Bat-horse. A baggage horse which bears the bat or pack.
Bat-man. A servant in charge of the bat-horses. The term is now applied in the English service to a soldier who acts as servant to an officer.
Baton. A truncheon borne by generals in the French army, and afterwards by the marshals of other nations. Henry III. of France before he ascended the throne was made generalissimo of the army of his brother Charles IX., and received the baton as the mark of the high command, 1569.
Baton. A staff used by drum-majors of foot regiments.
Baton Rouge. A city of Louisiana. It was captured by the Federals August 5, 1862, after a fierce conflict.
Batourin. A town of Russia, 63 miles east of Tcheringov, on the Seim. It was the residing place of the hetman of the Ukraine Cossacks from 1699 to 1708; captured and sacked by the Russians in 1708.
Batta. An allowance made to military officers in the service of the East India Company in addition to their pay. See [Half-batta].
Battalia. The order of battle; disposition or arrangement of troops, brigades, regiments, battalions, etc., as for action. Formerly the term applied to the main body of an army in array, as distinguished from the wings.
Battailant. Equipped for battle; warlike; a combatant. This word is now obsolete.
Battalion. A body of troops, so called from being originally a body of men arranged for battle; consisting in European armies of about 800 or 1000 men; in the U. S. service, an aggregation of from two to twelve companies.