Armory

“ It would be curious to ascertain what had at any period been the number of men for whom equipment was kept in the armory. We find a disproportionate number of head-pieces, not fewer than forty-six, and a slender supply of body-armour, with few weapons ”

“ It would be a rash statement to assert that armory has lost its actual military character even now, but it certainly possessed it undiminished so long as tournaments took place, for the armory of the tournament was of a much higher standard than the armory of the battlefield. Armory as an actual part of warfare existed as a means of decoration for the implements of warfare, and as such it certainly continues in some slight degree to the present day. ”

“ In the Small Armory, which is one of the finest rooms in Europe, containing complete stands of arms for 100,000 men, they could not but admire the beautiful and elegant manner in which the arms were disposed, forming tasteful devices in a variety of figures: a piece of ordnance from Egypt, and the Highland broadsword, also claimed particular notice. ”

“ A Voice CryingTo the armory! To the armory! Reinforce! The Slaves have come to the armory. Ah! mercy! {For awhile there is silence.} King Argimenes{in the doorway} Go you to the slave-fields. Say that the palace-guard is dead and that we have taken the armory. Ten of you, hold the armory till our men come from the slave-fields. {He comes into the hall with his slaves armed with swords.} Throw down Illuriel. The Idol-GuardYou must take my life before you touch my god. A SlaveWe only want your pike. {All attack him; they seize his sword and bind his hands behind him. ”

“ Dove-tailed and urdy lines are mere modernisms. Of the very rare nebuly or clouded line we can only say that the ancient form, which imitated the conventional cloud-bank of the old painters, is now almost forgotten, while the bold “wavy” lines of early armory have the word “nebuly” misapplied to them.
The Ordinary Charges.—The writers upon armory have given the name of Ordinaries to certain conventional figures commonly charged upon shields. ”

“ Of late years, indeed, official armory in England has shown a disposition to follow the lessons of the archaeologist, although the recovery of medieval use has not yet been as successful as in Germany, where for a long generation a school of vigorous armorial art has flourished.
Officers of Arms.—Officers of arms, styled kings of arms, heralds and pursuivants, appear at an early period of the history of armory as the messengers in peace and war of princes and magnates. It is probable that from the first they bore in some wise their lord’s arms as the badge of their office. ”

“ The company musicians and two or three privates should know the flag signalling.
But the captain may say: all these are practicable with the regulars who have all the time needed and daylight in which to work and ground to work on; but how are we to do these in an armory at night?
Required equipment
Every armory should have a place fixed for gallery practice if it is only a backing for the target against the wall in one of the corners. And no company should be without a sand table; a relief map is also very desirable. ”

“ The collection of ancient armor and arms at the Tower is one of great interest, especially that known as the Horse Armory, which contains, besides a large and curious collection of portions of armor and weapons, a great number of equestrian figures, fully armed and equipped in suits of armor of various periods between Edward I., 1272, and the death of James I., 1625. ”

“ On Thursday morning the little men gathered at the armory promptly at eight o’clock and when they had slipped into their uniforms the General stepped onto a little platform, at one side of the room, and made a speech.
“Men,” he began, “while we get a great deal of good drilling in the armory once a week, it is quite necessary for us to get out of doors occasionally. ”

“ The armory is situated south of the White Tower, and nearly opposite the Traitor’s Gate, through which nearly all celebrated criminals incarcerated here, passed to their dungeon. The armoy is singularly replete with specimens of ancient armor, many suits of which have actually been worn by celebrated kings and knights centuries ago. ”

“ Certainly the military side of armory has sunk in importance till it is now utterly overshadowed by the decorative, but the fact that armory still exists as the sign and adjunct of hereditary rank utterly forbids one to assert that armory is dead, and though this side of armory is also now partly overshadowed by its decorative use, armory must be admitted to be still alive whilst its laws can still be altered. ”

“ A United States Armory is situated here, employing 250 hands, and turning out eight or nine thousand small arms annually. There are usually kept on hand some 80 or 90,000 stand of arms, enough to make a mob that has seized them a formidable foe. ”

