Spontoon
A spontoon, sometimes known by the variant spelling espontoon or as a half-pike, is a type of European polearm that came into being alongside the pike. The spontoon was in common use from the mid-17th century to the early 19th century, but it was used to a much lesser extent as a military weapon and ceremonial implement until the late 19th century. Description Unlike the pike, which was a very long weapon that was typically long, the spontoon on the other hand was much shorter and only measured around in overall length. Generally, this weapon featured a more elaborate head than the typical pike. The head of a spontoon often had a pair of blades or lugs on each side, giving the weapon the look of a military fork or a trident. There were also spontoon-style axes which used the same shaped blades mounted on the side of the weapon with a shorter haft. Italians might have been the first to use the spontoon, and, in its early days, the weapon was used for combat, before it became mo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sergeant
Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage from the British light infantry. The word "sergeant" derives from the Latin , 'one who serves', through the Old French term . In modern hierarchies the term ''sergeant'' refers to a non-commissioned officer positioned above the rank of a corporal, and to a police officer immediately below a lieutenant in the US, and below an inspector in the UK. In most armies, the rank of sergeant corresponds to command of a team/section (military unit), section, or squad. In Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth armies, it is a more senior rank, corresponding roughly to a platoon second-in-command. In the United States Army, sergeant is a more junior rank corresponding to a fireteam leader or assistant squad-leader; while in the United States Marine Corps ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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3rd US Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard)
The 3rd Infantry Regiment is an infantry regiment of the United States Army. It currently has three active battalions, and is readily identified by its nickname, The Old Guard, as well as Escort to the President of the United States, President. The regimental motto is (from Latin: "Touch Me Not"). The regiment is a major unit of the Military District of Washington (MDW). The 3rd Infantry Regiment is the oldest regiment still active in the Regular Army (United States), Regular Army, having been first organized as the First American Regiment in 1784. It has been the official ceremonial unit of the U.S. Army since 1948. Mission The regiment's mission is to conduct memorial affairs to honor fallen comrades and ceremonies and special events to represent the U.S. Army, communicating its story to United States citizens and the world. Although The Old Guard primarily functions in a ceremonial role, it is an infantry unit and thus required to meet standards for certification in its com ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Old Guard Fife And Drum Corps
The United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps is one of four premier musical organizations of the United States Army. Members perform using musical instruments and wearing uniforms similar to those used by military musicians of the Continental Army during the American Revolution. It is the only unit of its kind in the United States' armed forces, and is part of the 3rd U.S. Infantry ("The Old Guard"). The Fife and Drum Corps has been stationed at Fort Myer, Virginia, since its founding on February 23, 1960. In 2022, February 18 was named “The United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps Day” in Spanish Fort, Alabama. Musicians The musicians of this unit recall the fifes and drums from the days of the American Revolution as they perform in uniforms patterned after those worn by the musicians of Gen. George Washington's Continental Army. Military musicians of the period wore the reverse colors of the regiments to which they were assigned. The uniforms worn ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pike (weapon)
A pike is a long thrusting spear formerly used in European warfare from the Late Middle Ages and most of the early modern warfare, early modern period, and wielded by infantry, foot soldiers deployed in pike square formation, until it was largely replaced by bayonet-equipped muskets. The pike was particularly well known as the primary weapon of Spanish tercios, Swiss mercenary, German Landsknecht units and French sans-culottes. A similar weapon, the sarissa, had been used in classical antiquity, antiquity by Alexander the Great's Ancient Macedonians, Macedonian phalanx infantry. Design The pike was a long weapon, varying considerably in size, from long. Generally, a spear becomes a pike when it is too long to be wielded with one hand in combat. It was approximately in weight, with the 16th-century military writer John Smith (High Sheriff of Kent), Sir John Smythe recommending lighter rather than heavier pikes. It had a wooden shaft with an iron or steel spearhead affixed. Th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Partisan (weapon)
A partisan (also known as a partizan), a type of polearm, was used in Europe during the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. It consisted of a spearhead mounted on a long wooden shaft, with protrusions on the sides which aided in parrying sword thrusts. - "A type of spear used in the 16th and 17th centuries, with a long, triangular, double-edged blade, with two (more rarely one) upturned flukes at its base." The partisan was often used by infantry soldiers, who would deploy the weapon to fend off cavalry charges. The protrusions on the sides of the spearhead were useful for catching and trapping an opponent's sword, allowing the user to disarm the opposition. In profile, the head of a partisan may look similar to other types of polearm, such as the halberd, pike, ranseur, spontoon, ox tongue, or spetum. The arrival of practical firearms and bayonet led to the obsolescence of the partisan and of other polearms. Despite this, partisans continued in use for many years as a cerem ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Halberd
