confiders the zeal and affection expreffed for his perfon and gavernment, in your grace's offer to raise this regiment in the late important time of national danger, and the chearfulness and alacrity with which it was raised, he cannot part with it without expreffing his particular fatisfaction therein; I am therefore, by his majefty's command, and in his name, to thank your grace, and your officers, for the feasonable and diftinguishing marks you have given of your fidelity and attachment to his majesty on this occafion. "I am likewife commanded by his majefty to defire your grace, and the rest of your officers, to thank the private men, in his name, for their fervices, before they are difmiffed, in order that there may be no one perfon in your regiment unacquainted with the fenfe his majefty has of their loyalty, activity, and gallant behaviour in his fervice: qualities which have been fo confpicuous in your grace's regiment, that his majesty, willing to retain as many as poffible of fuch foldiers in his fervice, has been pleafed to order a regiment of dragoons to be raifed at the fame time and place, when and where your grace's regiment fhall be disbanded, and to direct that as many of the officers and private men belonging to your grace's regiment, as fhall be willing, may ferve in the said regiment of dragoons, of which, as a fignal mark of honour and diftinction, his royal highness the duke of Cumberland will himself be colonel. As this is a great and moft honourable proof of his majesty's royal approbation of your paft fervices, fo I doubt not but that your grace, and the other officers of your regiment, will engage as many as may be of your men to enlift themfelves, and thereby fhew, that the fame zeal continues for their king and country, which they have already fo meritoriously exerted in defence of both. "War-Office, Sept. 1746. "I am, with the greatest respect, "My lord, your grace's Moft obedient, Moft humble fervant, "H. FOX." It is very remarkable, that all the men, excepting eight, entered immediately into the duke of Cumberland's new regiment; and thofe gentlemen who did not enter, gave reafons very fatisfactory and honourable*. It is further to be mentioned, that there were three butchers of Nottingham that had entered into the duke of Kingston's regiment, who killed fourteen rebels each at the late battle of Culloden. • The regiment was now raised again from horfe to be light dragoons, but mounted upon the fame fort of light nag-tailed Some useful hints may be taken from this method of raifing a regiment of light dragoons; for a fimilar conduct at the discharge of the militia regiments, after their time of fervice expires, to reruit the regulars with men fit for immediate fervice. horfes, horfes, from fourteen and a half to fifteen hands high, their arms and accoutrements, furniture, faddles, bridles, and all their appointments entirely on a heretofore new and light plan, the fize of the men from five feet eight to five feet nine inches, but wore hats as the heavy dragoons, and not helmets. The regiment went over to Flanders under his royal highnefs the duke of Cumberland's command, and were prefent at the battle of Val, or Kiftelt, July 2, 1747, where they behaved bravely, and had feveral of their officers and men taken prifoners; but on the peace in 1748 they were entirely difbanded, and no light horse were retained in his majefty's fervice till juft before the enfuing war in 1756, from the gallant behaviour of Kingston's light horfe during the rebellion in 1745, and his royal highness the duke of Cumberland's light dragoons in Flanders, it was thought neceffary to have a body of light cavalry in our service, as well as the foreign ftates: therefore, at the latter end of the year 1755, eleven troops of light dragoons, confifting of 65 men per troop, befides three officers, were added to the eleven regiments of dragoons on the British establishment, who were disciplined in a different manner from the heavy regiments. Till this time the horse, or troopers, were called light horfe, to diflinguish them from the heavy dragoons, which on raifing this new corps entirely ceafed; the arms of thefe light troops were a fort of carbine, with the bar and sliding ring, with a bayonet, but no fling; the carbine carried in a bucket, as the heavy horfe; the belts tanned leather, the bridles and bitts fmall and light, as were the faddles, though made like the heavy with burs and a cantle; they carried no fide pouches, like the dragoons, but in lieu of it a fwivel, which played up and down their fhoulder belt, to which