Good-conduct Pay. Given in the British service as a stimulus to soldiers to conduct themselves with propriety. Soldiers who have not figured in the defaulters’ book are entitled to extra pay, which goes on increasing at intervals upon the same condition of “good conduct.” To mark the soldiers so distinguished, badges are given them in the form of rings of white lace, worn on the right arm. The receipt of good-conduct pay uninterruptedly for some years influences the amount of pension.
Goojerat. A village in the Punjab, India, the scene of the last stand made by the Sikh army against the British under Lord Gough, in 1849. In this action the Sikhs lost 53 guns, and their army of 60,000 men was entirely broken up and dispersed. The whole of the Punjab then fell under the British yoke.
Gordian Knot. It is said to have been made of the thongs that served as harness to the wagon of Gordius, a husbandman, afterwards king of Phrygia. Whosoever loosed this knot, the ends of which were not discoverable, the oracle declared should be ruler of Persia. Alexander the Great cut away the knot with his sword until he found the ends of it, and thus, in a military sense at least, interpreted the oracle, 330 B.C.
Goree. A town and small island, or rather rock, off the coast of Africa, a little more than a mile from Cape Verd. This island was first occupied by the Dutch, and afterwards taken by the French, to whom it was finally ceded by the treaty of Nimeguen, 1678. It is now the bulwark of the possessions of the French in Africa. Goree was taken by the British in 1758, 1779, 1800, and 1804.
Gorey. A town in the southeast of Ireland. Near here the king’s troops under Col. Walpole were defeated, and their leader slain by the Irish rebels, June 4, 1798.
Gorge. The entrance into any piece of a fortification, which consists of the distance or space between the inner extremities of the two faces; as, between the faces of a half-moon, redoubt, bastion, redan, lunette, etc.
Gorge, Demi-. See [Demi-gorge].
Gorge of a Bastion. In fortification, is usually an open space between the extremities of the flanks of the bastion. The larger this gorge is, the better is the defense; for when the ruined bastion is about to fall by siege into the hands of the enemy, the defenders can construct defensive works or dig small ditches in the gorge of the abandoned bastion. Such resistance sometimes drives the besiegers to the necessity of battering in breach the curtain.
Gorge of Mountains. Is the passage, more or less compressed, between two mountains, which is used as a passage-way into valleys. Gorges are important military points. If they lead to an intrenched camp, it is necessary to fortify them, and there post grand guards; these positions are the principal theatres for affairs of posts.
Gorged. In heraldry, when an animal is represented with a crown round its neck, it is said to be gorged.