San Sebastian. A seaport of Spain, capital of Guipuzcoa, one of the Basque provinces, on the shore of the Bay of Biscay, 42 miles north-northwest of Pampeluna. From its position and strength, it has long been a place of much importance, and has sustained several sieges. The most memorable of these was in 1813, when the British under Wellington took it by storm.
San Severo. A town of Naples, capital of a district in the province of Capitanata. The inhabitants in 1799 made a gallant but vain resistance to the French under Duhesme, in revenge for which an indiscriminate slaughter was begun, and the town was only saved from total destruction by the heroism of the women, who threw themselves between the victorious soldiery and their victims.
Sandhurst Military College. See [Military Academies (Great Britain)].
Sangiac. A situation or appointment of dignity in Turkey. The sangiacs are governors of towns or cantons, and take rank immediately after the beglerbegs. (See [Beg].) The name is also applied to the banner which he is authorized to display, and has been mistaken for Saint Jacques.
Sanjak. A Turkish word signifying “a standard,” is employed to denote a subdivision of an eyalet, because the ruler of such a subdivision, called [sanjak-beg], is entitled to carry in war a standard of one horse-tail. The sanjak is frequently called liva, and its ruler a mirmiram.
Sanjak-Sherif. See [Flag of the Prophet].
Sansculottes (i.e., “without breeches”). Was the name given in scorn, at the beginning of the French revolution, by the court party to the democratic “proletaires” of Paris. The latter accepted this superfine reproach with sardonic pride, and the term soon became the distinctive appellation of a “good patriot,” more especially as such a one often made a point of showing his contempt for the rich by neglecting his apparel, and cultivating rough and cynical manners. Toward the close of the Convention, the name, connected as it had been with all the sanguinary excesses of the period, naturally fell into bad odor, and soon after totally disappeared.
Santa Fé. City and capital of the Territory of New Mexico, built among the Rocky Mountains, on a plain 7047 feet above the sea. It is an old Spanish Mexican town, about 20 miles east of the Rio Grande del Norte. The Spaniards were driven out of Santa Fé in 1680 by the Pueblo Indians; but it was recaptured by the former in 1694, and held by them till the occupation by Americans in 1846. It was occupied by the Confederates for several days in 1862.
Santiago de Compostella. An important and once famous city of Spain, formerly the capital of Galicia. It was sacked by the Moors in 995, and held by them till it was taken by Ferdinand III. in 1235. It was taken by the French in 1809, and held till 1814.
Sap. In military engineering, is a narrow ditch or trench, by which approach is made from the foremost parallel towards the glacis or covert way of a besieged place. The sap is usually made by four sappers, the leading man of whom rolls a large gabion before him, and excavates as he progresses, filling smaller gabions with the earth dug out, and erecting them on one or both sides to form a parapet. The other sappers widen and deepen the sap, throwing more earth on to the parapet. A sap is considered to advance in average ground about 8 feet per hour. From the nearness of the enemy’s works, running a sap is an extremely dangerous operation. When possible, therefore, it is carried on at night; in any case, the sappers are relieved at least every hour. When a sap is enlarged to the dimensions of a trench, it bears that name. When the fire of the enemy is slack, so that many gabions may be placed and filled at the same time, it is called a flying sap. If two parapets, one on each side of the trench, be formed, it is then called a double sap.