Loading-tongs. A pair of tongs used with siege howitzers to set the shell home.
Loano. A town of Italy, in the province of Genoa, situated on the Gulf of Genoa. Here the Austrians and Sardinians were defeated by the French, under Masséna, November 23, 1795.
Lobau. An island of Lower Austria, in the Danube, 5 miles east-southeast of Vienna. Here the French, in 1809, remained intrenched for six weeks, between the battles of Gross-Aspern and Wagram.
Lobbes. A town of Belgium, 10 miles southwest from Charleroi, on the Sambre. This was the scene of an engagement between the Austrian and French troops in 1794.
Local Rank, or Temporary Rank. An officer who receives increased rank, for a limited period or during the performance of some specific duty, is said to have local rank. Also sometimes applied to the rank held by an officer who is assigned to duty by his brevet rank to a locality fixed by geographical limits, such as a military department or district. See [Brevet] Rank.
Lochaber-axe. A formidable weapon of war, consisting of a pole bearing an axe at its upper end, formerly used by the Scotch Highlanders.
Lochage. In Greek antiquity, an officer who commanded a cohort.
Lochleven Castle. In Scotland, built on an isle in Loch Leven, it is said by the Picts. It was besieged by the English in 1301 and in 1334. The Earl of Northumberland was confined in it, 1569. It was the place of Queen Mary’s imprisonment in 1667.
Lock. That part of a fire-arm by which fire is produced for the discharge of a piece. The first form of the apparatus was the [match-lock], which consisted of a lever holding a lighted match, which by a simple mechanism was brought in contact with the priming. This was superseded by the [wheel-lock], invented in Nuremburg, or Italy, according to different authorities, which made its appearance early in the 16th century. This consisted of a wheel wound up against a spring and released by a trigger. In its revolution it evolved sparks by friction against an alloy of iron and antimony, which fell upon and ignited the priming. This was replaced about 1680 by the [flint-lock], consisting of a hammer, or cock, holding a flint, which in its descent struck a steel plate. This device gave way in its turn, about 1840, to the [percussion-lock], which, in one or another of its many forms, promises to endure indefinitely. The terms [matchlock], [flintlock], [firelock], etc., have also been used to designate the weapon itself.
Lock. In fencing, to seize, as the sword-arm of an antagonist, by turning the left arm around it, in order to disarm him.