Ucles. A fortified town of Spain, in the province of Cuenca, 40 miles southwest from the town of that name. It stands at the foot of a hill crowned by a famous monastery which belonged to the military order of Santiago or St. James of Spain. It was taken by the French in 1809.

Uglitch. A town of European Russia, in the government and 60 miles west-southwest from Jaroslav, on the right bank of the Volga. It was destroyed by the Lithuanians in 1607.

Uhlans (a Tartar word signifying “brave”). Light cavalry of Asiatic origin, were introduced into the north of Europe along with the colonies of Tartars, who established themselves in Poland and Lithuania. They were mounted on light active Tartar horses, and armed with sabre, lance, and latterly with pistols. Their lance was from 5¹/₂ to 6¹/₂ feet in length, and, like that of the modern lancers, was attached to a stout leather thong or cord, which was fastened to the left shoulder and passed round behind the back, so as to allow the lance to be couched under the right arm. Immediately below its point was attached a strip of gaudy-colored cloth, the fluttering of which was designed to frighten the enemies’ horses. The early dress was similar to that of the Turks, and the regiments, or polks, were distinguished from each other by the red, green, yellow, or blue color of their uniforms. The Austrians and Prussians were the first to borrow this species of cavalry from the Poles. In 1734, an attempt was made by Marshal Saxe to introduce uhlans into France, and a “polk” of 1000 men was formed; but it was disbanded at the author’s death. At the present time, Russia, Prussia, and Austria are the only powers which possess uhlan regiments. In the British army, the place of the uhlans is occupied by hussars.

Ukraine. The name given in Poland first to the frontiers towards the Tartars and other nomads, and then to the fertile regions lying on both sides of the middle Dnieper, without any very definite limits. The Ukraine was long a bone of contention between Poland and Russia. It was ceded to the Cossacks by Poland in 1672, and was obtained by Russia about 1682. The country was divided, Poland having the west side of the Dnieper, and Russia the east. The whole country was assigned to Russia by the treaty of partition in 1795. See Poland.

Ulans. See Uhlans.

Ulm. The second city of WÜrtemberg; was, till the war in 1866, a stronghold of the Germanic Confederation. Here a peace was signed, July 3, 1620, by which Frederick V. lost Bohemia (having been driven from it previously). Ulm was taken by the French in 1796. After a battle between the French and Austrians, in which the latter under Gen. Mack were defeated with dreadful loss by Marshal Ney, Ulm surrendered with 28,000 men, the flower of the Austrian army, October 17-20, 1805.

Ulster. A province of Ireland, the most northern of the four into which that kingdom is divided. The northeast portion, the present county of Down, was, early after the invasion, overrun by the English under De Courcy, and was subsequently held by Hugh De Lacy. Although various efforts were made by the English to effect a permanent settlement in the north and northwest, their success was little more than nominal until the reigns of Elizabeth and James I., when the well-known plantation of Ulster was attempted.

Ulster Badge. On the institution of the order of Baronets in England by James I., a sinister hand, erect, open, and couped at the wrist gules, the armorial ensign of the province of Ulster, was made their distinguishing badge, in respect of the order having been intended for the encouragement of plantations in the province of Ulster. This badge is sometimes borne in a canton, sometimes on an escutcheon, the latter placed either in the fess point or in the middle chief point, so as to interfere as little as possible with the charges of the shield.

Ulster King-of-Arms. The king-of-arms or chief heraldic officer of Ireland. A king-of-arms called Ireland existed in the time of Richard II., but the office seems to have fallen into abeyance in the following century. Ulster was created to supply his place in 1552. Ulster holds his appointment from the crown, and acts under the immediate direction of the lord-lieutenant of Ireland; the professional staff under him consists of 2 heralds, 4 pursuivants, 1 registrar, and 1 clerk of records. The official arms of Ulster king-of-arms are: Argent, St. George’s cross gules, on a chief of the last a lion passant gardant between a harp and a portcullis or.

Ultimatum. A term used in military negotiations, to express the final conditions upon which any proposition or treaty can be ratified.

Umbon (Fr.). The pointed boss or prominent part in the centre of a shield or buckler.

Umbria. A district of Italy, the chief towns of which were Arminum, Fanum, FortunÆ, Mevania, Tuder, Narnia, and Spoletium. Under Augustus, it formed the sixth Regio of Italy. Its inhabitants, the Umbri, were one of the most ancient races of Italy, and were connected with the Opicans, Sabines, and those other tribes whose languages were akin to the Greek. The Umbri were at a very early period the most powerful people in Central Italy, and extended across the peninsula from the Adriatic to the Tyrrhene seas. They were afterwards deprived of their possessions west of the Tiber by the Etruscans, and confined to the country between this river and the Adriatic. Their territories were still further diminished by the Senones, a Gallic people, who took possession of the whole country on the coast, from Arminum to the Æsis. The Umbri were subdued by the Romans, 307 B.C., and after the conquest of the Senones by the Romans in 283, they again obtained possession of the country on the coast of the Adriatic. This district, however, continued to be called Ager Gallicus down to a late period.

