Part 123

PLATFORM, in _gunnery_, is a bed of wood on a battery, upon which the guns stand; each consisting of 18 planks of oak or elm, a foot broad, 2¹⁄₂ inches thick, and from 8 to 15 feet long, nailed or pinned on 4, 5, or 6 beams, from 4 to 7 inches square, called sleeper. They must be made higher behind than before by 6 or 9 inches, to prevent too great a recoil, and to advance the gun easily when loaded. They are from 18 to 20 feet long, 8 feet before and 14 or 15 feet behind.

Permanent batteries, if good stone is not to be had, should be made of brick placed on the edge.

PLATFORMS. The common platforms for gun batteries require the following materials for each: 5 sleepers or joists, 6 inches square, 14 feet long.--1 hunter, 8 or 10 inches square, 8 feet long, 14 planks, 1 foot wide, 11 feet long, 2¹⁄₂ inches thick.--20 pickets.

The usual slope of platforms for guns is one inch to every yard.

The platforms for mortar batteries are made with 3 sleepers 8 inches square, and covered with about 11 timbers of the same thickness. They are laid perfectly horizontal, about 15 feet asunder, and 12 feet from the epaulement. This is the distance commonly practised for firing only at 15 degrees elevation; but if the platforms be placed at the undermentioned distances from the epaulement, the mortars may be fired at the angles corresponding.

At 13 feet distance for firing at 30 degrees. 21 feet at 20 30 feet at 15 40 feet at 10

over an epaulement of 8 feet high. See BATTERY.

PLATINE _de lumiere_, _Fr._ The same as _Plaques de Plomb_, as far as it regards cannon. With respect to musquets and other firearms, it means that part of the hammer which covers the pan.

PLATOON, in _military affairs_, was formerly a small body of men, in a battalion of foot, &c. that fired alternately. A battalion was then generally divided into 16 platoons, exclusive of the grenadiers, which formed 2 or 4 platoons more, as occasion required. At present a battalion is generally divided into wings, grand divisions, divisions, (platoons or companies) subdivisions, and sections; and the word platoon is generally used, to denote a number (from 10 to 20) of recruits assembled for the purpose of instruction, in which case it may be considered as synonimous with company; but a platoon may consist of any number under a battalion.

PLATRAS, _Fr._ Rubbish, such as ashes, pieces of broken brick, mortar, &c. It is used by refiners, for the purpose of distilling saltpetre into proper vessels.

PLATRER, _Fr._ to plaster, to patch, to daub over.

PLAY, is occasionally applied to a military action; as the cannon _play_ upon the enemy, &c.

PLEBEIAN. From the Latin _Plebius_, a distinction made between the poor and rich, in a very early period of Rome; which tended to its ultimate destruction. The term is chiefly used in speaking of the ancient Romans, who were divided into senators, knights, plebians, and common.

PLEDGET, the same as _bolster_, _compress_, in surgery, a kind of flat tent, which is laid over a wound, to imbibe the superfluous humors that ooze out, and to keep it clean.

PLEIN _du Mur_, _Fr._ The main part or body of a wall.

PLEIN _fouet_, direct shot; or firing so as to hit the mark by the trajectory line.

PLIER, _Fr._ To give way.

_Une aile qui_ PLIE, _Fr._ in a military sense, the wing of an army, which gives way. When this occurs, it behoves a wise and executive general, to send immediate support, for the whole army is endangered by the least impression on that quarter.

PLINTH, the square member which serves as a foundation to the base of a pillar.

PLOMB, _Fr._ literally means lead. It is sometimes used in a military sense, to signify musquet shot, &c.

_A_ PLOMB, _Fr._ The perpendicular position of any body or substance. _Une muraille est à plomb._ A wall built in a straight perpendicular direction.

_Donner à plomb_, _Fr._ To fall vertically, as the rays of the sun do in certain latitudes

_Etre à plomb_, _Fr._ To stand upright.

_Marcher à plomb_, _Fr._ To march with a firm, steady pace.

This word is sometimes used as a substantive, viz. _Perdre son a plomb._ To lose one’s balance.

_Manquer d’a plomb_, _Fr._ To be unsteady.

PLONGEE, _Fr._ A term used in artillery to express the action of a bomb, &c. which from the highest point of the curve it describes, takes a downward direction to strike its object.

PLONGEE _du Rampart_, _Fr._ The slope of the upper part of the parapet, belonging to the rampart, is so called. The slope is likewise named _talus supérieur_, or upper talus.

PLONGEONS, _Fr._ Artificial fireworks, which are shot into water and rise again without being extinguished.

PLONGEONS, _Fr._ Plungers or divers. Men of this description ought always to accompany an army, for the purpose of swimming under bridges of boats, &c. and making apertures in their bottoms.

PLONGER, _Fr._ To plunge any thing into the water. This word is likewise used to express the discharge of ordnance from top to bottom, as _canon plongé_.

