Braconnière, or Bragonnière (Fr.). In antiquity, a mail-armor, of the shape of a petticoat, which was attached to the cuirass, and reached from the hips to the middle of the thigh, and sometimes below the knee.
Braga (anc. Bracara Augusta). The capital of the province of Minho, in Portugal; it is fortified and defended by a citadel. The Suevi were here vanquished by the Goths in 585.
Brailoff, Brahilow, or Ibraila. A fortified town and the principal port of Wallachia, European Turkey. In 1770 the town was taken by the Russians, and almost razed to the ground; rebuilt, and again taken by the Russians in 1828, after a brave defense. It was restored to Turkey by the treaty of Adrianople in 1829. During the war of 1854-56, it was occupied by Russian troops.
Brake. That part of the carriage of a movable battery or engine which enables it to turn.
Brake. An ancient engine of war analogous to the cross-bow and balista.
Bramham. In Yorkshire, England; near here the Earl of Northumberland and Lord Bardolf were defeated and slain by Sir Thomas Rokeby, the general of Henry IV., February 19, 1408; and Fairfax was defeated by the royalists under the Duke of Newcastle, March 29, 1643.
Brand. The Anglo-Saxon for a burnished sword.
Brandenburg. A city in Prussia, founded by the Slavonians. Henry I., surnamed the Fowler, after defeating the Slavonians, fortified Brandenburg, 926, as a rampart against the Huns, and bestowed the government on Sigefroi, count of Ringelheim, with the title of Margrave, or protector of the marches or frontiers. Occupied by the French, October 25, 1806.
Branding. Was a mode of punishment, in nearly all armies, inflicted on soldiers who were convicted of the crime of desertion,—the branding or marking being with ink, or other similar preparation. This practice is now discontinued in the American, and several European armies.
Brandschwaermer (Ger.). A small rocket which contained a bullet; it was fired out of a gun and used for the purpose of setting fire to straw-thatched buildings.