Sagette (Fr.). An arrow; a bolt used in ancient times.
Sagittarii. In the Roman army, under the emperors, were young men armed with bows and arrows, who, together with the funditores, were generally sent out to skirmish before the main body. They constituted no part of the [velites], but seem to have succeeded them at the time when the Socii were admitted into the Roman legions; for at that period the [velites] were discontinued.
Sagra. A small river in Magna Græcia, on the southeast coast of Bruttium, on the banks of which a memorable victory was gained by 10,000 Locrians over 120,000 Crotoniats. This victory appeared so extraordinary that it gave rise to the proverbial expression, “It is truer than what happened on the Sagra,” when a person wished to make any strong asseveration.
Sagum. An ancient military garment or cloak, made of wool, without sleeves, fastened by a girdle around the waist, and a buckle. It was worn by the Greeks, Romans, and Gauls. The generals alone wore the [paludamentum], and all the Roman soldiers, even the centurions and tribunes, used the sagum.
Saguntum (now Murviedro). A wealthy and warlike town of ancient Spain, in Hispania Tarraconensis. It was besieged and destroyed by the Carthaginians under Hannibal in 218 B.C. Having withstood the siege for the greater part of a year, against an army of about 150,000 men, the Saguntines, now most severely pressed by famine, concluded, with an act of heroic defiance and self-sacrifice, a resistance that had been characterized by the most brilliant valor. Heaping their valuable effects into one vast pile, and placing their women and children around it, the men issued forth for the last time against the enemy; and the women, setting fire to the pile they had prepared, cast themselves upon it with their children, and found in flames the fate their husbands met in battle. The destruction of Saguntum directly led to the second Punic war.
Saikyr. In the Middle Ages, was a species of cannon smaller than a demiculverin, much employed in sieges. Like the falcon, it derived its name from a species of hawk.
Saint Augustine. A city, port of entry, and capital of St. John’s Co., Fla., 160 miles south of Savannah. It has the distinction of being the oldest town in the United States. The Spanish abandoned it in 1763, upon its cession to the English. Sir Francis Drake destroyed it in 1586; and it was besieged and burned by the governor of the Carolinas in 1702. Saint Augustine was a British depot during the Revolutionary war. It was of some importance as a military station during the Florida war, 1835-42.
Saint Bartholomew, Massacre of. See [Bartholomew, St.]
St. Bernard, Mount. See [Bernard, St., The Great].
Saint-Cloud. A town of France, department of Seine-et-Oise, 51⁄2 miles west from Paris. Henry IV. was assassinated at Saint-Cloud by Jacques Clément in 1589. Bonaparte here broke up the assembly of 500, and caused himself to be proclaimed first consul on November 9, 1799; and here, in July, 1830, Charles X. signed the ordonnances which cost him his throne.