the carbine was fprung or faftened, and hung with the muzzle downwards during exercise, as they fired on horfeback as well as on foot, contrary to the horfe in general, except the huffars in foreign fervice. They also used their piftols, but at firft they had only one each man, as they carried in their right holfter either an ax, hedging bill, or fpade; inftead of hats they wore a cap, or helmet, made of ftrong black jackt leather, with bars down the fides, and a brafs bar at top; the front red, ornamented with brass work, with the cypher and crown, and number of the regiment to which they belonged, with a tuft of horse hair on the back of their front, half red, and the other half the colour of the facing of the regiment; juft before they were dif banded, they had a new fort of helmet, with a turban behind rowled round the whole, with two toffels at the back, tied in a knot to fall down over their neck in bad weather, as the former cap had a rowled-up leather flap round it for the fame purpose.' A Military Dictionary, explaining and defcribing the Technical Termis, Phrafes, Works, and Machines, ufed in the Science of War. Izmo. 2s. 6d. ferved. Robinson. THE prefent hoftile appearance in many parts of the kingdom, and the impending war between Great Britain and France, feem to have given rife to this publication; and as our newspapers are daily entertaining their readers with reviews, rencounters, manœuvres, battles, fieges, &c. &c. at the feveral encampments, this performance appears to be intended as a vade-mecum for the military quidnuncs, to whom an explanation of terms and phrafes peculiar to the art of war, will be an useful and acceptable prefent.-We are the rather inclined to confider the publication in this light, as we meet with little more than definitions or defcriptions of the technical terms, machines, and works, frequently made ufe of. These are in general tolerably exact, and not ill drawn up, though fometimes they have much the appearance of tranflations from fome French work; which nevertheless may be owing to the frequent defcriptions taken from the numerous French writings on this fubject, where only fuch accounts are to be met with. The compiler of this Dictionary, however, does not seem to be fufficiently acquainted with the fubject, or at least not to have confulted the alterations and improvements in the military art, of modern times. This appears from his frequent ufe of obfolete terms, and fometimes giving accounts of things as laid down by old writers rather than from modern and improved relations. Thus under the term Bullet, he says, According to Marfenne, a bullet fhot out of a great gun,' flies ninety-two fathoms in a fecond of time, being equal to five hundred and eighty-nine English feet and a half; but according to fome very accurate experiments of Mr. Derham, it only flies at its first discharge five hundred and ten yards in five half feconds." That is, about 500 or 600 feet in a fecond of time; whereas it is now well known that fuch balls are ufually projected with a velocity from 1000 to 1500, or even zooo feet per fecond. Again, under the word Cannon, he remarks, • The metal of which cannons are compofed, is either iron, or, which is more common, a mixture of copper, tin and brafs; the tin being added to the copper to make the metal more dense and compact; fo that the better and heavier the copper is, the lefs tin is required. Some to an hundred pounds of copper add ten of tin, five of brafs, and ten of lead. VOL. XLVI. Sept. 1778, Brau Braudius defcribes a method of making cannon of leather, and it is certain the Swedes made ufe of fuch in the long war in the last century; but they were too apt to burst to be of much fervice. Iron cannon are not capable of fo much refiftance as those of brass, but as they are lefs expenfive they are often used aboard fhips, and in feveral fortified places. The parts and proportions of cannon about eleven feet long are, the barrel or cavity nine feet; its fulcrum or fupport fourteen; and its axis seven; the diameter of the bore at the mouth fix inches two lines; the plug of the ball two lines; the diameter of the ball therefore fix inches, and its weight thirty-three pounds and one-third; the thickness of the metal about the mouth two inches, and at the breech fix; the charge of powder from eighteen to twenty pounds. It will carry a point black fix hundred paces, and may be loaded ten times in an hour, and often more. Cannon often fired must be carefully cooled, or elfe they will burst. • Cannons are diftinguished by the diameters of the balls they