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

Force. To obtain or win by strength; to take by violence or struggle; specifically, to capture by assault; to storm, as a fortress. Also to impel, drive, wrest, extort, get, etc., by main strength or violence; with a following adverb, as along, away, from, into, through, out, etc.

Force. To provide with forces; to reinforce; to strengthen by soldiers; to garrison.

Force of Gravity. The force by virtue of which all terrestrial bodies fall to the earth when unsupported. As a terrestrial force it may be considered constant for the same place, but as it is practically the resultant of the earth’s attraction and the centrifugal force arising from its rotation, and as the earth is neither homogeneous nor a perfect sphere, it will vary slightly with the latitude, being greatest at the poles and least on the equator, and it will also vary in an insignificant degree from place to place in the same latitude. Gravity is distinguished in dynamics as the only constant force with which we have to do. It differs also from all others in this, that its measure is independent of mass. Other forces are measured by the product of the mass moved into the velocity imparted in the unit of time; but as gravity impresses the same velocity upon all masses, great or small, mass is properly omitted in its measure. The velocity impressed by it during each second of its action, or the acceleration, is about 32.1808 feet in latitude 45°, about 32.0977 at the equator, and 32.2629 at the poles. This number in gunnery is indicated by the algebraic symbol g. Its exact value at any place is best determined by the length of the simple second’s pendulum at that place. The value for g for bodies falling in the air is very nearly true for dense substances presenting small surfaces, when the fall is limited by a few seconds. For the ordinary time of flight of projectiles it can be used without material error.

Force, To. To force an enemy to give battle, is to render the situation of an enemy so hazardous, that whether he attempts to quit his position, or endeavors to keep it, his capture or destruction must be equally inevitable. In either of such desperate cases, a bold and determined general will not wait to be attacked, but resolutely advance and give battle, especially if circumstances should combine to deprive him of the means of honorable capitulation. To force a passage, is to oblige your enemy to retire from his fastnesses, and to open a way into the country which he had occupied. This may be done either by coup de main, or renewal of assaults. In either case, the advancing body should be well supported and its flanks be secured with the most jealous attention.

Forced. Exerted to the utmost; urged; hence, strained, urged to excessive or unnatural action; as, a forced march.

Forces, Effective. All the efficient parts of an army that may be brought into action are called effective, and generally consist of artillery, cavalry, and infantry, with their necessary appendages, such as hospital staff, wagon-train, etc. Effective forces of a country; all the disposable strength, vigor, and activity of any armed proportion of native or territorial population. The navy of a country must be looked upon as part of the effective force of the country, to which is added the marines.

Forcing. The operation of making a bullet take the grooves of a rifle. This was formerly effected in various ways, by flattening the bullet in its seat with the ramrod, by using a patch, etc. (See [Projectiles], [Bullets].) The term is not much used at the present day.

Ford. A place in a river or other water where it may be passed by man or beast on foot, or by wading. A ford should not be deeper than 3 feet for infantry, 4 feet for cavalry, and 2¹⁄₂ feet for artillery. These limits must be lessened if the stream be swift. A bottom of large stones is bad for cavalry and impracticable for carriages; gravel is the best bottom; a sandy bottom, though good at first, is apt to deepen when many troops pass.

Ford. To pass or cross, as a river or other water, by treading or walking on the bottom; to pass through by wading; to wade through.

Fordable. Capable of being waded or passed through on foot, as water.