Cavallard

[Sp. caballada, a drove of horses.] A term applied in the S.W. States of America to a drove of horses or mules. Cavalry, ( kaval - rē ,) n. [Fr. cavalerie , from cavalier , from cheval , a horse; Lat. cab all us ; Gr. kabaliēs ; Gael. capull .] (Mil.) A body of horse-soldiers, or of military troops mounted. ( Hist .) Among the ancients, when warfare consisted in expeditions to remote places rather for plunder than conquest, a numerous C. was indispensable. In proportion, however, as the art of war improved, this cla diminished in value; the strength of the Greek and Roman armies lay chiefly in the firm array of their foot-soldiers, and Folard observes that the most certain evidence of decline in the military character of a state is the existence of a numerous C. A well-disciplined C. has, however, often turned the scale of fortune in war. In the early French monarchy, and in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Britain, the men of wealth and noble birth distinguished themselves in the field from those of inferior rank, by being well armed and mounted on horses. And, during several centuries in which the poverty of the nations prevented princes from maintaining standing armies, and when the foot-soldiers were men undisciplined and ill-provided. and summoned from the plough to attend the sovereign for a short time only, it is evident that a cla of troops, comprehending those men who, by the tenure of their estates, were required to serve in the wars at their own expense, and to bring into the field a number of dependents mounted like themselves, and trained in the daily practice of martial exercises, must have constituted almost the only efficient arm of battle. - In France, the superior cla es of these warriors bore the title of knights-bannerets, and the others were designated knights of the second order, or bas-chevaliers. In those days the infantry, for the reason before mentioned, being held in little estimation, the strength of armies was denoted by the number of banners and pennons under which the knights and their attendants fought; victories also were distinguished only by the number of men of rank who had been slain or made prisoners. But the power of the nobles becom Charles I., during the Great Civil War in England, from their gay dre and demeanor, as contrasted with the austerity of the Parliamentary party, who were styled Round heads(q.v.), from the mode in which the more puritanical of that body wore their hair closely cropped (Fortif.) A sort of interior bastion, several feet more elevated than the principal bastion of the fortre in which it is formed. The use of the C. is twofold: it serves either to defilade the works from the fire of an enemy on an adjacent height, or to Fig . 541. A CAVALIER AND LADY. (Time of Charles I.) command the trenches of the besiegers. C. are sometimes constructed in the gorges, or on the middle of the curtain, and their form is the semi-circular; but when they are within the bastion they are now built with straight faces and flanks parallel to those of the work in which they are placed. French C. are works raised by besiegers on the glacis of a fortre , for the purpose of enabling them to direct a fire of musketry into the covered way. -a. Like a cavalier; gay; sprightly; generous. -Brave; warlike. "The people are naturally not valiant, and not much cavalier." Suckling. -Haughty; disdainful; arrogant; as, a cavalier manner. -Belonging, or relating, to the adherents of King Charles I. Cavalier, JEAN, a leader of the Camisards , or Protes tants of Cevennes, when forced into rebellion against Louis XIV., by the persecutions of the Catholics. He defeated the best generals that came against him, and compelled Marshal de Villars to make a treaty with him. He was then taken into the king's service as colonel of a regiment; but being apprehensive that some design was formed against him, he entered into the service of England, and commanded, with his usual skill, a regiment of French refugees at the battle of Almanza, in Spain. He was afterwards appointed governor of Guernsey and Jersey, where he spent the remainder of his days. B. in the Cevennes, 1679; D. 1740. - The marvellous defence of the Cevennes against the best regular troops of France has been often cited as a proof of the great deeds which may be done by bodies of riflemen voluntarily enrolled, and acting on their own soil. Cavalier'ism, n. The principles or political doctrines of the Cavaliers. Cavalier'ly, adv. Haughtily; arrogantly; disdainfully. ousies constantly involving the nation in the miseries of civil war, Charles VII., in 1445, took advantage of the temporary tranquillity which reigned in France after the English had been compelled to abandon nearly the whole of that country, to reduce his military force. From that time the kings retained in constant pay fifteen companies, as they were called, each consisting of 600 horsemen, besides the young men bearing the titles of archers and pages, who also, in general, fought on horseback, but were clothed in lighter armor. The troops composing the companies appear to have been what would now be called gentlemen; and the esteem in which they held themselves is evident from the refusal of the Chevalier Bayard, on the ground of their quality, to unite them with the lansquenets (German infantry) at the siege of Padua, in an a ault proposed by the Emperor Maximilian to be made on that place. More than a century before the time of Charles VII., the English C. in the pay of the state was divided by Edward III. (1324) into small bodies, commanded by officers called constables; and Grose observes, that the list of the army at St. Quentin (1557) is the first in which a body of C. is distinguished by the appellation of a troop ; a name which is still given to the half of a squadron, or the tenth part of a full regiment. The respectability of the French companies above mentioned seems to have declined from about the time of Francis II., men of a lower grade being then occasionally introduced, from the difficulty, it is said, of filling with men of high birth the ranks, which were become very numerous. the employment of artillery in the field deprived this heavy armed cavalry of all the advantages it po e ed over the soldiers who fought on foot, and the latter were often enabled to maintain the combat after the horsemen were dismounted or forced to retire; hence they gradually rose in reputation, and the good discipline and conduct of the Swi infantry in the Italian wars induced the French and Germans to augment the number of the troops of this cla in their armies. From that time the C., though always an e ential arm in war, may be said to have become inferior in importance to the infantry. The subdivisions of C. are numerous. See CUIRASSIERS, DRAGOONS, HUSSARS, LANCERS, . But retreat of infantry and artillery, if retreat be nece ary. C. is nece ary to finish off work mainly done by oth ers; and, without its aid, signal succe is seldom obtained on the field. Cav'an, an inland county of Ireland, in the province of Ulster, bounded N. by Fermanagh, E. by Monaghan, S. by the counties of Long ford, Meath, and West meath, and W. by Leitrim. - Area , 470 square miles. - Desc. It consists entirely of hill and dale, and is mountainous towards the S.W. In general the soil is light and poor, except along the courses of the streams. Rivers. The Erne, Croghan, Annalee, and others. Lakes. Lough Erne, Lough Oughter, Lough Ramor, and Sheelan. Prod . Oats, potatoes, turnips, and, in some districts, flax. Agriculture, however, is, in general, in a backward state. Minerals. Silver, lead, and iron. Manganese is obtained; also pure sulphur, coal, and very small quantities of limestone. - Manf . The principal are yarn and linen. CAVAN, the chief town of the above co.. 57 m. N.W. of Dublin, on a small river of the same name; pop . 3,515. Cav'anas, a fortified harbor of Cuba, on the N.W. coast, 38 m. S.W. of Havana; Lat. 23° 5' N., Lon. 820 55' W. It has a fine deep bay, with anchorage for several sail of ships. Cav'ander, in Georgia, a village of Lumpkin co., 70 m. N.N.E. of Atlanta. Cav'anville, in U. Canada, a post-village of Durham co., 65 m. N.E. of Toronto. Cava , Cawa , ( ka - va ',) n. [Turk.] A Turkish police-officer. Cavatina, ( kav - a - te'na ,) n. [It.] ( Mus .) A term now usually applied to a vocal piece for a single voice, extracted from an opera. It is frequently preceded by a recitative. Cavazion, ( ka -vā'zhun,) n. ( Arch .) The hollow trench made for laying the foundation of a building; according to Vitruvius, it ought to be one-sixth part of the height of the whole building.