ECHELON, esh'e ion (Fr. ((a ladder or stepping stone"), used in military language. A battalion, or marches en echelon, or par echelon, if the divisions of which it is com posed do not march in one line, but on parallel lines. The divisions are not exactly behind each other, but each is to the right or left of the one preceding, so as to give the whole the appear ante of a stairway. This order is used if the commander wishes to bring one part of a mass sooner into action and to reserve the other. If the divisions of the echelon are battalions, these are generally from 100 to 200 steps from each other. An echelon is said to be direct if its head maintains a position perpendicular to the original line, as in direct attack or retreat; it is said to be oblique when it deviates from the line, as in changing the order of formation.
ECHENI9UE, Jose Rufino, Spanish-American soldier and statesman: b. Puno, Peru, 1808; d. Arequipa, 18 Oct. 1879. He joined the Patriotic party as a boy, rose to the rank of colonel and induced the revolted troops of Gamarra and Bermudez to return to their allegiance in 1833; at the battle of Yutigay 1839, he fought on the side of Vera Cruz; in 1845 was a member of Castillas council of state, and in 1851 was elected President of Peru. In
1854 he was charged with financial irregulari ties and Domingo Flias led a revolt against him which terminated in the battle of Saraija 1854. He was defeated in a second revolt at the bridge of Iscuchacha, 2 Aug. 1854, retired to Lima, was again defeated at the battle of La Palma, 5 Jan. 1855, and driven into exile. He was permitted to return in 1862, was elected deputy and later chosen president of the senate. He was even a Presidential candidate in 1872, but spent the last years of his life in retirement.
ECHEVERRIA,
Esteben, Argentine poet : b. Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1809; d. Montevideo, Uruguay, 1851. He was educated in France, and his early works showed that influence, but he afterward became more national. He was exiled by the Dictator Rosas and went to Montevideo, where he died. Among his works, which are in great repute among his countrymen, are 'Consuelos' (1834) ; 'Rimas' ;