Valiant. Personally brave, fearless of danger in war, etc.
Valladolid. A famous city of Spain, capital of the province of the same name, on the left bank of the Pisuerga, 150 miles northwest from Madrid. It is the Roman Pincia and the Moorish Belad Walid; was recovered for the Christians by Ordogno II., the first king of Leon, 914-23. It was captured from the French by the English, June 4, 1813.
Vallary Crown. A crown bestowed by the ancient Romans as an honorary reward on the soldier who first surmounted the outworks, and broke into the enemy’s camp. It is in form a circle of gold with palisades attached. The crown vallary occasionally occurs as a heraldic bearing.
Valls. A town of Spain, in the province of Tarragona, 9 miles north from Tarragona. The French here defeated the Spaniards in 1809, and afterwards sacked the town; but they suffered a defeat themselves near the same place, in 1811, by some Spanish troops under Sarsfield.
Vallum. Among the Romans, the parapet which fortified their encampments. It consisted of two parts,—the [agger] and the sudes; the agger was the earth thrown up from the vallum, and the sudes were a sort of wooden stakes to secure and strengthen it. Vallus was the name of the stake which served as a palisade in the Roman intrenchment. Every soldier carried one of these valli, and on some occasions three or four bound together like a fagot.
Valmy. A village of France, department of Marne, 20 miles northeast from Chalons. This village is celebrated as the place where the republican armies of France under Kellerman, in 1792, defeated for the first time the allied armies under the Duke of Brunswick.
Valor. Strength of mind in regard to danger; that quality which enables a man to encounter danger with firmness; personal bravery; warlike courage; intrepidity; bravery.
Valparaiso. The principal seaport of Chili, South America, on the bay of the same name, about 80 miles west-northwest of Santiago. The bay is sheltered from all quarters except the north; and is defended by three forts and a water-battery. Valparaiso was bombarded by the Spanish fleet, March 31, 1866. Few lives were lost, but buildings and other property, the value of which was estimated at from $9,000,000 to $20,000,000, were destroyed.
Valtelline, or Valtellina (Northern Italy). A district near the Rhætian Alps, seized by the Grison league in 1512, and ceded to it in 1530. At the instigation of Spain, the Catholics rose and massacred the Protestants, July 19-21, 1620. After much contention between the French and Austrians, the neutrality of the Valtelline was assured in 1639. It was annexed to the Cisalpine republic in 1797; to Italy, 1807; to Austria, 1814; to Italy, 1860.
Vambrace. In ancient armor, the piece designed to protect the arm below the elbow.