_To_ DISPERSE, likewise means to break suddenly from any particular order, in line or column, and to repair to some rallying point. Hence to sound the disperse, is to give notice that the battalion or battalions are to retreat from their actual position, in a loose and desultory manner, and to reassemble according to the natural line of formation, taking the colors as their central points to dress by. DISPLACED, officers in the British service are sometimes displaced from a particular regiment in consequence of misconduct proved upon the minutes of a general court martial; but they are at liberty to serve in any other corps. _To_ DISPLAY, in a military sense, is to extend the front of a column, and hereby bring it into line. See DEPLOY. DISPOSE, to dispose cannon, is to place it in such a manner, that its discharge may do the greatest mischief. For instance, to dispose cannon along the front of the line. DISPOSITION, in a general sense, is the just placing an army or body of men upon the most advantageous ground, and in the strongest situation for a vigorous attack or defence. DISPOSITION _de guerre_, _Fr._ warlike arrangement, or disposition. Under this head may be considered the mode of establishing, combining, conducting, and finally terminating a war, so as to produce success and victory. Wisdom and discretion in council point out the form necessary for the first establishment of a warlike enterprise, or disposition, afford the means of bringing it to a conclusion, and assimilate all the various parts so as to unite the whole. The following maxims are in the memoirs of general Montecuculli. 1. _Deliberate leisurely, execute promptly._ 2. _Let the safety of your army be your first object._ 3. _Leave something to chance._ 4. _Take advantage of circumstances._ 5. _Use all the means in your power to secure a good reputation._ The disposition or arrangement of a warlike enterprise may be universal, or particular. An universal disposition or arrangement of war implies every thing which relates to that system upon an extensive scale; such as the combination of many parts for the ultimate benefit of the whole, &c. A particular disposition or arrangement of war signifies the detail of minute objects, and the appropriation of various parts, one with another, for the purpose of effecting a general combination. This disposition, (without which the other must prove abortive,) consists in an observance of the strictest discipline by every individual that belongs to a troop or company. To this end, general officers should be scrupulously exact in attending to the inspection of particular corps; specific instructions for regimental œconomy and discipline should be given, and the strictest regard be paid to the execution of orders. DISTANCE, in military formation, signifies the relative space which is left between men standing under arms in rank, or the intervals which appear between those ranks, &c.