Demi-file (Fr.). Is that rank in a French battalion which immediately succeeds to the serre-demi-file, and is at the head of the remaining half of its depth.
Demi-gorge. In fortification, is half the gorge or entrance into the bastion, not taken directly from angle to angle, where the bastion joins the curtain, but from the angle of the flank to the centre of the bastion, or the angle which the two curtains would make by their prolongation.
Demihag. A long pistol, much used in the 16th century.
Demi-lance. A light lance; half-pike. Also a light horseman who carried a lance.
Demi-lune. In fortification, is a work constructed beyond the main ditch of a fortress, and in front of the curtain between two bastions, intended to defend the curtain; a ravelin.
Demi-parallel. In fortification, is a place of arms formed between the second and third parallels to protect the head of the sap.
Demi-pike. A kind of spontoon, 7 feet long, used by infantry or for boarding.
Demi-place d’Armes. In fortification, a circular trench constructed upon the prolongation of the lines of the covered way, to the right and left of the zigzags, to cover the troops employed in their defense.
Demi-revetment. A revetment of the scarf only to the height protected by the glacis.
Demmin. A town of Prussia, on the river Peene, on the borders of Pomerania and Mecklenburg. It is a town of considerable antiquity, having been a place of importance in the time of Charlemagne, and is noted for the number of sieges it has sustained. Its fortifications were destroyed in 1759. In 1807 several engagements took place here between the French and Russians.