BOUCHES à feu, Fr. is generally used to signify pieces of ordnance.
BOULER la Matiere, Fr. to stir up the different metals which are used in casting cannon.
BOULETS à deux têtes, chain-shot.
BOULEVART, Fr. formerly meant a bastion. It is no longer used as a military phrase, although it sometimes occurs in the description of works or lines which cover a whole country, and protect it from the incursions of an enemy. Thus Strasburgh and Landau may be called two principal boulevarts or bulwarks, by which France is protected on this side of the Rhine.
The elevated line or rampart which reaches from the Champs Elysées in Paris beyond the spot where the bastille was destroyed in 1789, is stiled the Boulevart.
In ancient times, when the Romans attacked any place, they raised boulevarts near the circumference of the walls. These boulevarts were 80 feet high, 300 feet broad, upon which wooden towers commanding the ramparts were erected covered on all sides with iron-work, and from which the besiegers threw upon the besieged stones, darts, fire-works, &c. to facilitate the approaches of the archers and battering rams.
BOULINER, Fr. a French military phrase. Bouliner dans un camp, means to steal or pilfer in a camp. Un soldat boulineur, signifies a thief.
BOURGUIGNOTE, Fr. Is a helmet or morion which is usually worn with a breast-plate. It is proof against pikes and swords.
BOURRELET, Fr. the extremity of a piece of ordnance towards its mouth. It is usually cast in the shape of a tulip on account of its aptitude to fit the construction of embrasures. Bourrelet means likewise a pad or collar.
BOURRER, Fr. to ram the wad or any other materials into the barrel of a fire-arm.