ORANGE. A term applied to those persons who adhered to the Stadtholder. Hence, orange party. The troops of the prince of orange were taken into British pay in Sept. 1799.
ORANGE MEN. A title assumed by the members of certain clubs instituted by the British government in Ireland; when the Irish or united Irishmen meditated to rescue their country, in 1796, from British dominion, the orange men were sworn to extirpate the catholics wherever found; and their atrocities surpassed the cruelties of the British in India, and the Spanish in South America.
ORB, in tactics, is the disposing of a number of soldiers in circular form of defence. The orb has been thought of consequence enough to employ the attention of the famous marshal de Puysegur, in his Art of war, who prefers this position, to throw a body of infantry in an open country, to resist cavalry, or even a superior force of infantry; because it is regular, and equally strong, and gives an enemy no reason to expect better success by attacking one place than another. Cæsar drew up his whole army in this form when he fought against Labienus. The whole army of the Gauls were formed into an orb, under the command of Sabinus and Cotta, when fighting against the Romans. The orb was generally formed six deep.
ORDER. The arrangement or disposition of things in their proper place; custom or manner, rule or discipline, as order of march, &c.
Order of battle. The arrangement or disposition of the different component parts of an army in one or more lines, according to the nature of the ground, for the purpose of engaging an enemy, by giving or receiving an attack, or in order to be reviewed, &c.
Parade Order. When a regiment of horse or foot, a troop, or company is drawn up with the ranks open and the officers in front, it is said to be in parade order.
Close Order. When a battalion or company is commanded to take close order, at the word march, the ranks (supposing the men to stand three deep) close within one pace, marching one and two paces and then haulting. So that close order in ranks comprehends an interval of one pace between each.
Open Order. When a battalion or company is commanded to take open order, on the word march, the dressers front, and the centre and rear ranks fall back one and two paces, each dressing by the right the instant it arrives on the ground. So that open order comprehends an interval of two paces between each rank.
Extended Order, is preparatory to rank entire, and is frequently practised in light infantry manœuvres. In order to execute this movement the files of a battalion or company, standing two deep, open from the given point, leaving just space enough for one man. Sometimes, and indeed almost always, when the ground will permit, extended order is taken by facing the battalion or company to the right or left, and by marching to either flank until the whole has gradually doubled its original front. This mode is extremely simple, and consists in nothing more than open order of files from the right or left. The battalion or company after it has obtained all its relative distances, and been halted, is fronted, and each rear rank man springs into the vacancy on the word of command—Form rank entire.
Entire, when applied to rank, means a straight line composed of half files. See [Rank entire].