CENTURY, in a military sense, means a hundred soldiers, who were employed in working the battering-ram.
CERCLE, Grand-cercle, Fr. a form observed under the old government of France, by which it was directed, that every evening at a specific hour the serjeants and corporals of a brigade should assemble to receive orders; the former standing in front of the latter. Subsequent to the grand cercle, a smaller one was made in each regiment, when general, or regimental orders were again repeated to the serjeants of each regiment, and from them communicated to the officers of the several companies.
CERTIFICATES, are of various kinds, as applied to officers generally, or to commissaries, commanding officers, or staff. They are a testimonial bearing witness to the existence of some requisite qualifications, or to the performance of some act required by the regulations of the army, and for which the officer who signs is responsible, whether he certifies for himself, or for any other officer.
Military Certificates are of various denominations, and consist chiefly of the following kinds, viz.
Certificate from a field officer to the commander in chief, affirming the eligibility of a young man to hold a commission.
Certificate of an officer in the English army upon honor, that he does not exceed the regulation in the purchase of his commission.
Certificate from a general officer to affirm and prove the losses which officers may sustain in the field
Certificate from colonels of regiments to the board for admission of proper objects to the hospital.
Certificate from a magistrate to identify the person of a recruit, and to affirm, that he has enlisted himself voluntarily into the service; likewise, that the articles of war have been read to him.
Certificate from regimental surgeons, whether men when they join are proper and fit objects to be enlisted; this is required in the United States army, to be on the back of every paper of enlistment.