=Aix.= A small island on the coast of France between the Isle of Oleron and the continent. It is 12 miles northwest of Rochefort, and 11 miles from Rochelle. On it are workshops for military convicts. =Aix-la-Chapelle= (Ger. _Aachen_). A district in the Prussian province of the Lower Rhine. Here Charlemagne was born in 742, and died in 814. The city was taken by the French in 1792; retaken by the Austrians in 1793; by the French 1794; reverted to Prussia 1814. Congress held by the sovereigns of Austria, Russia, and Prussia, assisted by ministers from England and France, at Aix-la-Chapelle, and convention signed October 9, 1818. =Akerman= (Bessarabia). After being several times taken it was ceded to Russia, 1812. Here the celebrated treaty between Russia and Turkey was concluded in 1826. =Aketon.= Another name for a portion of armor, used in the feudal times, called the _gambeson_ (which see). =Akhalzikh= (Armenia). Near here Prince Paskiewitch defeated the Turks Aug. 24, and gained the city, Aug. 28, 1828. =Akindschi.= A sort of Turkish cavalry, employed during the war between the Turks and the German emperors. =Aklat.= A small town in Asiatic Turkey, taken by Eddin in 1228, and by the Turks in the 14th century. =Akmerjid.= A city in the Crimea; an ancient residence of the khan of Tartary; taken by the Russians in 1771. =Akoulis.= A city in Armenia, often pillaged by the Persians and Turks; taken in 1752 by the Persian general Azad-Khan, by whom the majority of the inhabitants were put to the sword. =Akrebah.= At this place, about the year 630, Khaled, general of the Mussulman troops, fought the army of a new prophet named Mosseilamah, who perished in the combat. =Ala.= According to Latin authors, this word signifies the wing of an army, _i.e._, the flanks, on which were placed troops furnished by the allied nations; also sometimes used to designate a brigade of cavalry occupying the same position in battle.