The Mt. Sterling advocate., 1914-09-23
A DICTIONARY
OF WAR TERMS
Meaning Of Military Words
and Phrases.
GIVEN II CIVILIAN ENGLISH.

Cavalry, ArttlieryI FIJ'nS N0'Ps' w"
nor Units, Miscellaneous Terms.
Covering Troops" Explained-What
a Reconnaissance Is-A Guide In
Reading tn. Days News.
In these days when all the talk Is
of things military the newspapers are
filled with martial terms that are
bound to puzzle the average layman.
Here is a brief war dictionary" given
in the Albany Knickerbocker Press:
Cavalry. Squadron. 100 men. Regi-
ment. three squadrons and machine
gun section. Brigade, three regiments;
| when acting independently, horse ar
| tillery and engineers are attached. Di-
vision. four cavalry brigades. two
horse artillery brigades four held
troops of engineers one signal squad
ron, four signal troops. four cavalry
field ambuances. together with trans
! port and train: this represents total
of 9.302 officers and men. with 9s3OI
horses and number of motOrcars, mo
tor tricycles and bicycles
Artillery. Battery is composed as
follows: Horse artillery, six thirteen
pound guns, POS officers and men. Field
artillery, six eighteen Founders. 2O3 Of
fcers and men. Howitzer. six five
inch guns and lO1 officers and men.
Heavy. four "long toms" and III of
fcers and men. Garrison artillery,
variable quantity. according to the
men and guns or the size of the forts.
In the French army battery con-
sists of four guns.
A brigade consists in the case Of
horse artillery of two batteries and am
munition column t6T1 officers and men
and 756 horses); in the case of field ar
tillery of three batteries and ammuni-
ton column 793 men and 1873 horses;
in the case Of field howitzer artillery, OF
three batteries and ammunition COL
umn.
Flying Corps-MisceIlaneou Terms.
Aeropane squadron, twelve aero
planes. Aeroplane and kite squadron,
two airships and two kites.
An airship battalion in the British
army consists of from twenty to thirty
officers and nearly 200 men.
File, two men.
Section.-Cavalry, four men; infantry,
one-eighth Of company tabout thirty
4 men)
Field ambulance, three sections of
4 medical corps.
Platoon. a quarter company of infan-
try.
Non,n,o- povoI En0inaarc R,tx-aou
? $50 and 200 army service corps, about
100.
Train. indicates all the baggage and
\ impedimenta of an army which Is not
carried with the first line transport
Patrol, a accommodating cavalry de-
\ tachment containing anything from
( two men to a squadron.
Outpost may consist of anything
8 from a company to big force OF all
|; arms. Its duty is to ward off an enemy
long enough to allow the army in the
) rear to make all its dispositions for de.
Tense or attack.
! Advance guard. usually one-sixth OF
the main army.
) Column, a force OF any size on the
c march.
, Wing and flank, usually interchange
( able terms and denote the right and
\ \ left sides Of an advancing line of troops
Strategical. term used with refer
. ence to the process by which the army
is brought into the theater OF opera
a tions.
q Tactical. - A term applied to thu
movements of troops when in actua
contact with the enemy.
\ Covering Troops-Reeonnoissa
A screen of troops OF all arms Il
pushed out in front of each army Il
n feel for and get in touch with thu
enemy and to prevent him from get
ting in and obtaining information Tn,
outermost fringe OF this screen is com
posed of cavalry split up into smal
parties or patrols, which work thei
way. If possible, into the heart of tn
enemys country, gathering and send
ing back information, preventing tn
destruction OF roads and railway
which their own army will want Il
use and doing thousand and one 9th
er things.
II The screen increases in strength fron
front to rear, the advanced horsemel
being backed up by artillery and in
fantry, so that In the event OF chec
or an attempt by the enemy TO pene
tate the screen. force can be i'm
n mediately concentrated for offensive o
I defensive purposes.
A complete force OF all arms. whic
I may be anything from a brigade :
an army corps is sometimes sent o
I special mission to penetrate into tn
u enemy's country for the purpose OF Ot
! tanning special information. This 1