A Military Dictionary and Gazetteer / Comprising ancient and modern military technical terms, historical accounts of all North American Indians, as well as ancient warlike tribes; also notices of battles from the earliest period to the present time, with a concise explanation of terms used in heraldry and the offices thereof. The work also gives valuable geographical information. Compiled from the best authorities of all nations. With an appendix containing the Articles of war, etc.

by Thomas Wilhelm

Tromblon. A fire-arm which was formerly fired from a rest, and from which several balls and slugs were discharged. An ancient wall-piece.

Trombone. Formerly a species of blunderbuss for boat-service, taking its name from its unseemly trumpet mouth.

Troop. A company of cavalry. It is the same, with respect to formation, as a company in the infantry.

Troop Corporal-Major. The chief non-commissioned officer of a troop in the British Household Cavalry.

Troop Sergeant-Major. In the British service, is the chief sergeant of a troop.

Trooper. A private or soldier in a body of cavalry; a horse-soldier.

Trooping the Colors. Is a ceremony performed in the British service, at the public mounting of garrison guards.

Troop-ship. A merchant ship “taken up,” as it is called, for the conveyance of soldiers by sea.

Trophy. Was a memorial of victory erected on the spot where the enemy had turned to flight. Among the Greeks (with the exception of the Macedonians, who erected no trophies) one or two shields and helmets of the routed enemy placed upon the trunk of a tree served as the sign and memorial of victory. After a sea-fight the trophy consisted of the beaks and stern-ornaments of the captured vessels, set up on the nearest coast. It was considered wrong to destroy such a trophy, and equally wrong to repair it when it had fallen down through time, for animosity ought not to be perpetual. In early times the Romans never erected trophies on the field, but decorated the buildings at Rome with the spoils of the vanquished. In later times pillars and triumphal arches were employed to commemorate victories. Besides these, in modern times, the humiliation of an enemy is rendered lasting by such devices as the bridge of Jena, of Waterloo, and by the distribution of captured cannon. Morally considered, this practice is no improvement upon the simple and perishable trophies of the ancient Greeks.

Trophy-money. Was certain money formerly raised in the several counties of the kingdom of Great Britain, towards providing harness and maintaining the militia.