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Tny of between eighteen and twentythousand men, under the command ofPrince Lobkowitz , to fight with. Forthe particulars of this famous retreat,an which was evinced so much militaryskill, and which, in Count Turpin’swords, deserves to be written by Xe­ nophon himself, see page 2, Vol. J.of his Art of War.

SKINS. Sheep-skins are made useof to cover the mortars or howitzers be-tween firing, to prevent any wet ordampness getting into them.

SKIRMISH, in war, a loose desul-tory kind ot combat, or encounter, inpresence of two armies, between smallparties who advance from the main bodyfor that purpose, and invite to a generalfight.

SKIRMISHERS, detached parties oflight horse sent out in front of a batta-lion, &c.

SKIRT , in a general acceptation,edge, border, extreme part . As theskirt of a country, the skirts of a wood.It also signifies the loose or hanging partof a coat or garment. The whole of theBritish army formerly wore skirts totheir coats. .The non-commissioned of-ficers and soldiers now generally wearjackets.

SKlTALE, Fr. according to the Nou-veau Dictionnuire Militaire, a staff, orstick of distinction, which was used bythe Lacedemonian generals.

SKY-ROCKET. Sec Rocket.

SLASH, a cut; a wound ; also a cutin cloth. It is used to express thepieces of tape or worsted lace which areupon the arms of non-commissioned of-ficers and corporals, to distinguish themfrom the privates.

SLASHED, cut in stripes or lines.Hence slashed sleeves and pockets, whichare peculiar to the British cavalry, whenthe officers or men wear long coats.

SLASHERS, a nickname which wasgiven, during the American war, to the28th regiment of foot, and which tookits origin from the following circum-stance :—One Walker, a magistrate, inCanada , having, during a severe winter,with great inhumanity refused to givecomfortable biiiets to the women be-longing to the 28th, and some of themhaving perished in consequence of theinclemency of the season, so great wasthe resentment of the corps, that some

officers dressed themselves like savaves,entered his house whilst he was sittingwith his family, danced round the table,and suddenly pulling him back uponhis chair, cut oft' both his ears. Theyinstantly disappeared; nor was thedeed discovered until after their depar-ture. From this circumstance, and inconsequence of various intrepid actionswhich the 38th performed during thecourse of the war, the men obtained thename of Slashers.

SLATE, in military architecture, akind of biuish fossile stone, very softwhen dug out of the quarry, and there-fore easily slit, or sawed into thin longsquares, to serve instead of tiles for thecovering of all kinds of military build-ings, &c.

SLAUGHTER, destruction by thesword, bayonet, and fire-arms.

SLEDGE, or Sledge Hummer, (gmmarteau, Fr.) a smith’s large iron-head-ed hammer, to be used with both handsin beating out iron upon the anvil.

Sledge , (traineau, Fr.) a sort of car-riage without wheels, upon which aplough, or other weighty things, may helipid. It also signifies a machine, onwhich traitors are usually drawn to theplace of execution. It means likewise agenteel carriage without wheels, whichis used by the nobility and gentry incold climates, to divert themselves inwinter upon the snow. Likewise amachine which is hired by travellers inthe North of Europe .

SLEEPERS, the undermost timbersof a gun or mortar-battery. Smalljoists or beams of w ood, which are «** 1over a foundation, for boards, &c. to beplaced upon them. See Platform.

SLEETS, are the parts of a mortargoing from the chamber to the trun-nions, to strengthen that part.

SLIDING, (coulant, Fr.) passingwithout difficulty or obstruction, easijfremoved. .

Sliding of Courage , an obsoleteterm , signifying easily daunted.

Sliding Knot, (nrend cedant, ft.)a running knot which is made in a ™P ’for the purpose of being stopped wMRrequired. . ,

Sj.intNO Rule, ? Mathematics

Sliding Scale, S struments to e uwithout compasses in gauging-