Umbriere. The visor of a helmet, a projection like the peak of a cap, to which a face-guard was sometimes attached, which moved freely upon the helmet, and could be raised like a beaver.

Unarm. To strip of armor or arms; to disarm.

Unbreech. To free the breech of, as a cannon, from its fastenings or coverings.

Uncase, To. To display or exhibit the colors of a regiment.

Uncock. To let down the cock of, as a gun.

Unconditional. At discretion; not limited by any terms or stipulations; as, an unconditional surrender.

Unconquered. Not subdued or defeated; in opposition to conquered or defeated.

Uncover, To. When troops deploy, the different leading companies or divisions, etc., successively uncover those in their rear, by marching out from the right or left of the column.

Undaunted. Not appalled by fear; valiant.

Under. A preposition of varied military application, in combination with other words. Thus troops are said to be under arms, when assembled in a state of military array, and having the necessary weapons of offense and defense, as rifles, swords, etc. To be under command is being liable to be ordered on any particular duty. To be under cover is to be shielded or protected. To be under contribution is being liable to give, in money or kind, what may be authoritatively called for. Countries are sometimes put under contribution for the support of an army. To be under fire or be cool is not being disconcerted by the apprehension of death in battle. To be under sentence is the liability to punishment, according to sentence passed; as, under the sentence of a general court-martial; under sentence of death.

Under Canvas. In a military sense, it is to be lying in tents.

Undermine. To dig an excavation under any fort, house, or other building, so as to cause it to fall down or to blow it up with powder.

Under-officer. An inferior officer, one in a subordinate situation.

Undisciplined. Not yet trained to regularity or order; not perfect in exercise or manoeuvres.

Undress. In the military service, is the authorized habitual dress of officers and soldiers when not in full uniform.

Unfix, To. To take off; as, to unfix bayonets, on which the soldier disengages the bayonet from his musket, and returns it to the scabbard.

Unfortified. Not strengthened or secured by any walls, bulwarks, or fortifications.

Unfortunate Peace, The. A name given by historians to the peace of Chateau Cambresis (April 2, 1559), negotiated by England, France, and Spain. By this treaty Henry II. of France renounced all claim to Genoa, Corsica, and Naples, agreed to restore Calais to the English within eight years, and to give security for 500,000 crowns in case of failure.

Unfurled. A standard or color when expanded and displayed, is said to be unfurled.

Ungentlemanlike or Unofficerlike. Not like a gentleman or officer. Conduct unbecoming the character of either is so called. This clause, which will be always found to depend on the state of morals and manners, affords a vast latitude to a military court, which, after all, is not more free from prejudice or influence than any other tribunal, though they are both jurors and judges. Officers convicted thereof are to be dismissed from the service. See Appendix, Articles of War, 60, 61.

Unguled. In heraldry, a term applied to the tincture of the hoofs of an animal; e.g., Azure, a stag trippant or, attired and unguled gules, the arms of the family of Strachan in Scotland.

Unharnessed. Disarmed; divested of armor or weapons of defense.

Unhelmed. Divested of the helmet or helm.

Unhorsed. Thrown from the saddle; dismounted.

Unicorn (Lat. unum cornu, “one horn”). An animal, probably fabulous, mentioned by ancient Grecian and Roman authors as a native of India, and described as being of the size of a horse, or larger, the body resembling that of a horse, and with one horn of a cubit and a half or two cubits long on the forehead, the horn straight, its base white, the middle black, the tip red. The body of the animal was also said to be white, its head red, its eyes blue. It was said to be so swift that no horse could overtake it. The unicorn is perhaps best known as a heraldic charge or supporter. Two unicorns were borne as supporters of the Scottish royal arms for about a century before the union of the crowns; and the sinister supporter of the insignia of the United Kingdom is a unicorn argent, armed crined, and unguled or, gorged with a coronet composed of crosses patÉe and fleurs-de-lis, with a chain affixed, passing between the fore legs, and reflexed over the back, of the last.

Unicorn. The old name for the howitzer, as improved from the licorn, borrowed from the Turks during the last century by the Russians, and from the latter by Europe generally.

