1861 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
249 
Fig. 19— A SCOUT. 
mental officers. They are also called Aides-de-Camp. 
When two or more Brigades are united, they form a 
Division, which is commanded by a Major General, 
assisted by his Aides-de-Camp. Additional compa¬ 
nies of cavalry and artillery are generally attached 
to a Division. The Major General is the highest of¬ 
ficer under the Commander in Chief. In this country 
the President is Commander in Chief of all the land 
and naval forces. One of the Major Generals is, un¬ 
der the President, the acting Commander in Chief 
of all the forces. General Winfield Scott now 
holds that position, and in consideration of his 
long, efficient services, Congress conferred upon 
him the honorary title of Lieutenant General. 
Miscellaneous War Terms Explained. 
Flank. —The right or left of a body of troops. 
Flankers are numbers of men stationed on the sides 
of an army or regiment, to guard against an attack. 
Wings. —The right and left portions of an army. 
Skirmishers are bodies of men sent out in advance 
to engage the attention of an enemy. Zouaves or 
other riflemen are usu¬ 
ally assigned for this 
duty. Scout. —A sol¬ 
dier sent out to gath¬ 
er information of the 
position of the enemy. 
A Spy usually goes in 
disguise, and if possible 
enters the opposite 
camp to learn about 
their strength, move 
ments, etc. Reconnois- 
ance. —The survey and 
examination of a portion Fig. 20. 
of country, witli a view to military operations. 
Pioneers. —Soldiers equipped with axes, saws, etc., 
for clearing the way before an army, and to entrench 
or build defences. Sappers and Miners. —Soldiers 
whose duty is to make ditches, and open subterra¬ 
nean passages for blowing up fortifications with 
gunpowder. Sentinel. — A soldier placed to watch 
for the safety of the camp, prevent all intrusion, 
and give notice of an approaching enemy. Picket. — 
Several soldiers placed together on guard at the out¬ 
posts or furthest lim¬ 
its of a camp. Vi- 
dette —Sentinels on 
horseback, stationed 
at the outposts. 
Challenge. —The call 
of a sentinel, “ Who 
goes there?” address¬ 
ed to a person ap¬ 
proaching. Counter¬ 
sign. —A secret word, 
by repeating which 
to the sentinel, a per- 
Fig. 21. son is permitted to 
pass the lines of an encampment. The countersign 
is changed daily. Patrol. — A small party under a 
non-commissioned officer, which goes through or 
around an encampment at night, to keep order. 
Ambuscade. — A body of troops in concealment for 
the purpose of surprising an approaching enemy. 
The hiding place is called an ambush. Masked Bat¬ 
tery. —One or more pieces of cannon hid or masked 
from observation by brush, trees, or other means. 
Bivouac. —To pass the night without shelter, except 
from trees, or temporary huts of branches, ete. 
Billeting. —The temporary occupation of the 
houses of a town by soldiers. Garrison. — A for¬ 
tified place in which troops are quartered; the 
name is also applied to the troops themselves. 
Furlough. —Leave of absence for a limited time. 
Parole. —The promise or word of honor, given by a 
prisoner to his captor. Mutiny. —Disobedient or 
refractory conduct among troops, with resistance 
to officers. Fnlist. —To enter the service of the 
army. Recruit. —A newly enlisted soldier. Amnes¬ 
ty. —Pardon and release from all offences connected 
with war. Armistice. —Temporary suspension of 
hostilities. Fortifications. —Works of various kinds, 
as embankments of masonry, earth, etc., for de¬ 
fence of troops. Fort. —Any military work designed 
to strengthen a point against every attack. Impor¬ 
tant and finished works of this kind are called For¬ 
tresses. Fort Monroe, at the mouth of the Chesa¬ 
peake Bay, is the only fort in this country so com¬ 
pletely fitted up with all kinds of defences as to be 
called a Fortress. Abatis , (pronounced Ab-bat-tee.)— 
Trees thrown down together with their branches 
outward, to obstruct a passage. Approaches.— The 
lines of entrenchment, ditches, etc., by which be¬ 
siegers protect themselves in approaching a forti¬ 
fied place. The principal trenches are called par¬ 
allels. Banquette. —A small bank of earth on which 
soldiers stand to fire over the top of the wall which 
shelters them when loading. Barbette Guns , are 
those which are fired from the top of the wall of a 
fortification ; they are partly protected in front, but 
not overhead like guns in the casemate. Barri¬ 
cade.—To obstruct a street or passage with any ma¬ 
terials at hand, as wagons, stones, rails, trees, etc. 
Bastion. —That portion of a fortification which is 
advanced beyond the general line of the work. The 
part of the wall between two bastions is called a 
curtain. The bastions are so arranged at the cor¬ 
ners or angles of forts, that grape shot, etc., can be 
fired from them along the outer face of the wall or 
curtains, and thus destroy an enemy attempting to 
scale (go over) the walls with ladders. The bastions 
are usually higher than the walls, so that they can 
not themselves be scaled. Battery. —Any number 
of cannon taken together, numbering from two up¬ 
ward to a dozen, twenty or more. This is also 
called a park of artillery. Caisson. —The ammu¬ 
nition carriage accompanying a field piece. Case¬ 
mates. —Bomb-proof chambers in fortifications 
from which heavy guns are fired through openings 
called embrasures. Arsenal. —A public storehouse 
for cannons, guns, and other implements of war. 