“ The retreat is ordered to be beat, and all retire; refill the armory with their deadly rifles and side arms, and then return to their respective watches, work, or recreation—some gathering round a canvas checker board; some polishing up bright work; others making pants, shirts, or coats, or braiding light straw hats. ”

“ This it is not, but even if it were what it claims to be, merely the revival of ancient forms and methods, its reintroduction cannot be said to be either expedient or permissible, because the ancient practice does not permit of extension to the limits within which more modern armory has developed, and modern armory, though less ancient, is armory equally with the more ancient and simpler examples to be found in earlier times. ”

“ The Armory runs around a hollow square, and must be at least a quarter of a mile in length. We were all taken into a circular hall, made entirely of weapons, to represent the four quarters of the globe. Here the crusty old guide who admitted us, rapped with his stick on the shield of an old knight who stood near, to keep silence, and then addressed us: "When I speak every one must be silent. No one can write or draw anything. No one shall touch anything, or go to look at anything else, before I have done speaking. ”

“ The infantry wear crossed rifles, the cavalry crossed sabers, the field artillery crossed cannon, the engineers a castle, like the castle in a set of chessmen, the signal corps crossed flags with a torch between, the quartermaster corps wheel with a pen and sword crossed and an eagle surmounting, while the members of the medical corps wear something that looks like an upright bar with wings at the top and two snakes twining around it. ”

“ When an army takes the field, every stronghold or fortress which supports its operations by affording a safe retreat to its depots, heavy artillery, magazines, hospitals, etc., is called a place of arms. In offensive operations, those lines are called places of arms, or parallels, which unite the different means of attack, secure the regular approaches, etc., and contain bodies of troops who either do duty in the trenches, protect the workmen, or are destined to make an impression upon the enemy’s outworks. ”

“ Then came field maneuvers, attacks in open formation upon intrenched positions, finishing always with terrific bayonet charges. There were mimic battles, lasting all day, with from ten to twenty thousand men on each side. Artillery, infantry, cavalry, air craft—every branch of army service, in fact—had a share in these exciting field days when we gained bloodless victories or died painless and easy deaths at the command of red-capped field judges. ”

“ Let there be an armament composed of infantry, cavalry, and marines, and let a number of triremes cover the sea, and phalanxes of foot and horse cover most of the plains, and the ridges of the mountains, and let the metal of their armor reflect the sunshine, and the glitter of the helmets and shields be reflected by the beams which are emitted from them; let the clashing of spears and the neighing of horses be borne up to the very heavens, and let neither sea nor land appear, but only brass and iron in every direction. ”

“ And we met them—a squadron of dare-devils they—
But a sharp edge of bayonets kept them at bay,
While we emptied some barrels, with never a corse,
Though we wounded one rider and crippled his horse.
The rider pitched over; his comrades they heard
His yell as he fell; but they turned and they spurred,
For by this time our camp was aroused and poured in,
And the visitors stayed not their laurels to win;
When what does this Hotspur but spring to his feet,
And, ready a regiment singly to meet,
Draw weapon, and there, right in front of our line,
To guard bring his sabre, and cross it with mine. ”

“ When an army marches through a woody or close country, the heads of the different columns are usually covered by a strong detachment of riflemen, preceded by squadrons of horse. Should the enemy be in your rear, when it is found expedient to make a movement, the hospital stores, ammunition, baggage, and artillery, escorted by some squadrons of horse, must be sent forward, and the best disciplined troops, with a certain quantity of artillery, are in that case to make up the rear guard. ”

“ The advanced guard of the army will be composed of one half of the cavalry, the main body will consist of the infantry, attended by pioneers and detached corps of light artillery, which will be preceded by an iron instrument made in the shape of a plough-share, for the purpose of tracing out the paths, which must be kept by the waggon-train. In the rear of the main body must follow the heavy ordnance, the baggage-waggons belonging to the several regiments, and the train of artillery. ”

