus of a parabola: and is the 65th species of lines, according to him.

CUBIC number, is that which is produced by multiplying any number by itself, and then again the product by that number.

CUBIC parabola, a curve of the second order, having infinite legs, diverging contrary ways.

CUE or QUEUE, the hair tied in form of a tail. All the British soldiers, excepting the grenadiers and light infantry, till very lately wore their hair cue’d.

CUIRASSE, a piece of defensive armor, made of plate, well hammered, serving to cover the body, from the neck to the girdle, both before and behind, called breast and back plate.