Part 467

When the Spahis take the field, they march in rear of their standard; but they do not observe any particular order of route. They divide themselves, on the contrary, into small bodies, and advance in the most desultory manner.

Besides these two troops of Spahis, there are four others in the Turkish service, which are only called upon under circumstances of extreme pressure and emergency. The first is called Sag-Vlesigi; the standard is red and white. The second is named Sol-Vlesigi; the standard is white and yellow. The third is styled Sag-Gureba, the standard is green: and the fourth, Sol-Gureba; the standard is white. All these Spahis receive a daily pay of twelve to twenty aspres; and they are subject to every species of duty. Those are Spahis, called Timars, or Timariots. See TIMARIOTS.

SPANNER, the lock of a fusil or carabine.

SPATTERDASHES, a kind of covering for the legs of soldiers, made of cloth, or coarse linen waxed over, and buttoned tight: by which the wet is kept off, now called long gaiters.

SPATTS, a small sort of spatterdashes, that reach only a little above the ancle, called also half gaiters.

SPEAKING Trumpet, a trumpet by which the voice may be carried to a great distance. It was formerly used in large armies; and even so late as the siege of Gibraltar, when general Elliot, (afterwards Lord Heathfield) caused the brigade words of command to be given by means of this instrument.

SPEAR, a lance, or long weapon with a sharp point, formerly used as a manual, or missive weapon. See LANCE.

To SPEND. This term is used at sea of a mast of a ship; when it is broken down by foul weather, it is said to be spent. It is sometimes used in military matters to express the consumption of any thing: as to spend all your ammunition.

SPENT Ball, (Boulet mort, Balle morte, Fr.) A cannon or musquet ball, &c. is said to be spent, when it reaches an object without sufficient force to pass through it, or otherwise wound, than by a contusion. Spent balls, however, are frequently fatal in their effects, especially when they hit any of the noble parts. It is on occasions of this sort, that the activity and skill of a field or ambulating surgeon, are indispensibly necessary; for which reason a sufficient number of these useful attendants upon an army, ought always to accompany the different battalions that go into action. The French pay the strictest attention to this branch of the service. Their flying hospitals are not only well supplied with all the requisites for so important an establishment, but every dependent part is equally well provided.

SPHERE, SPHERICAL, a round body of which the centre is at the same distance from every point of the circumference; as is the case with Shots, Shells, &c.

SPHERES d’artifice, Fr. Iron hoops with matches, steeped in combustible matter, fixed round them. When there is only one hoop it is called Circle d’artifice; when there are two or three, one within the other, the assemblage of them is called sphere d’artifice, from its resemblance to that figure.

SPHERICAL. Round.

SPHEROID, an oblong body, approaching the form of a sphere.

SPIES, SPIALS, in war, are persons employed to give intelligence of what the enemy is doing. They should be well paid: who pays them ill, is never well served. They should never be known to any but the general who employs them, nor should they know one another. When they propose any thing very material, their persons, or their wives and children, should be secured and kept as hostages for their fidelity. If they are apprehended, they immediately suffer death.

SPIES are found in the cabinets of princes, in the closets of ministers, amongst the officers of an army, and in the councils of generals; in towns belonging to the enemy, and in monasteries. The greatest generals strongly recommend them, whatever expence they may occasion; and indeed a commander had better be in want of many particulars, however necessary, than be destitute of spies. Nothing should be spared to procure them; and even the promises made to them should be observed with the most inviolable integrity. By making a proper use of these necessary creatures, the most secret designs of an enemy may be discovered, the positions his armies are to take, the stations of his fleets, and even the manner in which the former is to be secured by masked batteries, or the latter be kept firm with chain moorings; as was the case off Boulogne in 1800.

To SPIKE a gun. This term is chiefly used at sea, and signifies to fasten a quoin with spikes to the deck, close to the breech of the carriages of the great guns, so that they may keep firm and close to the sides of the ship, and not break loose when the ship rolls. It is likewise used in military matters to signify the choaking up the touch-hole of a piece of ordnance, so as to render it useless. See TO NAIL.

SPIKES, in gunnery. See HAND-SPIKES.

SPIN, or to spin hay, is to twist it up in ropes, very hard, for an expedition; by which means it is less bulky, and less troublesome for the cavalry to carry behind them. An expert horseman can spin five days forage into a very narrow compass.

SPIRAL, (Spirale, Fr.) In architecture, a curve that ascends winding about a cone or spire, so that all the points thereof continually approach the axis.

SPIRAL Line, (Ligne spirale, Fr.) A curve line, which makes a circular movement like a screw, perpetually diverging or going off from its centre.

SPIRAL, SPIRE, a line drawn progressively round the same axis, with a distance between each circle; as the thread of a screw. See SCREW.

SPOKES, the bars of a wheel that pass from the nave to the felly.

SPONTOON, is a spear formerly used instead of a half-pike, by officers of infantry; when the spontoon was planted, the regiment halted; when pointed forwards, the regiment marched; and when pointed backwards, the regiment retreated.

To SPRAWL, to widen out in an irregular and unsoldier-like manner. This term is chiefly applicable to the cavalry.

SPRAWLING. Loose, unconnected, wide of each other.

A SPRAWLING charge, a loose and irregular movement of cavalry, instead of a close, compact, forward attack.

To SPRING. To give vent to any combustible matter upon which gunpowder principally acts by the power of explosion. Hence to spring globes of compression, &c. The latter are frequently used for the same purposes that skyrockets, &c. are, viz. to serve as signals when any sudden attack is to be made.

SPRING, in a general acceptation, an elastic body; a body which when bent, or distorted, has the power of restoring itself to its former state. It is in general a piece of tempered metal, which by means of its elastic force, is useful in several machines to give them motion. In a gun lock the springs are distinguished by various appellations according to their several uses, viz.