Uniform (one form). In its military sense, means the particular dress and equipment assigned by proper authority to each grade of officers and men. The clothing consists of one prevailing color, variously ornamented and “faced” according to the rank and corps. In full uniform, wearing the whole of the prescribed uniform; not in undress.

Uniform Sword. An officer’s sword of the regulation pattern prescribed for the army or navy.

Union. The national colors are called the union. When there is a blue field with white stripes, quartered in the angle of the American colors, that is, of the colors composed of red and white stripes, that blue field is called the union; and a small color of blue with white stars is called a union-jack.

United States Military Academy. See Military Academies, and West Point.

United States Sea-coast Fuze. See Laboratory Stores.

United States, The. A Federal republic, composed of thirty-eight sovereign states and eleven territorial governments, occupying the temperate portion of North America. It is bounded on the north by British North America, east by New Brunswick and the Atlantic Ocean, south by the Gulf of Mexico and Mexico, and west by the Pacific Ocean. Its greatest length from the Atlantic to the Pacific, on the parallel of 42°, is 2768 miles, and its greatest breadth, from Point Isabel, Texas, to the northern boundary near Pembina, is 1601¹/₂ miles. The northern frontier is upward of 3350 miles in length, the Mexican 1500. The ocean coast, including the larger indentation, is estimated at 22,609 miles, of which 6861 are on the Atlantic, 3461 on the Gulf of Mexico, 2281 in California, 8000 on the coast of Alaska, and about 2000 on the Arctic Sea. This area has been obtained by successive annexations of territory, either by purchase, right of discovery, or conquest. In 1783, the territory ceded by Great Britain was confined to the country east of the Mississippi River, and north of Florida, having an area of 815,615 square miles. To this Louisiana was added by purchase from France in 1803; Florida, ceded by Spain, in 1821; Texas, annexed in 1845; Oregon, as settled by the treaty of 1846; California, etc., conquered from Mexico, 1847; New Mexico, etc., by treaty with Mexico, 1854; and Alaska, by purchase from Russia, 1867. For full description of the States and Territories, and histories appertaining thereto, see the articles respectively.

Unkiar-Skelessi. A small town on the Asiatic shore of the Bosphorus, in the neighborhood of Scutari, gives its name to a treaty concluded between Turkey and Russia, July 8, 1833. This treaty, which consisted of six articles, was one of mutual defensive alliance; but a separate and secret article was subjoined, by which the sultan, in place of the military or naval aid which, by the first article of the treaty, he was bound to furnish to Russia, agreed to close the Strait of the Dardanelles, allowing no foreign vessels of war to enter it under any pretext whatever. In consequence of this treaty, Russia landed 15,000 men at Scutari, and stopped the victorious career of Ibrahim Pasha. The secret article was soon after divulged to Britain and France, both of whom regarded the treaty with dislike; and by the terms of that concluded at London, July 13, 1841, the stipulations of Unkiar-Skelessi were annulled.

Unload. To take the powder and ball out of a piece of ordnance or a musket.

Unmilitary. Contrary to rules of discipline; unworthy of a soldier.

Unsheathe. To draw from the sheath or scabbard, as a sword; hence, to unsheathe the sword, sometimes signifies to commence or make war.

Unshot. To remove the shot from, as a piece of ordnance; to take out the shot of.

Unsling. To take off the slings; to release from the slings; unsling knapsacks, etc.

Unspike. To remove a spike from, as from the vent of a cannon.

Untenable. Not to be held in possession; incapable of being defended.

Untrained. Not disciplined to exercise or manoeuvre.

Unvanquished. Not conquered or defeated.

Unwarlike. Not fit for or used to war.

Upbraid. Any officer or soldier who shall upbraid another for refusing a challenge, shall himself be punished as a challenger. See Appendix, Articles of War, 28.

Upon. Denoting assumption; as, he took the office of commander-in-chief upon him. Also, to incur responsibility; as, the general took everything upon himself.

Up-sar-o-ca. See Absorokas.

Uruguay, or Banda Oriental del Uruguay. A republic of South America, bounded north and northeast by Brazil, east by the Atlantic, south by the Rio de la Plata, and west by the Uruguay. Banda Oriental was, during the Spanish rule, the name of that portion of the vice-royalty of Buenos Ayres which lay to the east of the river Uruguay, and comprehended the present Uruguay and the territory formerly known as the Seven Missions. When Buenos Ayres declared itself independent of Spain, Banda Oriental formed a part of the new republic. In 1821, however, it was taken possession of by Brazil, and united with that state under the name of Provincia Cisplatina. By the treaty of 1828 between La Plata and Brazil, the southern and larger portion of Banda Oriental was formed into the republic of Uruguay. A civil war broke out in consequence of the invasion of the ex-president, Gen. Venancio FlorÈs, June 26, 1863; Gen. FlorÈs marched towards the capital in June; in February, 1865, FlorÈs became provisional president. During an insurrection of the Blanco party (headed by Berro), at Montevideo, Gen. FlorÈs was assassinated. The troops remained faithful. The insurrection was soon suppressed, and Berro shot, February 19, 1868.

