Cuenca. A city of Spain, in New Castile, about 84 miles from Madrid. It was captured from the Moors by the kings of Castile and Aragon in 1176.
Cuirass (Fr. cuir, leather). Originally a jerkin, or garment of leather for soldiers, so thick and strong as to be pistol-proof, and even musket-proof. The name was afterwards applied to a portion of armor made of metal, consisting of a back-plate and breastplate hooked or buckled together. The cuirass is worn in the British army by the Life Guards and the Horse Guards.
Cuish. Defensive armor for the thighs, written also cuisse.
Cul-de-sac (Fr.). The “bottom of a bag.” A passage with only one outlet; a position in which an army finds itself, with no way of exit but to the front.
Cullen Rifle. See [Magazine Guns].
Cullen’s-wood. In Ireland. A horrible slaughter of the English by the Irish took place at a village near Dublin on Easter or Black Monday, so called from this massacre, March 30, 1209. The English were a colony from Bristol inhabiting Dublin, whence they went to divert themselves at Cullen’s-wood, when the O’Byrnes and O’Tooles fell upon them, and destroyed 500 men, besides women and children.
Culloden, or Drummossie Moor. A wide heath in Scotland, 3 miles east of Inverness, on which the Duke of Cumberland gained a decisive victory over the Highland army in their attempt to restore the Stuart dynasty to the throne, in 1746.
Culpeper Court-house. See [Fairfax].
Culverin. A long cannon used from the 14th to the 16th century; generally carried a shot of 18 pounds. The gun at Dover Castle, called Queen Elizabeth’s pocket-pistol, is a specimen of a large culverin. A [demi-culverin] was a similar piece, carrying a 9-pound shot.
Cumæ. An ancient and celebrated Greek city on the coast of Campania, about 6 miles north of Cape Misenum. The Tyrrhenians and Carthaginians attacked it by sea, and were defeated by Hieron, 474 B.C. In 420 the Samnites laid siege to the city, and after repeated attacks succeeded in carrying it by assault. It was given up to pillage and its inhabitants put to the sword. In the second Punic war Hannibal made an attempt upon the city, but was repulsed by Sempronius Gracchus. It was chosen by the Gothic kings as the depository of their regalia and valuables, and was the last place in Italy that held out against Narses.