Barracks. —Buildings provided by the Government 
for lodging the troops. There are other matters 
pertaining to war, ships, etc., which we may explain 
at another time. 
An Eventful Period—Making History. 
This is indeed an important era. The American 
people are now making a history that will be read 
with interest, not only when the boys and girls of 
to-day shall have grown gray with age, but for cen¬ 
turies to come. None of the events recorded in 
the history of Greece and Rome, that are still read 
with so much interest, were of such world-wide im¬ 
portance, as what is now transpiring in this year of 
Grace 1861. Our young readers, and even grown 
people, who pore over the details of the War of the 
Revolution, and that of 1812, can hardly realize that 
a greater strife, and if possible a more important 
one, is now in progress in our very midst. The re¬ 
sult is to determine, for the benefit of the whole 
world, whether or not a free government like ours, 
is a strong one, capable of endurance, and adapted 
to the wants of the human family. This struggle, 
its causes, its details, its results, will be constantly 
written about, talked about, and referred to in the 
highest legislative councils of this and other coun¬ 
tries, longer than the youngest child that reads 
these pages will live. Let all the youth, then, read 
about and study the transpiring events of the day, 
and let them be discussed at the fire-side, at the 
table, and in the school room. 
How to Learn Geography. 
In these days of newspapers, when accounts are 
given of what is going on in every part of the world, 
and particularly when so much of interest is tran¬ 
spiring in our own land, it is very important to 
have a good idea of the situations of the countries 
and towns, otherwise there will be less interest in 
what is read. The best way to acquire this know¬ 
ledge is to always have a map at hand when read¬ 
ing an account in which places are mentioned, and 
to look out each one as soon as you come to it in 
reading. In this way, you will become more interest¬ 
ed in the subject, and the geographical knowledge 
thus obtained, will be better remembered than by 
merely learning lessons from a work on geography 
in which little interest is felt. 
Ibcam to Punctuate. 
We receive hundreds of letters from our young 
friends of the Agriculturist family every year, each 
one of which is as pleasant as a flower fresh from 
the garden: they are fragrant with good wishes, 
and sometimes wit sparkles in them like dew drops 
on a rose. Usually the writing is plain if not al¬ 
ways handsome, and the spelling good. But few 
have been taught to put the commas, semi-colons, 
periods, etc., in their right places. “ Oh, I thought 
that was the printer’s business,” says some one. 
That’s a mistake. The printer’s rule is “ Follow 
the copy, even if it flies out of the window that 
is, make the types say just what the writing says. 
The Editor reads what is to be printed, and corrects 
mistakes in spelling and punctuation, and a funny 
job of it he has sometimes. He has it to do, not 
because it is his business, but because other people 
neglect their business. Don’t imagine we’re scold¬ 
ing any body—not at all—we are only correcting a 
mistaken notion about punctuation; and we write 
thus, not for our own sake, but for yours. 
You write many letters, etc., which are not in¬ 
tended for printing. Whose work is it to punctu¬ 
ate these ? The points are necessary to show what 
is meant. The Editor is often puzzled to make out 
the sense of a letter, merely because a comma is 
omitted or misplaced. Take this sentence, for in¬ 
stance : “ He wore a cap on his feet, gaiter boots 
on his hands, kid gloves astride his nose, curious 
spectacles !” Curious spectacles indeed! But place 
commas after cap, boots, and gloves, and then all 
comes right. We often receive letters on business 
and other matters, which it is impossible to under¬ 
stand, simply for the want of a comma, or two. 
Perhaps your teachers have never instructed you 
in the art of punctuation. Ask them to please 
teach you how to use points properly, or if this can 
not be done, get some book which gives directions, 
and make it a rule never to write any thing, not 
even your name, without punctuating. Most per¬ 
sons, we believe, can punctuate so as to make the 
sense clear, without the aid of books or rules. 
New Problems. 
No. 18.— Illustrated Rebus, suited to the times. 
No. 19.— Military Letter in Cypher. —This is more 
difficult than the one given in July. 
bk jdukhz yu tihaue wohnrusj nt ttj bkjq fz 
kawzmkxz. 
No. 20.— Scriptural Enigma, communicated to the 
American Agriculturist by an anonymous correspon¬ 
dent. It was written in good rhyme, but being 
difficult to translate into German, we have reduced 
it to prose, when it reads as follows : 
A king who fell through a lattice; the prophet 
who anointed Saul; a leader who delivered the 
Jews from a Mesopotamian king; a Roman Gover¬ 
nor to whom the Jews brought a prisoner; a City 
where an Apostle left his cloak; a man who spoke 
before a king the words told him by his brother; 
one who was burned while offering strange fire; a 
city destroyed by fire ; what an Egyptian ruler sent 
to his father ; a King of Moab who was murdered; 
a comely maiden who gleaned in the field; the num* 
