R I V

R I V

courage, de celeriU , Fr. To vie in cou-rage, in swiftness.

RIVALITE, Fr. See Emulation.RIVER , ( Riviere , Fr.) A land cur-rent of water bigger than a brook.—Vessels used upon navigable rivers may-be impressed in cases of emergency bya warrant from any justice of the peace.

See Mutiny Act , Sect. 46.

Fordable RIVER . A river whichmay be passed without the assistance ofany floating machines. In order tosound the ford, and to ascertain thestate of it, men on horseback are firstordered to cross. By that means youwill be aide to know, whether any ob-stacles have been thrown in the way bythe enemy; for nothing is more easilyeffected. The passage of a ford maybe rendered impracticable by throwingwhole trees in, by tables or platformscovered with nails, and by stakes. Thetwo latter impediments are the mostdangerous.—But stakes arc not easilyfired, and arc consequently seldom used.When lords are embarrassed by them,it requires some time and trouble toclear the river; and it is equally diffi-cult to get rid of the inconveniencethat arises when wells have been sunk.Whenever there is reason to apprehendsuch obstacles, it is always best to reachthe ford at dusk. * ,

When the prince of Oonde in 1567,resolved to cross the river Seine, theroyalists,who were on the opposite side,endeavoured to prevent his passage bythrowing quantities of madriers or thickplanks that were nailed together, ironhoops and water-cats into the ford. Thehuguenots or protestants, however,* ere not diverted from their purpose.Aubign£, a French writer, says, thaton that occasion they placed 400 Arque-busiers upon the hank to protect themen that raked the ford.

This was certainly a singular* methodi \ was used to clear a ford, norcould it be dune without much difficulty,JJla consitle^idg degree of danger.e chevalier Fulurd has. proposed auch sater, and a much easier way, bycans of grappling hooks, tied to long.P* ”j l ich might be thrown into theru * xet even in this case, observesnl^r^L r, i ?l ie °kj ect could not be ac-1 Pushed if the river were broad, un-taL-i. e ,P ersons employed in the uuder-*8 wider the cover of so heavy

a discharge of ordnance and m usque try,

that the enemy would not be able to in-terrupt them, even from an intrenchedposition on the opposite bank. ,

With respect to caltrops, the removalof them, when properly distributed attlie bottom of a ford, must be attendedwith great difficulty; for they must ren-der tlie passage absolutely impracticable,unless they were to sink very deep intotlie mud and sand, and thus becomeuseless. The men 'that first enter are intiiis case the only persons incommoded,but tlie rest may follow -t>ithout muchhazard.

It sometimes happens, that the bot-tom of a stream or rivulet is firm andgravelly; when this occurs, the greatestprecautions must be taken to escaf® theeffects of caltrops, which would be ex-tremely hurtful to any persons thatmight attempt to cross. In m-der to ob-viate their mischie’—i. consequences,and to render tuein ill a manner useless,a good stock of hurdles must be pro-vided. The soldiers will band these toone another, force them into the water,and then cover them with stones.

When one or two fords in a river areso situated, that several battalions can-not cross them upon one front, it isthen liiahly prudent to throw a bridgeover, either above or below the ford;for a swell may intervene and render itotherwise impassable; add to which,you have the advantage of getting agreater number of troops over at once.

In order to effect a passage for hisarmy over the river Segre, Caisar gavedirections that ditches, thirty feet broad,should be dug in such parts of the banksas might with ease receive the water outof the stream, arid render it fordable.Having accomplished this object, hefound no difficulty in reaching Petreius,who, being in the daily fear of wantingprovisions and forage for his men, wason the eve of quilting his position andmarching forwards.

The passage of the Granicus by Alex­ ander the Great , is likewise mentionedin historv, as an instance of bold enter-prize. But however celebrated that actmav be in ancient records, we shall notbe thought partial to the moderns whenwe state, that the passage of the riverllolowitz by Charles XII. of Swedenwas equally bold and well managed.

The passage of the Teglimenti byBonaparte,