“ It should have a communication with that army’s garrisons, and have plenty of water, forage, fuel, and either rivers, marshes, hills, or woods to cover it. An army always encamps fronting the enemy, and generally in two parallel lines, besides a corps de reserve, about 500 yards distant from each other; the horse and dragoons on the wings, and the foot in the centre. Where, and how the train of artillery is encamped, see Park of artillery, and Encampment of a regiment of artillery, under the word Artillery. ”

“ While I looked, giants in brazen armour clambered swiftly up the hillside, swinging clubs which had spiked balls of brass held by a chain at the end.
They glittered in the sun as they ran up and past me.
Motion, light, shadow, colour were perfect as things seen passing before the physical eyes. ”

“ At least a quarter of each regiment was occupied in escorting its wagons, piled up with ammunition, provisions, tents, etc.; and long after the head of the column had settled in bivouac could be heard the loud shouting of the teamsters to their jaded and mire-bedraggled brutes, the clatter of wagon and artillery wheels, the lowing of the driven herds, the rattling of sabres, canteens, and other equipments, as the men strode along in the darkness, anxious to reach the spot selected for their uncertain quantity of rest. ”

“ An army, whether composed of separate corps or of grand divisions, usually forms, on the field of battle, a centre, two wings, and a reserve. Each corps or division acts by itself, with its infantry, cavalry, artillery, and engineer troops. The reserve of cavalry may be formed in rear of the centre or one of the wings. In small forces of fifty or sixty thousand men, the cavalry may act with advantage on the wings, in the manner of the ancients. If the reserve of this arm be large enough to form three separate bodies, it may itself very properly be formed into a centre and wings. ”

“ IV. Artillery Troops.—Artillery, as an arm of service, is divided in the same manner as its materiel; the field-artillery being intended for field service, and the garrison or siege-artillery, for the attack and defence of places. The troops of the artillery corps of a modern army usually do duty either in the field, or in sieges, or garrison, as occasion may require. When employed in the service of a campaign, artillery is usually divided into two classes: 1st. Foot Artillery ”

“ In our immediate front the road and adjacent fields were filled with sections of artillery, caissons, ammunition-trains, ambulances, battery-wagons, squads of mounted men, led horses, wounded soldiers, broken wagons, stragglers, and stretcher-bearers—in fact, all that appertains to and is part of the rear of an army in action. ”

“ An infantry column followed close upon the others, which was again succeeded by two batteries of field-artillery, and some squadrons of heavy dragoons; and now the whole wood, far and near, was crammed with soldiers, wagons, caissons, and camp-equipage. To me the interest of the scene was never-ending; life, bustle, and gayety on every side. ”

“ Columns of French infantry on the march, guns, ammunition, stores, field kitchens, pass us perpetually; the motor moves at a foot's pace, and we catch the young faces of the soldiers through the white thickened air. ”

“ A town in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium. Here the French, commanded by Jourdan, defeated the Austrians in April, 1793, and again in April, 1794.
Arm. In a military sense, signifies a particular species of troops,—thus the artillery is an arm, and the cavalry, and infantry, etc., are each called an arm of the service. The word is also used to denote an instrument of warfare; a weapon of offense or defense.
Arm. To be provided with arms, weapons, or means of attack or resistance; to take arms.
Armament. A body of forces equipped for war;—used as a land force. ”

“ Encampment of a regiment of Artillery. Regiments of artillery are always encamped, half on the right, and half on the left of the park. The company of bombardiers (when they are formed into companies, which they are in European nations excepting England) always takes the right of the whole, and they rate by seniority, so that the two youngest are next but one to the centre or park: the two companies next to the park, are the miners on the right, and the artificers on the left. ”

“ The battle array generally consists of three lines, the front, the rear, and the reserve. An attacking army is generally divided into three parts, the main body, and the two wings. And the battle array is formed by dividing each of these into three lines, the front, the rear, and the reserve; the artillery is divided along the front of the first line, and the treasure, provision, and baggage, are removed to a safe place before the engagement. ”