GALWAY.—Ireland.—In 1690, Galway declared for King James, but it was invested and taken by General Ginckel, immediately after the memorable battle of Aughrim, July 12th, 1691. GENERAL.—This rank has been given to commanders from very remote antiquity. In the French army, Montmorency was the first officer who was so called, in 1203. Cardinal Richelieu was the first who took the title Generalissimo, having coined the word when he assumed supreme command of the French armies in Italy, in 1629.
GENOA.—Bombarded by the French, in 1684, and by the British, in 1688 and 1745. Taken by the Imperialists, December 8th, 1746. Sustained a siege from the British fleet and Austrian army, when it capitulated, May, 1800. Surrendered to the French, after the battle of Marengo. Next surrendered to the combined English and Sicilian armies, April 8th, 1814, but was transferred to the Kingdom of Sardinia, in 1826. The city seized by insurgents, who, after a murderous struggle, drove out the garrison, and proclaimed a Republic, April, 1850, but in the end the insurgents surrendered to General Marmora.
GERMANIC CONFEDERATION.—When Napoleon determined that the German or Holy Roman Empire should no longer exist, but that a Confederation of States should be in its stead, the proposal was adopted by the Allied Sovereigns, in 1815, which has continued ever since.
GETTYSBURG.—United States.—This battle was fought between the Confederates of the Southern States, and the Northern army. General Lee was defeated by the United States’ troops. This battle immediately followed the surrender of Vicksburg to General Grant. Fought on the 4th July, 1863.
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GHENT.—Taken by the Duke of Marlborough, in 1706. Several times taken and retaken during the Napoleon wars. The peace of Ghent, between Great Britain and America, signed here, December 24th, 1814.
GHIZNEE, BATTLE OF.—The British, under Sir John Keane, attacked this place, and having blown up the gates, forced their way into the city, and succeeded in fixing the British colors on the towers, July 23rd, 1839. Ghiznee capitulated to the Affghans, March 1st, 1842. The following account gives the items of General Nott’s entering it, September 7th, 1842:
“Ghiznee is situated on the base of a hill, which supports its rear or main post, and commands a most extensive plain, and it is in the midst of a rich, fertile country; it has ever held the most noble rank as a capital, and is capable of being rendered one of the most important fortifications in the Eastern nations; its adjacent hills are great, and border on Dora and Bameean; it covers the routes of the latter, as well as Loghar and Cabool; near the low hills which command the city, are several cemeteries, and ancient buildings; at a short distance is Rozah, in which stands the great sepulchre, and shrine of Mahmood, the once famed Emperor of Ghiznee; and of whom “Dow” speaks so much in his History of Hindostan.
The fortress in itself is of great importance; the town is walled round, and contains several thousand houses; the former principally of stone, and the latter of mud. It is surrounded by a deep trench; the main entrance, being the one blown up by Sir John Keane, is in ruins, and another was made to the right. In the centre of the town stands the citadel, which had three tiers; the lower one had been much improved since we possessed it, and a parade ground, or large square, had been formed, as a park for the ordnance. A river ran close by, which afforded good water, and rendered it almost complete. All remained quiet, till within a short distance from them, fortunately for us, as it enabled us to get up our baggage, and cattle; close to the rear of the column the road was very difficult, being over extensive fields of long grass, and the ditches very numerous and wide, in crossing which the cattle were continually falling, which greatly delayed us. General Nott directed the Light Battalion to proceed with the Quarter Master General, to take up an encampment opposite to Ghiznee, at a place some two and a half miles from the fortress, known as Sir John Keane’s garden. I accompanied this body, and as we proceeded, we discovered the enemy in the citadel,[147] and a great number outside, preparing to advance. The Quarter Master General ordered a portion of his force to man a small hill, which commanded their approach, and left it in charge of Captain Adamson, of the 40th. The General dispatched, in another direction, the 16th Native Infantry, under Colonel McLaren, who were met by the enemy, and a smart action took place; fortunately, however, after having rallied for some time, the corps managed to get under cover, in a walled garden, about a mile from the fort, and kept them off in fine style; the Colonel, finding the enemy so numerous, feared a serious result, as the chances were, the General could not send him a re-inforcement before