Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/572

* BBIEBBE DE BOISMONT. 498 BRIGANDAGE. are: La peUagre et la folic pcllagreuse (1834) ; La mcnstniatiun (1842) ; Lc delirc aigu (1844) ; Lis hulliicinutioiis (1845); and Le suicide (1854). BBIG and BBIG'ANTINE ( Fr. briganti)i,U- hriganlino, from hnganlc, pirate. Brig is the shortened form, just as ciih, from cabriolet). A bri" is a square-rigged vessel with two masts. Airiirnnaphroditc brig is a two-masted vessel, with the mainmast of a sehoouer and the fore- mast of a brig. A brig's mainsail is the lowest squaresail on the mainmast, whereas the main- sail of a brigantine is a fore-and-aft sail like that of a schooner. Aside from its mainsail a brigantine is like a brig. BBIG. A town in the Canton of Valais, Switz- erland, on the Rhone, 17 miles east of Leuk. It is situated at the foot of the Siniplon Pass, IV> miles above the north end of the Simplon Tun- nel and commands a view of magnificent moun- tain scenery. It has an ancient Jesuit mon- astery, and the Sixteenth-Century Stockhalper Castle, the master of which controlled and pro- tected the trade over the Simplon. Population, in 1900, 2198. BBIGADE (Fr., It. brigata, company, from briijurc. to strive, briga, strife). A number of regiments, battalions, or corps of any arm of the service combined in one group and under one general command. The system of group- ing battalions and regiments into brigades was first introduced by the great generals of France in the reign of Louis XIV. (1642- 1715) — Turenne, Conde, and others; and in England by Marlborough. The idea was soon imftated by every army in Europe, the rule generally being to group together regiments of infantry of two or three battalions, each battalion 500 or 600 strong, and regiments of cavalrv of four squadrons, each having a stren>'th of from 100 to 150. Artillery was not as vet jirepared for this form of organization, as most of the guns were attached to the regi- ments. The organization of the army as a whole is the factor which determines the char- acter and strength of component parts in times of peace: alterations made in the field are usu- ally to facilitate command, to insure greater mobility and better adaptation to the circum- stances with which the army as a whole is con- fronted. In the United States a brigade may consist of either infantry, cavalry, or artillery', under the command of a brigadier-general. There are nsually three regiments in a brigade, though the number mav be greater or less. In England the strength of a brigade varies with the circumstances under which it is formed. It has no arbitrary strength or place in the organ- ization of the army. In Continental European armies two regiments is the average strength in time of peace, varying according to circumstance in time of war. See Akmt Okganization. BBIGADE MA JOB. The adjutant of a brigade commiuulcr. See Adjutant. BBIGADIEB-GENERAIi (Fr., from hri- findr). In the ITiiited States Army, the rank ap- propriale to the ofllcer commanding a brigade (q V ) The rank is intermediate between ibat of oolonei and major-general. In the English and European armies generally, the brignde .•..in- mander is usually a colonel or lieutenant-colonel, who for a brief period or for some particular service, and largely because of his seniority, is placed upon brigade duties. The brigade almost invariablj' contains the brigadier-general's own regiment. See Rank and Command. BBIG'ANDAGE (Fr., OF. brigaml. a foot- soldier, lirigaiul, from It. briga, strife). The system of robbery practiced by armed men, or bands of armed men, on the highways, in the mountains, or in waste places. At the dawn of history violence was the natural stage, and since the beginning of civilization brigandage has prevailed wherever natural, po- litical, and economic conditions have united to make peaceful jmrsuits dillicult and unicmiinera- tive, and plunder profitable. Given a country of mountains, desert, or marshes, a poverty-stricken peasantry ojipressed by alien masters, a period of civil war and anarchy, and brigandage is sure to spring up. Countries like Arabia, where man has in great part remained in a state of nature, are still the homes of bands, or even clans and entire nations of robbers. To this day. undoubt- edly, in the wastes of the Arabian IVninsuhi, representatives may be found of the cla.ssic Isli- maelite marauder, whose inborn talent enabled him to cut a throat, steal a head of cattle, or dash off a ballad with equal grace and dexterity. In ancient Greece, too, highway robbery fiourished as a survival of prehistoric times. One of The- seus's great labors was clearing the Corinthian Isthmus of the brigands that infested it. When Telemachus in the Odi/sseg inquires of his guest, ISIentor, whether he is a pirate or engaged in some other occupation, the deduction would be that, in heroic times, pillaging was considered a conservative profession. In distinction from his forefathers, the modern Greek bandit is the product of just such conditions as have been pro- nounced favorable to the growth of outlawry. Greece before 1827 presented the spectacle of a country impoverished by the anarchic rule of the Turk. ' The mountains and ravines of Hellas became the home of the Greek Klcphls. who were raised above the common level of brigands by the national spirit which at times animated them. Frequently they ceased to be bandits to become heroes. The names of Marco Bozzaris, Coloeo- tronis, and other leaders of the Klephts are well known in connection with the Greek War of Liberation. Rome was founded by outlaws, and during the social and civil wars the Italian Peninsula was a stamping-ground for bands of renegade soldiers, runaway slaves, and gladiators, who were often bold enough to enter the suburbs and towns, plundering tombs and deserted bouses, kidnap- l)ing and assassinating for pay. The spurs of the Apennines and the marshes of the Campagiia af- forded them safe retreats and admirable centres of operation. The splendid military roads of Rome were not safe from them. Britain had her Hereward (c.lOOO) and her Robin Hood (e.1170), with his Merry Men of Sherwood, the last champions of Saxon F.ngland against the Norman. The clearing of the forests, the draining of the fens, the repression of the lawless barons bv the Crown, made syslciTiatic brigandage impossible. Though it tlourished in Scr^land. in Wales, and on the border, the craft died out in England. .lack Shei)])ard (1702-24) and nick Turpin (died 17.')9) are brilliant but solitary iihenomena. France, likewise, was too firmly "governed after IfiOO to sutler the existence