=Alert.= Watchful; vigilant; active in vigilance; upon the watch; guarding against surprise or danger. =Alesia=, or =Alisia=. Now called Alise-Sainte-Reine, a city in the department of Cote-d’Or. This city was besieged and taken by the Romans in 52 B.C.; it was one of the greatest events of Cæsar’s war in Gaul. =Alessandria.= A city of Piedmont, built in 1168, under the name of Cæsarea by the Milanese and Cremonese, to defend the Tanaro against the emperor, and named after Pope Alexander III. It has been frequently besieged and taken. The French took it in 1796, but were driven out July 21, 1799. They recovered it after the battle of Marengo, in 1800, and held it until 1814, when the strong fortifications erected by Napoleon were destroyed. They have been restored since June, 1856. =Alet=, or =Aleth=. A small city in the department of Ande, France; was taken by the Protestants in 1573. =Aleut.= An inhabitant of the Aleutian Islands. These people differ both from the Indians of the neighboring continent and the Esquimaux farther north. They are expert hunters of the seal and other animals. They are industrious and peaceful, but addicted to drunkenness. =Aleutian Islands.= A number of islands stretching from the peninsula of Alaska in North America to Kamtschatka in Asia. The greater number belong to the territory of Alaska. =Alfere=, or =Alferez=. Standard-bearer; ensign; cornet. The old English term for ensign; it was in use in England till the civil wars of Charles I. =Alford= (Northern Scotland), =Battle of=. Gen. Baillie, with a large body of Covenanters, was defeated by the Marquis of Montrose, July 2, 1645. =Alfuro.= A city in Navarre, Spain. The British proceeded against the city in 1378, the garrison being absent; they found the women ranged on the ramparts disposed to defend the place. Capt. Tivet, commander of the English forces, would not attack the brave women, but retreated and did not molest the place. =Algebra.= A peculiar kind of mathematical analysis allied to arithmetic and geometry. =Algidus.= A mountain-range in Latium, Italy, where Cincinnatus defeated the Æqui in 458 B.C. =Algiers= (now _Algeria_, Northwest Africa). Part of the ancient Mauritania, which was conquered by the Romans, 46 B.C.; by the Vandals, 439; recovered for the empire by Belisarius, 534, and subdued by the Arabs about 690. The city of Algiers was bombarded a number of times, and finally taken by the French in 1830. Algeria at present belongs to France. =Algonkins=, or =Alogonquins=. One of the two great families of Indians who formerly peopled the country east of the Mississippi. The Chippewas are at present the most numerous race descended from this stock. =Alhama.= A city in Spain, in the province of Granada. It was a most important fortress when the Moors ruled Granada, and its capture by the Christians in 1482 was the most decisive step in the reduction of their power.