Part 84

CENTRE of a battalion, on parade, is the middle, where an interval is left for the colors; of an encampment, it is the main street: and on a march, is an interval for the baggage, &c.

CENTRE of a bastion, is a point in the middle of the gorge of the bastion, from whence the capital line commences, and which is generally at the inner polygon of the figure.

CENTRE of gravity, in military mechanics, is that point about which the several parts of a body exactly balance each other in any situation.

CENTRE of a conic section, is the point where all the diameters meet.

CENTRE of an ellipsis, is that point where the transverse and conjugate diameters intersect each other.

CENTRE of motion, is that point which remains at rest while all the other parts of the body move about it.

CENTRE of percussion, is that point in which the force of the stroke is the greatest possible. When the moving body revolves round a fixed point, the centre of percussion is the same with the centre of oscillation, and found by the same method; but when the body moves in a parallel direction, the centre of percussion is the same with the centre of gravity.

CENTINEL, CENTRY, is a private soldier from the guard, posted upon any spot of ground, to stand and watch carefully for the security of the guard, or of any body of troops, or post, and to prevent any surprise from the enemy. All centinels are to be very vigilant on their posts; neither are they to sing, smoke, or suffer any noise to be made near them. They are not to sit down, lay their arms out of their hands, or sleep; but keep moving about on their posts during the two hours they stand, if the weather will allow of it. No centry to move more than 50 paces to the right, and as many to the left of his post, and let the weather be ever so bad, he must not get under any other cover, but that of the centry box. No one to be allowed to go from his post without leave from his commanding officer; and, to prevent desertion or marauding, the centries and vedettes must be charged to let no soldier pass.

CENTINEL perdu, a soldier posted near an enemy in some very dangerous post, where he is in perpetual danger of being shot or taken.

CENTRY-box, a sort of box, or hut, to shelter the centinel from the injuries of the weather; in fortifications they are sometimes made of masonry, and of stone, in a circular form.

CENTURION, a military officer among the ancient Romans; who commanded an (centum) hundred men. The term is now obsolete. It answers to the modern captain of a company.

CENTURY, in a military sense, means a hundred soldiers, who were employed in working the battering-ram.

CERCLE, Grand-cercle, Fr. a form observed under the old government of France, by which it was directed, that every evening at a specific hour the serjeants and corporals of a brigade should assemble to receive orders; the former standing in front of the latter. Subsequent to the grand cercle, a smaller one was made in each regiment, when general, or regimental orders were again repeated to the serjeants of each regiment, and from them communicated to the officers of the several companies.

CERTIFICATES, are of various kinds, as applied to officers generally, or to commissaries, commanding officers, or staff. They are a testimonial bearing witness to the existence of some requisite qualifications, or to the performance of some act required by the regulations of the army, and for which the officer who signs is responsible, whether he certifies for himself, or for any other officer.

Military CERTIFICATES are of various denominations, and consist chiefly of the following kinds, viz.

Certificate from a field officer to the commander in chief, affirming the eligibility of a young man to hold a commission.

Certificate of an officer in the English army upon honor, that he does not exceed the regulation in the purchase of his commission.

Certificate from a general officer to affirm and prove the losses which officers may sustain in the field

Certificate from colonels of regiments to the board for admission of proper objects to the hospital.

Certificate from a magistrate to identify the person of a recruit, and to affirm, that he has enlisted himself voluntarily into the service; likewise, that the articles of war have been read to him.

Certificate from regimental surgeons, whether men when they join are proper and fit objects to be enlisted; this is required in the United States army, to be on the back of every paper of enlistment.

Certificate of commanding officers for stores, &c.

Certificate, to enable an officer to receive half pay.

Certificate of surgeons and assistant surgeons, to prove their having passed a proper examination.

CESSATION, or cessation of arms, in a military figurative sense, means a truce, or the total abrogation of all military operations for a limited time.

CHACE of a gun, means the length from the trunnions to the muzzle. See CANNON.

CHAFFERY, that part of the foundry where the forges are placed for hammering iron into complete bars, and thereby bringing it to perfection.

CHAIN for engineers, is a sort of wire chain divided into links of an equal length, made use of for setting out works on the ground, because cord lines are apt to shrink and give way.