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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Commissaries

Commissary \Com"mis*sa*ry\, n.; pl. Commissaries. [LL. commissarius, fr. L. commissus, p. p. of committere to commit, intrust to. See Commit.]

  1. One to whom is committed some charge, duty, or office, by a superior power; a commissioner.

    Great Destiny, the Commissary of God.
    --Donne.

  2. (Eccl.) An officer of the bishop, who exercises ecclesiastical jurisdiction in parts of the diocese at a distance from the residence of the bishop.
    --Ayliffe.

  3. (Mil.)

    1. An officer having charge of a special service; as, the commissary of musters.

    2. An officer whose business is to provide food for a body of troops or a military post; -- officially called commissary of subsistence. [U. S.] Washington wrote to the President of Congress . . . urging the appointment of a commissary general, a quartermaster general, a commissary of musters, and a commissary of artillery. --W. Irving Commissary general, an officer in charge of some special department of army service; as:

      1. The officer in charge of the commissariat and transport department, or of the ordnance store department. [Eng.]

      2. The commissary general of subsistence. [U. S.]

        Commissary general of subsistence (Mil. U. S.), the head of the subsistence department, who has charge of the purchase and issue of provisions for the army.

Wiktionary
commissaries

n. (plural of commissary English)

Usage examples of "commissaries".

Arcolano and his party gave up the city to the Florentine commissaries, who, being at hand with their forces, immediately took possession.

Astorre Gianni and Rinaldo degli Albizzi were appointed commissaries, and Niccolo Fortebraccio, on agreeing to give up to the Florentines the places he had taken, was engaged to conduct the enterprise as their captain.

The commissaries having arrived with the army in the country of the Lucchese, divided their forces.

The proceedings of the commissaries were unfortunate, not that they failed to occupy many places, but from the complaints made against them of mismanaging the operations of the war.

As the weather had become extremely cold, the forces established themselves at Campannole, which seemed to the commissaries waste of time.

During the consultation, he turned to the Venetian commissaries and to Bernardo de' Medici, who was there as commissary for the Florentines, and promised them the recovery of the place if one of the fortresses should hold out.

The commissaries having examined the site, found it could not be relieved, except from the Alpine regions, in the direction of the Val d'Arno, the summit of which was more easily attainable by the enemy than by themselves, on account of their greater proximity, and because the Florentines could not approach without observation.

The commissaries, therefore, commended their fidelity, and ordered that when they could hold out no longer, they should surrender.

As the Signory had heard of the count's victory and the recall of Niccolo, they imagined that without again drawing a sword or disturbing the dust under their horses' feet, the victory was their own, and the war at an end, they wrote to the commissaries, desiring them to avoid an engagement, as Niccolo could not remain much longer in Tuscany.

So great was the diligence of the commissaries and of the captain, that before the enemy's arrival, the men were mounted and prepared to resist their attack.

Pietro Giampagolo having previous to the surprise, filled up the ditches on either side of the road, and leveled the ground between the bridge and Anghiari, and Micheletto having taken his position in front of the former, the legate and Simoncino, who led the troops of the church, took post on the right, and the commissaries of the Florentines, with Pietro Giampagolo, their captain, on the left.

The enemy's forces being defeated and driven into the Borgo, the commissaries desired to pursue them, in order to make the victory complete, but not a single condottiere or soldier would obey, alleging, as a sufficient reason for their refusal, that they must take care of the booty and attend to their wounded.

Added to this, the men-at-arms, or heavy-armed horse, who had been taken prisoners, whom the commissaries wished to be detained that they might not rejoin the enemy, were set at liberty, contrary to their orders.

The Venetian and Florentine commissaries were in Bologna at the time, and at first kept themselves within doors.

The Florentines, aided by the season, used the most active exertions to provide themselves troops, whose captains were Federigo, lord of Urbino, and Gismondo Malatesti da Rimino, who, though mutual foes, were kept so united by the prudence of the commissaries, Neri di Gino and Bernardetto de' Medici, that they broke up their quarters while the weather was still very severe and recovered not only the places that had been taken in the territory of Pisa, but also the Pomerancie in the neighborhood of Volterra, and so checked the king's troops, which at first had overrun the Maremma, that they could scarcely retain the places they had been left to garrison.