the whole of his ammunition would be expended, and a soldier without ammunition is not in the most enviable situation. The Quarter Master General’s party was attacked, but effected a complete mastery over them, and drove them back. The General, perceiving the situation of McLaren, dispatched the 3rd Regiment Light Cavalry, and two of Anderson’s guns, who got up just in time to save them, as they were getting short of shot; at length came up the General with the main body; the cavalry made a grand charge after those outside the town, and we lost a great number of our men, but not before leaving a greater number of the enemy lying on the field; during all this time those in possession of the citadel were not idle, but made some excellent play with their guns from the square I named, as being situated on the lower part of the citadel; but fortunately for us their knowledge of the art of gunnery was so shallow that they did little or no damage with their guns. One of the hills mentioned as adjacent to the fortress, was called Balloon Hill, from its peculiar form, and difficulty of ascent; this hill was literally crowded with rebels, and their colours were planted in every direction; they now began to emerge from the gates in great numbers, and finding, after the charge of the cavalry, that they had no chance of overpowering the front, Shooms-ood-Dien dispatched a large force round, to attack the rear of our columns. The General had, however, taken the necessary precaution, and reinforced the rear guard to 3000 men, with six guns, including the heavy battery. Perceiving the object the enemy had in view, he let fly a volley of grape to meet them, which had the desired effect, and left numbers of them dead on the ground, and the rest immediately made off; the next thing to be done was to got possession of Balloon Hill. This hill was so situated that it commanded all around it, and more particularly the square in the citadel, as it immediately covered it. The General directed the 40th and 16th to proceed at once and take the hill.[148] The order was in itself easily given; my readers may imagine the position.
The guns from the citadel were in full play, the hill was in possession of, and covered by several hundreds of the enemy, both horse and foot; the ascent was considerable, and we were nearly two miles from it. However, it is not for Britons to look at difficulties in such a moment, for had we done so we should never have accomplished it; we set forward, and those in the fortress seeing our advance, opened a heavy fire upon us, which, Providence be thanked, showed us that they could not hit their mark, and we reached the foot of the hill with little loss. Those in possession leapt for joy, at the apparent opportunity of cutting us off. We commenced the ascent, throwing out skirmishers in every direction; our fire was kept up steadily as on a parade, and every ball seemed to find its desired billet; numbers fell, of course, but not near so many as we had been anticipating. We were obliged to halt half way to gain breath, and necessitated to keep up a heavy fire; we again advanced, and the enemy began to show symptoms of retiring, which greatly encouraged us, and we made a desperate effort, and sent a volley into them, charged, and at length they retired; we followed, and at last gained the summit. They rushed down the other side, and made off in the direction of Candahar, where they were met by a brigade sent round by the General for that purpose.
Having gained possession of the hill, those in the citadel began to pour the fire of artillery into us, but as usual without success, and in order to get out of sight we were ordered to lie down, that they might imagine we had evacuated our position; as we lay there, the balls were fast whistling over us, and the force under the command of the General was making a clean sweep of all those outside the walls, which, after he had effected, next repaired to the citadel. It was, however, found impracticable to storm the fortress that day; first, because the Sappers and Miners would not have time to complete their operations; and secondly, in consequence of the fatigued state of the troops. The 16th was to be left in charge of the hill, and the 40th were ordered to return to the encampment; this order was, if anything, even worse than the first, because all being comparatively quiet, we should, on retiring, be the only targets for them to fire at, and our utter destruction seemed inevitable; we, however, had to obey, and as was expected, no sooner did we come under cover of their guns than they opened a severe fire from all their pieces, but their firing was always either too far, or too short; and thus we reached camp in almost safety.
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The followers had been all employed in pitching the tents, and the cooks (natives) had prepared our scanty meal; the 1............