Hoare and the Portsmouth Atrocities
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rifleman: One of a widely-scattered regiment of skirmishers and sharpshooters, clad in green after the American War, who used the accurate but slow-to-load rifle as their principal weapon. While called “swords,” the bayonets attached to Riflemen’s weapons differed little if at all from the ones used by infantry of the line
waist: The central half (approximate) of a vessel’s upper deck, between the forecastle and the quarterdeck
waisters: The least-skilled class of seamen
yellowed: Active flag officers of the Royal Navy could hold three ranks: rear admiral, vice admiral, and admiral. Each of these ranks was divided in turn into three parts, identified by the color of the flags flown by their flagships and the vessels in their fleets. Red was the lowest in seniority, white the next, and blue the highest. A flag officer who was unemployed for whatever reason was designated as an admiral (or rear admiral or vice admiral) “without distinction of squadron;” he was “yellowed.” Admirals of the fleet, being always on active duty, were never yellowed
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HOARE AND THE PORTSMOUTH ATROCITIES. Copyright © 1998 by Wilder Perkins. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
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First Edition: December 1998
eISBN 9781466884601
First eBook edition: September 2014