Part 484

Setting aside the many fabulous accounts which are extant concerning naval tactics, we shall remain satisfied with what has been transmitted to us by the Roman writers of the Vth and VIth centuries of that republic. We shall there find specific details of the different manœuvres which were practised at sea during the Punic war. In those times naval armaments began to be regularly fitted out; ships of different forms and sizes were constructed, and certain offensive and defensive machines, that served as a species of artillery, were placed upon them. They had already been drawn out according to system; being divided into certain proportions which were then called divisions, but are now named squadrons; and the persons who commanded them, exerted all their skill and genius to gain advantages over their enemies, by opportunely getting to windward, by seizing the favorable occurrence of the tide, or by mooring in advantageous situations.

At the battle of Actium, Augustus finding himself inferior to Mark Antony in the number of his ships, had the sagacity to draw up his line of battle along the entrance of the gulph of Ambracia, and thereby to make up for his deficiency. This naval manœuvre, as well as that of getting to windward of the enemy, in order to bear down upon him with more certainty and effect, exists to the present day.

We act precisely upon the same principles in both cases, by which the ancients were governed, with the additional advantage, in fighting to windward, of covering the enemy’s line with smoke from the discharge of ordnance and fire-arms. The French call this being in possession of the closest line--Occuper la ligne du plus prés.

In those times, ships were boarded much sooner than they are at present. Most engagements at sea are now determined by cannon shot. Among the ancients, when two ships endeavored to board each other, the rowers drew in their oars, to prevent them from being broken in the shock.

The manœuvre which was practised on this occasion, was for the ship that got to windward of its adversary, to run upon its side, with the prow, which being armed with a long sharp piece of iron, made so deep an impression in it, that the ship thus attacked, generally sunk. The voyages which were afterwards made on the ocean, rendered it necessary to construct ships that carried more sail, and were double decked; and since the invention of gunpowder, tiers of guns have been substituted in the room of rows of oars.

On the decline and fall of the Roman empire, the Saracens got the ascendancy in naval tactics. They took advantage of this superiority, and extended their conquests on all sides. The whole extent of coast belonging to the Mediterranean, together with the adjacent islands, fell under their dominion. Mankind are indebted to them for considerable improvements in naval tactics.

It was only under Charlemagne that the Europeans may be said to have first paid any great attention to their navy. That monarch kept up a regular intercourse with the caliphs of the East; and having just grounds to apprehend an invasion from the Normans, he constructed vessels for the defence of his coasts.

During the reign of the first French kings, belonging to the third race, naval tactics were little attended to, on account of the small extent of maritime coast which France possessed at that period. It was only in the days of Louis the Younger, and of Louis, surnamed the Saint, that we discover any traces of a considerable fleet; especially during the crusades.

Under Charles the Vth, and his successor Charles the VIth, the French got possession of several sea-ports, and had command of a long line of coast. Yet neither they nor the English, with whom they were frequently at war, had at that period any thing like the fleets which are fitted out now.

The discovery of America by Columbus, and the more lucrative possession of the East Indies, induced the principal states of Europe to encrease their naval establishments, for the purpose of settling colonies, and of bringing home, without the danger of molestation, or piracy, the wealth and produce of the Eastern and Western worlds.

The French marine was far from being contemptible under Francis the first; but it grew into considerable reputation during the administration of cardinal Richelieu, in the reign of Louis the XIIIth; and continued so until the battle of La Hogue. From that epoch it began to decline; while the English, on the other hand, not only kept up the reputation they had acquired under Cromwell and his predecessors, but rendered themselves so thoroughly skilled in naval tactics, that they have remained masters of the sea to this day. In corroboration of what we have advanced, we refer our readers to a history of the Sovereignty of the Ocean, by the American editor of this work.

TACTIQUE Maritime, Fr. Naval tactics, or sea manœuvres, &c. See NAVAL TACTICS.

TAGBEERE, Ind. Dismission.

TAIGAU, Ind. A sabre.

TAIL of the trenches. The post where the besiegers begin to break ground, and cover themselves from the fire of the place, in advancing the lines of approach.

TAILLE du soldat, Fr. The size, height, and stature most proper for a soldier.

TAILLER, Fr. To cut. Tailler en pièces, to cut to pieces.

TAILLOIR, Fr. Trencher. It likewise signifies in architecture a square piece of stone, or wood which is placed above the capital.

To TAKE. This verb, as Dr. Johnson observes, like prendre in French, is used with endless multiplicity of relations. Its uses are so numerous, that they cannot easily be exemplified; and its references to the words governed by it so general and lax, that they can hardly be explained by any succedaneous terms. But commonly that is hardest to explain which least wants explanation. We shall content ourselves with giving a few general terms, in which the verb take is used with respect to military matters.

To TAKE. To make prisoner.

To TAKE advantage of. To avail oneself of any peculiar event or opening, whereby an enemy may be overcome, viz.--He took advantage of the debaucheries which were daily committed in the enemy’s camp, to surprise the army.

To TAKE ground to the right or left. To extend a line towards either of those directions.

To TAKE up quarters. To occupy locally; to go into cantonments, barracks, &c. To become stationary for more or less time.

To TAKE up the gauntlet. The correlative to throw down the gauntlet. To accept a challenge.

To TAKE up arms. To embody and troop together for offensive or defensive purposes. We likewise say, to take arms.

To TAKE down. To minute; to commit to paper what is spoken or given orally. Hence to take down his words.

To TAKE the field. To encamp. It likewise means generally to move with troops in military order.

To TAKE in. A low phrase, signifying to cheat, to gull. Officers, especially the junior classes, are frequently taken in.