Sharps Rifle. One of the oldest of successful breech-loading rifles. The chamber of this piece is fixed, and the barrel closed by a vertical sliding breech-piece, which moves nearly at right angles to the axis of the piece. The fire-arm is loaded by depressing the lever, or trigger-guard, which withdraws the slide and opens the breech for the insertion of the cartridge. Originally a paper cartridge was used, the rear end of which was broken open by the breech-piece in closing; this was superseded by a linen cloth cylinder to contain the powder, one end of which overlaps and is gummed to the base of the bullet; the other is closed with a layer of thin bank-note paper. The flame of the percussion-cap penetrates through this paper and ignites the powder. The linen case is carried out with the bullet and drops to the ground a short distance in front of the piece. A metallic cartridge is now used.
Sharpsburg. See [Antietam Creek].
Sharpshooters. An old term applied in the army to riflemen.
Sharp-shooting. A shooting with great precision and effect.
Shawnees. A tribe of American Indians, which were first known on the banks of Fox River, Wisconsin, in 1648. They were a warlike tribe, and waged war with the Iroquois. The Shawnees eventually became a scattered race, and dispersed to several parts of the country; we find a part of them afterwards taking part with the French in their wars in America; joined in Pontiac’s conspiracy, but were subdued by Col. Boquet. They took a prominent part in the Western wars, especially against the expeditions of Harmer, Wayne, etc.; but made peace at Greenville in 1795. They afterwards effected an alliance with some tribes of Northwestern Indians, and under their celebrated leader Tecumseh gave battle to the whites under Gen. Harrison, at Tippecanoe, but were defeated. Tecumseh, with a band of Shawnees, proceeded to Canada at the outbreak of the war of 1812, and made an alliance with the English, who gave him a brigadier-general’s commission; he was killed while leading the right wing at the battle of the Thames in 1813. Since then the Shawnees have again reunited and are now upon reservations in Indian Territory, and numbered in 1870 about 800.
Sheaf. A bundle of arrows.
Sheathe. To put into a sheath, case, or scabbard; to inclose or cover with a sheath or case. To sheathe the sword, to put an end to war or enmity; to make peace.
Sheeting. The term sheeting is applied to the coarse hempen cloth used for making tarpaulins.
Sheffield. A large town of England in the West Riding of Yorkshire, at the confluence of the Sheaf and Don, 43 miles southwest from York. During the civil wars in the time of Charles I., the castle sustained a long siege for the king, but scarcely a vestige of it can now be discerned.
Shell. To throw shells or bombs upon; to bombard; as, to shell a town.