BATTRE _de front_, _Fr._ to throw cannon-shot in a perpendicular or almost perpendicular direction against any body or place which becomes an object of attack. This mode of attack is less effectual than any other unless you _batter in breach_. BATTRE _d’écharpe_, _Fr._ to direct shot, so that the lines of fire make a manifest acute angle with respect to the line of any particular object against which cannon is discharged. BATTRE _en flanc_, _Fr._ is when the shot from a battery runs along the length of the front of any object or place against which it is directed. BATTRE _a dos_, _Fr._ to direct the shot from one or several pieces of cannon so as to batter, almost perpendicularly, from behind any body of troops, part of a rampart or intrenchment. BATTRE _de revers_, _Fr._ to direct shot, in such a manner as to run between the two last mentioned lines of fire. When you batter from behind, the shot fall almost perpendicularly upon the reverse of the parapet. When you batter from the reverse side, the trajectories or lines of fire describe acute angles of forty five degrees or under, with the prolongation of that reverse. BATTRE _de bricole_, _Fr._ This method can only be put in practice at sieges, and against works which have been constructed in front of others that are invested. A good billiard player will readily comprehend what is meant by the _bricole_ or back stroke; it means simply the firing of shot against a wall so that the balls may rebound and in the rebound strike men or objects, that could not be struck directly. BATTRE _la Caisse_, _Fr._ to beat a drum. _Mener battant_, to overcome. _Mener quelqu’un au Tambour battant._ To overcome by strokes of the drum. To disconcert, to confound, puzzle and perplex any body. BAVINS, in military affairs, implies small faggots, made of brush-wood, of a considerable length, no part of the brush being taken off. See FASCINES. BAYARD, _Fr._ a provincial term used in ancient Languedoc and Roussillon to signify a wheel-barrow. BAYONET, a kind of triangular dagger, made with a hollow handle, and a shoulder, to fix on the muzzle of a firelock or musket, so that neither the charging nor firing is prevented by its being fixed on the piece. It is of infinite service against horse. At first the bayonet was screwed into the muzzle of the barrel, consequently could not be used during the fire. It is said by some to have been invented by the people of Malacca, and first made use of on quitting the pikes. According to others, it was first used by the fusileers in France, and invented or used at Bayonne. At present it is given to all infantry. BEACON, a signal for securing and guarding against dangers.