PLUIE _de feu_, _Fr._ literally a shower or rain of fire. It signifies a certain quantity of artificial fireworks, whose discharge falls in regular sparks, without ever deviating into a serpentine direction.

PLUMB, PLUMMET, a leaden or other weight let down at the end of a string, or piece of catgut, to regulate any work in a line perpendicular to the horizon, or sound the depth of any thing. It is of great use to the artillerist, as well as to the engineer.

PLUME, feathers worn by soldiers in the hat or helmet.

PLUMET, _Fr._ plume, feather. An ornament which is worn by military men in their hats. It succeeded the pannache or bunch of feathers, that formerly adorned the helmets.

PLUMMET. This word is derived from the Latin _Plumbum_, lead, as a piece thereof is fastened to the end of a thread. The instrument itself is used by masons, &c. to draw perpendiculars with, in order to judge whether walls, &c. be upright planes, horizontal, &c. Pilots, at sea, likewise ascertain their soundings by it. In the forming of recruits it is used to fix lines.

Plummets which vibrate the required times of march in the minute, are of great utility, and can alone prevent, or correct uncertainty of movement; they must be in the possession of, and be constantly referred to by each instructor of a squad.

A musquet ball suspended by a string which is not subject to stretch, (and must of course be kept constantly dry) and on which are marked the different required lengths, will answer the above purpose, may be easily acquired, and should be frequently compared with an accurate standard in the adjutant’s, or serjeant-major’s possession. The length of the plummet is to be measured from the point of suspension to the centre of the ball.

Accurate distances or steps of 24 inches must also be marked out on the ground, along which the soldier should be practised to march, and thereby acquire the just length of pace.

PLUNDER, hostile pillage, or spoils taken in war.

PLUS, in algebra, commonly denotes majus, more, or addition: its character is +. Thus 5 + 7 is read 5 _plus_ 7, or 5 added to 7 is equal to 12.

PLUTEUS, a defensive machine, which was used by the ancient Romans. It was composed of wicker hurdles laid for a roof on the top of posts, which the soldiers, who went under it for shelter, bore up with their hands. Kennett, in page 238, of his Roman Antiquities, observes, that some will have them, as well as the vineæ, to have been contrived with a double roof; the first and lower roof of planks, and the upper roof of hurdles, to break the force of any blow, without disordering the machine. The plutei, however, were of a different figure from the vineæ, being shaped like an arched sort of waggon; some having three wheels, so conveniently placed, that the machine would move either way, with equal ease. They were put much to the same use as the _musculi_. Father Daniel, the Jesuit, in his history of the French militia, makes mention of this machine. He quotes a passage out of a poem, intituled the Siege of Paris, by Abbon, the Monk; the meaning of which is, that the Normans brought up a large quantity of machines, that were called _plutei_ by the Romans, and that seven or eight soldiers could be put under cover beneath them. He further adds, that these machines were covered with bull hides.

The moderns have imitated these plutei by adopting mantelets. The chevalier Folard mentions having seen one at the siege of Phillipeville, of a triangular figure, made of cork, interlaced between two boards, and supported by three wheels that turned upon a pivot.

PLUSH, a kind of stuff with a sort of velvet nap or shag on one side, consisting of a woof of a single woollen thread, and a double warp; the one of two woollen threads twisted, the other goat’s or camel’s hair; though there are plushes entirely of worsted, others of hair, and others again of silk, cotton, &c. White plush breeches have been often worn by dragoons. They resist moisture, and are easily cleaned.

PNEUMATICS. The doctrine of the air, or the laws whereby it is condensed, rarefied, gravitated, &c.

PNEUMATIC _Engine_, denotes the air pump.

PNEUMATIQUE, _Fr._ Pneumatics.

POIDS, _Fr._ Weights.

POIDS _de Marc_, _Fr._ Avoirdupois weight.

POIDS _Romain_, _Fr._ Troy weight.

POIDS _à peser l’eau_, _Fr._ Waterpoise.

_Etre de_ POIDS, _Fr._ To weigh.

_Avec_ POIDS _et mesure_, _Fr._ With care and circumspection.

POIGNARD, _Fr._ Dagger, poniard.

_Coup de_ POIGNARD, _Fr._ A stab.

POIGNARDER, _Fr._ To stab.

POIGNEE, _Fr._ Handful. _Poignée d’hommes_; a handful of men; a small number.

POIGNEE, _Fr._ Handle of a sword.

_La_ POIGNEE, _Fr._ The handle.

POIL, _Fr._ Hair. _Monter un cheval à_ POIL. To ride a horse without a saddle.

_Un brave à trois_ POILS, _Fr._ A figurative expression to describe a bully, or gasconading fellow.

POINCON, _Fr._ A puncheon, bodkin. It is likewise an instrument which is used in the making of artificial fireworks, being called _poincon à arrêt_, from a piece of iron running cross-ways near the point, to prevent it from entering too far.

