Arich (anc. Rhinocolura). A fortress in Lower Egypt. The French occupied this place in 1793, but were obliged to surrender it in 1800.
Aries (Lat. “a ram”). An ancient battering-ram. See [Battering-ram].
Arizona. A Territory of the United States, originally part of New Mexico, organized February, 1803. For many years known for its Indian hostilities, and conflicts between the Indians and U. S. troops; also for frequent terrible massacres of whites.
Arkansas. One of the Southwestern States of the Union. It was settled by the French in 1685, and formed a part of the great tract purchased from the French in 1803 under the name of Louisiana Territory. It was organized as a Territory in 1819, and admitted as a State in 1836. Arkansas passed an ordinance of secession March 4, 1861; was the scene of several engagements during the civil war, and suffered its share of the hardships of that eventful period. The battles of Pea Ridge and Fayetteville were fought in its territory; Arkansas Post was captured in 1863; and Helena and Little Rock were taken the same year.
Arkansas Indians. A tribe of Indians allied to the Dakotas, who formerly resided on the Ohio. At present they number about 200, and live in the Indian Territory.
Arkansas Post. A village in Arkansas, on the Arkansas River, about 40 miles from its mouth, garrisoned by the Confederates during the civil war. The combined forces of Admiral Porter and Gen. McClernand made an attack upon the place January 11, 1863, and carried it by storm.
Arklow. A town in Ireland, where a battle was fought between the insurgent Irish, amounting to 31,000, and a small regular force of British, which signally defeated them, June 10, 1798.
Arles. A city in the department Mouths-of-the-Rhone, France; said to have been founded 2000 B.C.; was formerly a powerful Roman city; sustained four memorable sieges against the Visigoths, in 425, 429, 452, and 457; besieged by Clovis I., king of the Franks, 508. The Count of Barcelona took possession of it in 1156, and Alfonso II., king of Aragon, in 1167.
Arlon. A town in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium. Here the French, commanded by Jourdan, defeated the Austrians in April, 1793, and again in April, 1794.
Arm. In a military sense, signifies a particular species of troops,—thus the artillery is an arm, and the cavalry, and infantry, etc., are each called an arm of the service. The word is also used to denote an instrument of warfare; a weapon of offense or defense.