A halberd (also called halbard, halbert or Swiss voulge), is a two-handed polearm that was in prominent use from the 13th to 16th centuries. The halberd consists of an axe blade topped with a spike mounted on a long shaft. It may have a hook or thorn on the back of the axe blade for grappling mounted combatants and protecting allied soldiers, typically musketeers. The halberd was usually long. The word ''halberd'' is cognate with the German word ''Hellebarde'', deriving from Middle High German ''halm'' (handle) and ''barte'' (battleaxe) joined to form ''helmbarte''. Troops that used the weapon were called halberdiers or halbardiers. The word has also been used to describe a weapon of the early Bronze Age in Western Europe. This consisted of a blade mounted on a pole at a right angle. History The halberd is first mentioned (as ) in a work by 13th-century German poet Konrad von Würzburg. John of Winterthur described it as a new weapon used by the Swiss at the Battle of M ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Espantoon
The espantoon ( ) is an ornate straight wooden baton, equipped with a long swiveled leather strap for twirling. It originated in, and is still strongly associated with, the Baltimore Police Department, the police department of the city of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The term is considered distinctly Baltimorean. The word itself derives from that of the '' spontoon'', a polearm carried by British Army infantry officers during the Revolutionary period. The espantoon has been considered a symbol of the "policeman's office and dignity".Federal Writers' ProjectMaryland:A Guide to the Old Line State p. 204, US History Publishers, . Before the advent of police radio, the espantoon was reportedly used by Baltimore policemen to call for assistance, where its user would bang it on the curb or a drainpipe. [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Polearm
A polearm or pole weapon is a close combat weapon in which the main fighting part of the weapon is fitted to the end of a long shaft, typically of wood, extending the user's effective range and striking power. Polearms are predominantly melee weapons, with a subclass of spear-like designs fit for thrusting and/or throwing. Because many polearms were adapted from Garden tool, agricultural implements or other fairly abundant tools, and contained relatively little metal, they were cheap to make and readily available. When belligerents in warfare had a poorer class who could not pay for dedicated military weapons, they would often appropriate tools as cheap weapons. The cost of training was comparatively low, since these conscripted farmers had spent most of their lives using these "weapons" in the fields. This made polearms the favoured weapon of peasant levies and peasant rebellions the world over. Polearms can be divided into three broad categories: those designed for extended rea ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cavalry
Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry in the roles of reconnaissance, Screening (tactical), screening, and skirmisher, skirmishing, or as heavy cavalry for decisive economy of force and shock attacks. An individual soldier in the cavalry is known by a number of designations depending on era and tactics, such as a cavalryman, Equestrianism, horseman, trooper (rank), trooper, cataphract, knight, Drabant Corps of Charles XII, drabant, hussar, uhlan, mamluk, cuirassier, lancer, dragoon, samurai or horse archer. The designation of ''cavalry'' was not usually given to any Military animal, military forces that used other animals or platforms for mounts, such as chariots, Camel cavalry, camels or War elephant, elephants. Infantry who m ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Drum Major (military)
A drum major in the military is the individual leading a military band or a field unit (corps of drums, fanfare band, pipe band or Drum and bugle corps (modern), drum and bugle corps). It is an appointment, not a military rank. Military drum majors utilize a ceremonial mace for giving commands while marching. Many drum majors, particularly American- or British-influenced ones, wear a sash that can carry embroidered badges of their home unit and battle honors; a pair of ceremonial drum sticks are often attached. By country Australia The Australian Army traditionally styles the appointments along the same lines as the British Army. The drum major is usually an experienced member of the Australian Army Band Corps, although drum majors in regimental pipes and drums are typically members of the Royal Australian Infantry Corps. Drum majors generally have the rank of a senior NCO. However, capability is the main qualification for appointment: the most senior or highest-ranked member ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Grizzly Bear
The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), other morphological forms of brown bear in North America are sometimes identified as grizzly bears. These include three living populations—the Kodiak bear (''U. a. middendorffi''), the Kamchatka brown bear, Kamchatka bear (''U. a. beringianus''), and the Alaska Peninsula brown bear, peninsular grizzly (''U. a. gyas'')—as well as the extinct California grizzly bear, California grizzly (''U. a. californicus''†) and Mexican grizzly bear, Mexican grizzly (formerly ''U. a. nelsoni''†). On average, grizzly bears near the coast tend to be larger while inland grizzlies tend to be smaller. The Ussuri brown bear (''U. a. lasiotus''), inhabiting the Ussuri Krai, Sakhalin, the Amur Oblast, the Shantar Islands, Iturup Island, and Kun ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |