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

Candy. A kingdom of Ceylon; it was taken by a British detachment, February 20, 1803, who capitulated June 23, following, anxious to evacuate the place on account of its unhealthiness; on the third day many were treacherously massacred at Columbo. The war was renewed in October, 1814; the king made prisoner by Gen. Brownrigg, February 19, 1815, and the sovereignty vested in Great Britain, March 2, 1815.

Canister. In the U. S. service, a round of canister consists of a hollow tin cylinder filled with cast iron or lead balls, which vary in size and number with the caliber and kind of piece; the cylinder is closed at the bottom by a thick cast-iron plate, and at the top by one of sheet-iron. The interstices between the balls are filled with dry sawdust, the object of which is to give more solidity to the mass, and to prevent the balls from crowding on one another when the piece is fired. In the English service this is called case-shot.

Canister-shot. One of the lead or iron balls in a round of canister.

Cannæ. A town of Naples, province of Terra di Bari. It is celebrated for the great victory gained there by Hannibal over the Romans, in the summer of 216 B.C. The loss of the Romans is stated by Livy at 45,000 infantry and 3000 cavalry.

Cannon. A military engine of which the general form is that of a hollow cylinder closed at one end, and variously mounted, used for throwing balls and other instruments of death by force of gunpowder. Cannons are made of iron, brass, bronze, and sometimes of steel rods welded together, and are of different sizes. They are classified, from their nature, [guns], [howitzers], and [mortars]; also from their use, as [field], [mountain], prairie, [sea-coast], and [siege]; also as [rifled] and smooth-bore. See [Ordnance].

The following are the most famous cannon of all ages, arranged according to the diameter of the bore:

1. The Tsar Pooschka, the great bronze gun of Moscow, cast in 1586; bore 36 inches, weight 86,240 pounds; threw a stone ball weighing 2000 pounds.

2. Mallet’s Mortar, English, 1857-58; built up of cast and wrought iron; bore 36 inches; cast-iron shell weighing 2986 pounds.

3. The Malik-I-Mydan, “Master of the Field,” the great bronze gun of Bejapoor, India; cast 1538; bore 28.5 inches; basalt ball, 1000 pounds.

4. The Bronze Gun of Mahomet II., A.D. 1464; bore 25 inches; granite ball, 672 pounds.