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

Annee de Corbie (Fr.). Name given to the year 1636, when the capture of Corbie (by the Austrians), a small city of the department of the Somme, France (during the war which Richelieu had decided to undertake against the Austrian house), nearly caused the overthrow of France.

Anne, St., Order of. An order of knighthood, originally established in Holstein, and carried with the princes of that country into Russia. It was made a Russian order in 1796, and is now widely diffused.

Annihilate. To reduce to nothing; to destroy the existence of; to cause or cease to be; as, the army was annihilated.

Annoy. To injure or disturb by continued or repeated acts; to incommode or molest; as, to annoy an army by impeding their march, or by a continued cannonade.

Annuity. A sum of money payable yearly, to continue for a given number of years, for life or forever; an annual allowance. The U. S. government furnishes annuities and annuity goods to certain tribes of Indians.

Annul. To make void, or of no effect; to abrogate; to rescind;—used of laws, decisions of courts, or other established rules, permanent usages, and the like, which are made void by competent authority.

Annunciada. An order of military knighthood in Savoy, first instituted by Amadeus I. in the year 1409; their collar was of fifteen links, interwoven one with another, and the motto “F. E. R. T.,” signifying fortitudo ejus Rhodum tenuit. Amadeus VIII. changed the image of St. Maurice, patron of Savoy, which hung at the collar, for that of the Virgin Mary, and instead of the motto above mentioned, substituted the words of the angel’s salutation. Now extinct.

Anse des Pieces (Fr.). A term for the handles of cannon. Those of brass have two, those of iron seldom any. These handles serve to pass cords, handspikes, or levers through, the more easily to move so heavy a body, and are made to represent dolphins, serpents, etc.

Antandros (now St. Dimitri). A city of Troas, inhabited by the Leleges, near which Æneas built his fleet after the destruction of Troy.

Antecessores, or Antecursores. Light cavalry of the Romans, which formed the advance-guard of an army while on the march.