Part 117

White-EAGLE, is a like order in Poland, instituted in 1325, by Uladislaus V. on occasion of the marriage of his son Casimir to the daughter of the great duke of Lithuania. The knights of this order wear a chain of gold, to which a silver eagle, crowned, is suspended.

The white headed eagle, peculiar to America, is the standard of the United States.

EAGLE. The standard of the ancient Romans. In a general sense, it formerly meant the standard of the Roman armies; in a more limited acceptation, the sign or flag of the several legions.

The standard of the German empire was an eagle with two heads, referring to the eastern and western Roman empires, whose successors they claimed to be, and called themselves Keisar, or Cæsar.

The difference between the Roman and the Imperial eagle consists in this, that the first were eagles of gold or silver, fixed at the end of a pike, having their wings extended, and holding the lightning in their claws; the second are eagles painted or embossed upon the colors and standards of the emperors. The eagle likewise signified, in a figurative sense, the German empire, now extinct.

EARL-MARSHAL. An officer who has the care and direction of military solemnities. The dukes of Norfolk are by hereditary right, earls marshal of England.

EARTH-bags. See BAGS.

EASE, in a military sense, signifies a prescribed relaxation of the frame, from the erect and firm position which every well dressed soldier should observe. He is, on no account to lounge, or in his common gait so far to give way to an idle fluctuation of his limbs, as to feel himself constrained when he returns to duty. A habit of this sort will gradually gain upon recruits, if they are not corrected during the intervals of drill.

To stand at EASE, in a technical acceptation of the term, is to draw the right foot back about six inches, and to bring the greatest part of the weight of the body upon it. The left knee must be a little bent, and the hands brought together before the body, the right hand in front. But the shoulders must invariably be kept back and square, the head to the front, and the whole carriage of the person be unconstrained.

In cold weather, when standing at ease, the men are permitted by command, to move their limbs without quitting their ground.

Stand at EASE, (from the support) on this command the soldier retires his right foot 6 inches, bends his left knee, and carrying the right hand smartly across the body, seizes the firelock by the small of the butt, and raises it sufficiently to slope it over his left shoulder, and relieve the left arm from the pressure of the cock. In some corps, instead of seizing the small of the butt with the right hand, they only place the hollow of the hand below the left elbow.

EASE arms, a word of command, given immediately after the order, to handle arms, by which the soldier is directed to drop his right hand to the full extent of the arm, from the top of the ramrod on the front of the sling, with his fingers spread along it.

EAU, Fr. water, is a principal object to be considered, whenever an army advances, retreats, or encamps. It is the quarter master general’s business, through his subordinate deputies, to secure this indispensible necessary of life. Small running rivulets are preferable to large rivers, because the latter cannot be so easily turned for the convenience of the army; whereas the former may be always stopped, or diverted from their natural course.

Wells are never resorted to, but in case of absolute necessity. Stagnant or pond water is in general unwholesome, and rarely limpid or clear.

Haute EAU. High water.

Basse EAU. Low water.

EAUX Meres ou AMERES, Fr. The water which remains after the first boiling of saltpetre. It has a bitter salt taste, and is used to fill the tubs a second time.

Petites EAUX, Fr. The water which remains after the saltpetre has been boiled to a certain degree. See SALTPETRE.

ECHANTILLON, Fr. means literally a pattern or model. In a military sense, it signifies a plank, which is covered on one side with iron, and serves to finish the mouldings, &c. of a piece of ordnance.

ESCHARPE, Fr. a scarf. In ancient times, a military mark to distinguish officers and soldiers from the rest of the people. Before a regular clothing was adopted among the nations in Europe, officers and soldiers appeared with two scarfs of different colors, which crossed each other before and behind, in order to point out the country and the corps to which the wearer of it belonged. The scarf was preserved among the French, as late down as the reign of Louis the XIVth. It consisted of a piece of white silk, which previous to the revolution, was the national color of France.

Scarfs, however, were continued much later among other nations, particularly among the Germans, who wear them to this day across their uniforms. Cross belts succeed the scarf.

En ECHARPE, in the military art. To batter en echarpe, is to fire obliquely, or sideways. See BATTERY.

ECHAUGETTE, in military history, signifies a watch-tower, or kind of centry-box.

ECHELLE, Fr. scale. In a mathematical sense, is a straight line drawn double, which is divided into a certain number of parts, each part containing as many toises or yards, &c. as the size of the chart or paper will admit, which are again reduced into feet.

ECHELLE, Fr. ladder, in civil and military architecture, means a machine, which is made of two side pieces or arms, that receive a certain number of small steps, at equal distances from one another. These echelles or ladders, are of two kinds: large and small. The small ladders are used to descend into the ditches of fortified places, and the large ones for scaling the walls, &c. See SCALING LADDERS.

ECHELLON, Fr. from echelle, a ladder. A position in military tactics, where each division follows the preceding one, like the steps of a ladder; and is convenient in removing from a direct to an oblique, or diagonal line. When troops advance in echellon, they almost invariably adopt the ordinary time. Hence to march in echellon, may not improperly be said to approach towards any given object by a gradual movement.

ECHELLON movements and positions, are not only necessary and applicable to the immediate attacks and retreats of great bodies, but also to the previous oblique or direct changes of situation, which a battalion, or a more considerable corps already formed in line, may be obliged to make to the front or rear, or on a particular fixed division of the line.

The oblique changes are produced by any wheel of less than the quarter circle of divisions from line, which places them in the echellon situation. The direct changes are produced by the perpendicular and successive march of divisions from line to front, or rear. See Amer. Mil. Lib.