Certificate of Disability. See [Disability].
Certificate of Merit. See [Merit, Certificate of].
Cessation of Arms. An armistice or truce, agreed to by the commanders of armies, to give them time for a capitulation, or for other purposes.
Ceuta. A fortified seaport of Morocco, opposite Gibraltar. The castle stands on the highest point of the ancient Abyla, one of the pillars of Hercules, terminating a peninsula. This was a Mauritanian town under the Romans, and in 1415 was taken from the Moors by the Portuguese. In 1580 it passed into the possession of the Spanish, in whose hands it afterwards remained.
Ceylon (anc. Taprobane). An island in the Indian Ocean. It was invaded by the Portuguese Almeyda, 1505, but it was known to the Romans in the time of Claudius, 41. The Dutch landed in Ceylon in 1602; they captured the capital, Colombo, in 1503. Intercourse with the British began in 1713. A large portion of the country was taken by them in 1782, but was restored in 1783. The Dutch settlements were seized by the British, 1795. Ceylon was ceded to the British by the peace of Amiens in 1802. The British troops were treacherously massacred or imprisoned by the Adigar of Candy, at Colombo, June 26, 1803. The complete sovereignty of the island was assumed by England in 1815.
Chæronea (Bœotia). Here Greece was ruined by Philip, 32,000 Macedonians defeating 30,000 Thebans, Athenians, etc., August 6 or 7, 338 B.C. Here Archelaus, lieutenant of Mithridates, was defeated by Sylla, and 110,000 Cappadocians were slain, 86 B.C.
Chain. A chain made of a kind of wire, divided into links of an equal length, is made use of by military engineers for setting out works on the ground, because cord lines are apt to shrink and give way.
Chain-ball. See [Projectile].
Chain-mail. A kind of armor made of interlaced rings, both flexible and strong; much used in the 12th and 13th centuries.
Chain-shot. See [Projectile].