carry. The rule for their length, &c. is that it be fuch that the whole charge of powder be on fire before the ball quit the piece. If it be made too long, the quantity of air to be driven out before the ball, will give too much refiftance to the impulse; and that impulfe ceafing, the friction of the ball against the furface of the piece will leffen its velocity. Formerly cannon were made much longer than they are at prefent; but fome being by chance made two feet and a half fhorter than ordinary, it was found that they threw a ball with greater force through a lefs fpace than the larger. This was confirmed by experience in 1624, by Guftavus Adolphus of Sweden; an iron ball of forty-eight pounds weight being found to go further from a fhort cannon, than another ball of ninetyfix pounds out of a longer piece; whereas in other refpects it is certain the larger the bore and ball the greater the range. The greatest range of a cannon is ordinarily fixed at fortyfive degrees, but Dr. Halley fhews it to be at forty-four and a half. M. S. Julien adjufts the ranges of the feveral pieces of cannon, from the weight of the ball they bear, the charge of powder being always fuppofed to be in a fubduplicate ratio to the weight of the ball'." In this article are many mistakes; for guns are now ufu. ally made of iron, because found to be much stronger and more durable, as well as cheaper than the compofition with brafs; for guns of this latter metal foon become unferviceable by running and melting into a large hole at the vent; by being foon spoiled in the chase by the friction of the balls; and becoming bent, with hot fervice, like a ftick of fealing-wax when warm; fo that now only one fhip in the navy has brafs guns. Neither is the greatest range at an elevation of 45 degrees, nor even near it, unless the initial velocity be very small; every differ different velocity and ball requiring a different elevation to produce the greatest range; from 45 degrees downwards gradually to 30, or even less in very great velocities. Under the fame article of Cannon, he obferves, the new cannon, that are made after the Spanish manner, have a cavity or chamber at the bottom of the barrel, which helps their effect.' But this is not the cafe at prefent, the cannon being now made with a plain cylindrical bore, without any chamber at the top. The article Gunpowder is well drawn up, and is as follows: Gunpowder, a compofition made of faltpetre, fulphur, and charcoal, incorporated and granulated, which readily takes fire and expands with incredible force. ⚫ Bartholdus Schwartz, or the Black, was the firft who taught the ufe of gunpowder to the Venetians in 1380; but what fhews gunpowder to be of an older æra is, that the Moors, being befieged in 1343, by Alphonfus, difcharged a fort of iron mortars that made a noife like thunder. There is mention made of gunpowder in the registers of the chambers of accounts in France, as early as 1338. In fhort, our countrymen Roger Bacon knew of gunpowder one hundred and fifty years before Schwartz was born: for that friar exprefly mentions the compofition in his treatife De Nullitate Magia. • In order to reduce the nitre to powder, they diffolve a large quantity of it in as fmall a proportion of water as poffible; the keeping it continually ftirring over the fire, till the water exhales, a white dry powder is left behind. In order to purify the brimstone employed, they diffolve it with a very gentle heat; then fcum and pass it through a double ftrainer. If the brimftone fhould happen to take fire in the melting, they have an iron cover that fits on close to the melting veffel, and damps the flame. The brimftone is judged to be fufficiently refined if it melts without yielding any fœtid odour, between two hot iron plates, into a kind of red subftance. • The coal for making of gunpowder is either of the willow or hazel, well charred in the ufual manner, and reduced to powder and thus the ingredients are prepared for making this commodity; but as thefe ingredients require to be intimately mixed; and as there would be danger of their firing, if beat in a dry form, the method is to keep them continually moist either with water, urine, or a folution of fal ammoniac; and to continue thus ftamping them together for twenty-four hours; after which the mafs is fit for coining, and drying in the fun, or otherwife, fo as fedulously to prevent its firing. The explosive force of gunpowder is now a thing commonly known; but the phyfical reafon thereof may not, perhaps, be hitherto fufficiently understood. In order to explain it, let us |