A Military Dictionary and Gazetteer / Comprising ancient and modern military technical terms, historical accounts of all North American Indians, as well as ancient warlike tribes; also notices of battles from the earliest period to the present time, with a concise explanation of terms used in heraldry and the offices thereof. The work also gives valuable geographical information. Compiled from the best authorities of all nations. With an appendix containing the Articles of war, etc.

by Thomas Wilhelm

Tonnelon (Fr.). An ancient drawbridge, used nearly in the same manner and for similar purposes as the [harpe] and [exostre].

Tonquin, or Tonkin. The northernmost province of Anam, Southeast Asia. Tonquin was conquered by the Chinese in 1406, and by the Anamese in 1790.

Tooksowars (Ind.). The vizier’s body of cavalry.

Topekhana (Ind.). The place where guns are kept; the arsenal.

Topeys, or Topgis. Turkish artillerymen or gunners.

Topgi-Bachi. Master-general of the Turkish artillery.

Topikhannah (Ind.). A house for keeping guns; an arsenal; an armory.

Töplitz. A town of Bohemia. Here were signed, in 1813, two treaties,—one between Austria, Russia, and Prussia, September 9; and one between Great Britain and Austria, October 3.

Topographical Engineers. The duties of this corps consist in surveys for the defense of the frontiers and of positions for fortifications; in reconnoissances of the country through which an army has to pass, or in which it has to operate; in the examination of all routes of communication by land or by water, both for supplies and military movements; in the construction of military roads and permanent bridges connected with them; and the charge of the construction of all civil works authorized by acts of Congress, not specially assigned by law to some other branch of the service. The U. S. Corps of Topographical Engineers was merged into the Corps of Engineers in 1863.

Topography. Is the art of representing and describing in all its details the physical constitution, natural or artificial, of any determined portion of a country; in making maps and giving a descriptive memoir. Military topography differs from geography in seeking to imitate sinuosities of ground: it represents graphically and describes technically commanding heights, water-courses, preferable sites for camps, different kinds of roads, the position of fords, and extent of woods. It enumerates the resources that a country offers to troops and the difficulties which are interposed. By means of colored maps and other conventional signs, military topography presents before the eyes of a general much that is necessary to guide his operations.