Dunkirk. A fortified seaport town in the extreme northern part of France, in the department of the North. In 1558 the English, who had for some time held possession of the town, were expelled from it by the French, who, in the ensuing year, surrendered it to the Spaniards. In the middle of the 17th century it once more passed into the hands of the French, who, after a few years’ occupation of it, again restored it to Spain. In 1658 it was retaken by the French and made over to the English. It was sold to the French king by Charles II. in 1662. In 1793 it was attacked by the English under the Duke of York, who, however, was compelled to retire from before its walls with severe loss.
Dunnottar. A parish of Scotland, in Kincardineshire. It contains the castle of Dunnottar, now in ruins. In the time of the civil wars, this was the fortress in which the Scottish regalia were deposited. After being besieged by Cromwell’s forces for six months, it capitulated; but, before this, the regalia were secretly conveyed from it.
Dunsinane. In Perthshire, Scotland. On the hill was fought the battle between Macbeth, the thane of Glammis, and Siward, earl of Northumberland, July 27, 1054. Macbeth was defeated, and it was said pursued to Lumphanan in Aberdeenshire, and there slain, 1056 or 1057.
Durazzo (anc. Epidamnus). A town of Albania, European Turkey. It is fortified, and is a place of considerable antiquity. Durazzo was founded about 627 B.C. by a conjoined band of Corcyræans and Corinthians under one Phaleus, a Heracleidan. It became a great and populous city, but was much harassed by the internal strifes of party, which ultimately led to the Peloponnesian war. Under the Romans it was called Dyrrachium (whence its modern name). Here Pompey was for some time beleaguered by Cæsar. In the 5th century it was besieged by Theodoric, the Ostro-Goth; in the 10th and 11th centuries by the Bulgarians; and in 1081 it was captured, after a severe battle, by the Norman, Robert Guiseard of Apulia.
Düren. A town of Prussia, on the Roer. This was a Roman town, and is mentioned by Tacitus by the name of Marcodurum. Charlemagne held two diets here in 775 and 779, when on his way to attack the Saxons. It was taken by assault and burned by Charles V., after an obstinate resistance, in 1543. In 1794 it fell into the hands of the French, but was ceded to Prussia in 1814.
Dürkeim. A town of Rhenish Bavaria, 20 miles north from Landau. The summit of a height near this town is crowned by a rampart of loose stones 6 to 10 feet high, 60 to 70 feet wide at the base, and inclosing a space of about two square miles called the Heidenmauer (“heathens’ wall”), which the Romans are said to have built to keep the barbarians in check, and where Attila is said to have passed a winter, after having wrested the fortress from the Romans, when passing on his way to Rome.
Durrenstein. A town of Austria, on the Danube. In the neighborhood, on a rock, are the ruins of the castle in which Richard Cœur de Lion was imprisoned in 1192. In 1805 the Russian and Austrian armies were defeated here by the French.
Duties. This word is used in military parlance to express the men paraded for any particular duty, such as guards, etc.
Duty. There is no word oftener used in military parlance than this. In the technical sense it refers to the various services necessary for the maintenance, discipline, and regulation of armies,—as signal duty, staff duty, the duties of a sentinel, etc. To be on duty is to be in the active exercise of military functions; to be off duty is to have these functions temporarily suspended; to be put on duty is to be assigned to duty by order of a superior. Military duties are variously classed as duties of detail, which are recurring and governed by a roster, such as guard, fatigue, etc.; special duties which are determined by appointment, selection, or order; extra duty, continuous special duty of enlisted men, entitling them to pay; daily duty, short terms of special service for enlisted men. In a higher and broader sense duty is that which is due one’s country. It covers all the soldier’s obligations, and forms his simplest and sublimest rule of action.
Dyer Projectile. See [Projectile].