The Retiarius was dressed in a short coat, having a fuscina or trident in his left hand, and a net, from which he derives his name, in his right. With this he endeavored to entangle his adversary, that he might then with his trident easily dispatch him: on his head he wore only a hat tied under his chin with a broad riband.
RETIRADE, or Coupure, Fr. In fortification, a retrenchment, which is generally made with two faces, forming a rentrant angle, and is thrown up in the body of a work for the purpose of receiving troops, who may dispute the ground inch by inch. When the first means of resistance have been destroyed, others are substituted by cutting a ditch, and lining it with a parapet. The retirade sometimes consists of nothing more than rows of fascines filled with earth, stuffed gabions, barrels or sand bags, with or without a ditch, and either fenced with palisadoes, or left without them.
Whenever it becomes absolutely necessary to quit the head or side of a work, the whole of it must, on no account, be abandoned. On the contrary, whilst some determined troops keep the enemy in check, others must be actively employed in throwing up retirades, which may flank each other, and in cutting a ditch in front. It is particularly incumbent upon the engineer officer to assist in works of this sort, and every officer and soldier should zealously co-operate with him. A slight knowlege of field fortification will on these occasions give a decided advantage. The body of a retirade should be raised as high as possible, and several fougasses should be laid beneath it, for the purpose of blowing up the ground on which the enemy may have established himself.
Retirades as practised by the ancients: these were walls hastily run up behind breaches that were made by the battering rams. The able commentator upon Polybius observes, that in no instance, did the skill of the great men of antiquity appear in so conspicuous a light, as in the various chicanes to which they resorted for the preservation of a town. Their ingenuity and resolution increased in proportion as the danger approached. Instead of offering to capitulate as the moderns generally do, when a practicable breach has been opened by a besieging enemy, the ancients, in that emergency, collected all their vigor, had recourse to various stratagems, and waited behind the retirades or temporary retreats to give the enemy a warm and obstinate reception. Cæsar, in his Commentaries, has given a minute description of the manner in which these retirades were constructed; and we find them mentioned by Josephus, in his history of the war of the Jews against the Romans.
The intermediate periods, since the days of the Greeks and Romans, and before the modern era furnish various examples on this head. In 1219, Genghis Khan set all his battering rams to work, for the purpose of effecting a breach in the walls of Ottrar; but, to his great surprise, he no sooner entered the town, than he found a fresh line of entrenchments that had been thrown up in the very heart of the city. He saw every street cut asunder with temporary ditches, and every house presented fresh obstacles: so much so, that he experienced more difficulty in subduing the inhabitants after he had forced the walls, than had occurred in practising the breach.
When the emperor Charles V. laid siege to Metz in 1552, the duke de Guise, who was governor of the town, instantly adopted the necessary precautions to defend it to the last. He built a new wall behind the one against which the principal attack was directed; and when the breach was made, the besiegers found themselves obstinately opposed afresh, within a short space of the ground they had carried. In consequence of this unexpected check, the enemy’s troops grew disheartened; and their want of confidence soon convinced the emperor that the place could not be taken. The siege was unexpectedly raised, and the preservation of the town was entirely owing to the wise precautions that had been adopted by the duke de Guise.
In 1742, marshal Broglio, being closely besieged in the city of Prague, threw up retrenchments within the walls, and prepared to make a most vigorous resistance. An occasion, however presented itself, of which he took advantage, that rendered any further precautions useless. He made a vigorous sortie and forced the enemy to raise the siege.
RETIRED List, a list on the British marine establishment upon which superannuated officers are placed.
Officers who RETIRE in the East India company service. The India company have resolved, that an officer, (in his military capacity) after twenty years actual service in India, coming to Europe on leave, will be allowed to retire on the pay of his rank, provided he signifies his intention of so doing, within twenty months after his arrival. Officers on leave who are desirous of retiring, and who declare their intention to that effect, within twelve months from their arrival, will be permitted to retire on the pay of the rank they may be entitled to at that period. An officer having completed 22 years actual residence in India, will be allowed to retire on the full pay of his rank, directly on his leaving India.
RETOURS de la mine, Fr. returns of a mine. See [Gallery].