Usages of War. See War.

Usbegs, or Usbeks. A people of Turkish race, who, at the close of the 15th century, invaded and conquered the numerous principalities into which Turkestan was at that time divided, and have ever since maintained dominion over the country. At the present day, they are for the most part a settled people, and are scattered over both Independent and Chinese Turkestan.

Usher of the Black Rod. See Black Rod.

Usher of the Green Rod. One of the officers of the order of the Thistle, whose duties consist in attendance on the sovereign and knights when assembled in chapter, and at other solemnities of the order. The rod from which the title is taken is of green enamel, 3 feet in length, ornamented with gold, having on the top a unicorn of silver, holding before him an escutcheon charged with the cross of St. Andrew.

Usipetes, or Usipii. A German people, who, being driven out of their abodes by the Suevi, crossed the Rhine and penetrated into Gaul; but they were defeated by CÆsar, and compelled to recross the river. They were now received by the Sygambri, and allowed to dwell on the northern bank of the Lippe; but we afterwards find them south of the Lippe; still later they became lost under the general name of Alemanni.

Utah. A Territory of the United States, which is bounded on the north by Idaho and Wyoming, east by Colorado, south by Arizona, and west by Nevada. Utah is an immense basin, from 4000 to 6000 feet above the level of the sea, surrounded by mountains, which at some points reach the altitude of 8000 to 13,000 feet. Utah was acquired by the United States from Mexico by the treaty of 1848, and was erected into a Territory in 1850. There have been serious difficulties between the U.S. government and the Mormons, who first arrived in the Great Salt Lake Valley in 1847. A terrible massacre of settlers took place at Mountain Meadows, Utah, by Indians, who it is said were instigated to commit the terrible atrocity by the Mormons. In order to put an end to all the disturbances in Utah, the President dispatched, in 1857, an expedition against Brigham Young, who was treated as an open rebel. Owing to the inclemency of the weather and other causes, the expedition did not arrive in Utah until May, 1858, when the governor, Cumming, reported to the President that Brigham Young had given up all hopes of resistance. The Territory has remained quiet ever since.

Utahs, or Utes. A tribe of North American Indians, who inhabit Utah, Nevada, part of Colorado, and New Mexico. They are at present peaceable, but do not engage in agriculture. See Indians and their Agencies.

Utensil. That which is used; an implement; an instrument; especially, an instrument or vessel used in a kitchen, or in domestic use. Utensils for camp and garrison are styled camp and garrison equipage, and are furnished by the quartermaster’s department.

Utica (ruins at Bow-Shater). The greatest city of ancient Africa, supposed to be older than Carthage. Like others of the very ancient Phoenician colonies in the territory of Carthage, Utica maintained a comparative independence, even during the height of the Punic power, and was rather the ally of Carthage than her subject. It stood on the shore of the northern part of the Carthaginian Gulf, a little west of the mouth of the Bagrades, and 27 Roman miles northwest of Carthage; but its site is now inland in consequence of the changes effected by the Bagrades in the coast-line. In the third Punic war, Utica took part with the Romans against Carthage, and was rewarded with the greatest part of the Carthaginian territory. It afterwards became renowned to all future time as the scene of the last stand made by the Pompeian party against CÆsar, and of the glorious, though mistaken, self-sacrifice of the younger Cato. It fell into the hands of the Vandals in 439; but its final destruction is due to the Saracens, who twice captured the town.

Utrecht (the Roman Trajectum ad Rhenum). A town of Holland, capital of a province of the same name, on the old Rhine. The union of the Seven United Provinces began here in 1579. The treaty of Utrecht, which terminated the wars of Queen Anne, was signed by the ministers of Great Britain and France, and all the other allies, except the ministers of the empire, April 11, 1713. This treaty secured the Protestant succession in England, the separation of the French and Spanish crowns, the destruction of Dunkirk, the enlargement of the British colonies and plantations in America, and a full satisfaction for the claims of the allies. Utrecht surrendered to the Prussians May 9, 1787; was acquired by the French January 18, 1795, and restored at the peace.

Uxii. A warlike people, of predatory habits, who had their strongholds in Mount Parachoathras, on the northern border of Persia, in the district called Uxia, but who also extended over a considerable tract of country in Media.