Winchelsea. A town of England, in Sussex, 37 miles northeast from Brighton. It is a place of great antiquity, and was twice pillaged, first by the French and again by the Spaniards, who landed near Farley Head.
Winchester (Rom. Venta Belgarum). A town of England, capital of Hampshire. It is a very ancient town, whose erection may reasonably be ascribed to the Celtic Britons. It was taken by the Saxons in 495, and by the Danes in 871-73; and was ravaged by Sweyn in 1013. Winchester was several times taken and retaken between 1641 and 1643; it was taken by Cromwell, and the castle dismantled in 1645.
Winchester. A city and capital of Frederick Co., Va., in the valley of the Shenandoah, 150 miles north-northwest of Richmond, 71 miles west by north from Washington. On March 12, 1862, it was occupied by the Federal general Banks, and during the war was the scene of frequent conflicts, and occupied in turn by the Federal and Confederate armies.
Winchester Rifle. See [Small-arms], and [Magazine Guns].
Windage. Is the space left between the bore of a piece and its projectile, and is measured by the difference of their diameters. The objects of windage are to facilitate loading, and to diminish the danger of bursting the piece; it is rendered necessary by the mechanical impossibility of making every projectile of the proper size and shape, by the unyielding nature of the material of which large projectiles are made, by the foulness which collects in the bore after each discharge, and by the use of hot and strapped shot. The true windaqe, which is the difference between the true diameters of the bore and projectile, increases slightly with the size of the bore, and is greater for solid shot, which are sometimes fired hot, than for hollow projectiles, which are never heated.
Loss of Force.—The ordinary windage of smooth-bore cannon, used in the U. S. service, is about 1⁄40 of the diameter of the bore, and the loss of force arising from the escape of gas through this windage amounts to a very considerable portion of the entire charge. The amount of loss in any case depends on: (1) The degree of windage; (2) The caliber of the gun; (3) The length of the bore; (4) The kind of powder; (5) The charge of powder; (6) The weight or density of the ball. It is probable that the influence which some of these causes exert on the force of the charge is very slight. It has been determined by experiment, that the loss of velocity by windage is proportional to the windage. It may be stated that the loss of velocity by a given windage is directly as the windage, and inversely as the diameter of the bore, very nearly.
Wind-gauge. In a military sense, is an attachment to the sight (either front- or rear-sight) of a fire-arm by which an allowance for the effect of wind on the projectile can be made in aiming. Though usually called wind-gauge, it is also used to counteract [drift] or any other deviation which can be anticipated. In the old model target-rifles, the front-sight is capable of a slight movement. Some of the more recent military arms have a wind-gauge attached to the rear-sight. In the peep-sights, the sight-piece is moved by a screw. In the present U. S. service rifle the sight-piece is moved by hand. It has graduations to guide the marksman. The wind-gauge is frequently attached to breech-sights of cannon in Europe. In this country the Parrott gun is similarly equipped.
Wind-gun. A gun discharged by the force of compressed air; an air-gun.
Windlace. Formerly an apparatus for bending the bow of an arblast or cross-gun.
Windlass. An axis, or roller of wood, square at each end, through which are either cross-holes for handspikes, or staves across, to turn it round, by which operation it draws a rope, one end of which is attached to a weight, which is thus raised from any depth.