POINT, in geometry, according to Euclid, is a quantity which has no parts, being indivisible; and according to others, that which terminates itself on every side, or which has no boundaries distinct from itself. This is a mathematical point, and is only conceived by the imagination; yet herein all magnitude begins and ends, its flux generating a line, that of a line a surface, &c. A line can only cut another in a point.

POINT, _in perspective_, denotes various places with regard to the perspective plane, viz. _point of sight_, or _of the eye_, or _principal point_, is a point in the axis of the eye, or in the central ray, where the same is intersected by the horizon.

POINT, or points of distance, in perspective, is a point or points, for there are sometimes two of them placed at equal distances from the point of sight.

_Accidental_ POINTS, or _Contingent_ POINTS, in perspective, are certain points wherein such objects as may be thrown negligently, and without order, under the plan, do tend to terminate. For this reason they are not drawn to the point of sight, nor the points of distance, but meet accidentally, or at random in the horizon.

POINT _of the front_, in perspective, is when we have the object directly before us, and not more on one side than the other, in which case it only shews the foreside; and if it be below the horizon, a little of the top too, but nothing of the side, unless the object be polygonous.

_Third_ POINT, is a point taken at discretion in the line of distance, wherein all the diagonals drawn from the divisions of the geometrical plane concur.

_Objective_ POINT, a point on a geometrical plane, whose representation is required on the perspective plane.

POINT _of concourse_, in optics, is that wherein converging rays meet, more commonly called the focus.

POINT _of dispersion_, is that wherein the rays begin to diverge, usually called the virtual focus.

POINT. This term is frequently used in a military sense. _As point of intersection, intermediate point, &c._ The several applications of which may be seen in the general rules and regulations.

_Covering_ POINT, a point which in changes of position materially concerns the movement of one line with another.

When a change of position is made on a flank or central point of the first line, the movement of its _coveting point_ of the second line, determines the new relative situation of that second line.

To find this point, it is necessary to premise, that if a circle is described from any point (A) of a first line (AE) with a radius equal to the distance betwixt the two lines; then its covering point (a) at that time in the second line will be always in the circumference of that circle, at such place as the second line becomes a tangent to the circle. Should the first line, therefore, make a change of position (AR) either on a flank or central point (A); its covering point (a) will move so as still to preserve and halt in its relative situation (a 2) and by the movement and halt of that point preceded by the one (d) of _intersection_, every other part of the second line, either by following them, or by yielding from them, is regulated and directed. Betwixt the old and new situation of the covering point (a) and equidistant from each, lies the _point_ (d) where the old and new positions of the second line _intersect_, and which is a most material one in the movement of that line.

POINT _of honor_. See HONOR.

POINT _of Appui_, the point upon which a line of troops is formed. When the right stands in front, and the column is marching to form, the first halted company, division, &c. is the point of appui. Thus when the right is in front the distant point of formation is the left.

POINT _of Intersection_, the point where two lines intersect each other.

_Intermediate_ POINT. In marching forward that is called an intermediate point which lies between the spot marched from, and the spot towards which you are advancing. In forming line, the centre point between the right and left is the intermediate point. It is of the utmost consequence to every body of troops, advancing or retreating, but especially in advancing towards the enemy, to find an intermediate point between two given, and, perhaps, inaccessible objects. The line of march is preserved by these means in its perpendicular direction, and every column may be enabled to ascertain its relative point of entry in the same line.

POINT _of Alignment_, (_Point d’alignement_, _Fr._) The point which troops form upon and dress by.

POINT _of Formation_, a point taken, upon which troops are formed in military order.

_Perpendicular_ POINT, the point upon which troops march in a straight forward direction.

_Relative_ POINTS, the points by which the parallelism of a march is preserved.

POINT _of passing_, the ground on which one or more bodies of armed men march by a reviewing general.

POINT _to salute at_, the spot on which the reviewing general stands. This, however, is not to be understood literally, as every infantry officer when he arrives within six paces of the general, recovers his sword and drops it, keeping it in that situation until he shall have passed him a prescribed number of paces. The cavalry salute within the breadth of the horse’s neck, the instant the object is uncovered.

POINT _of War_, a loud and impressive beat of the drum, the perfect execution of which requires great skill and activity. The point of war is beat when a battalion charges.

POINT _du jour_, _Fr._ break of day; dawn.

POINT _de vue_, _Fr._ prospect, sight, aim.

_De_ POINT _en blanc_, _Fr._ point blank.

_A_ POINT, _Fr._ in time.

_A_ POINT _nommée_, _Fr._ seasonably.

_La_ POINTE, _Fr._ the point of the sword.

POINT is also a steel instrument of various use in several arts. Engravers, etchers, wood-cutters, stone-cutters, &c. use points to trace their designs on copper, wood, or stone.

POINT _blank_, (_But en blanc_, _Fr._) in gunnery, denotes the shot of a piece levelled horizontally, without either mounting or sinking the muzzle. In shooting thus, the bullet is supposed to go in a direct line, and not to move in a curve, as bombs and highly elevated random shots do. We say supposed to go in a direct line, because it is certain, and easily proved, that a shot cannot fly any part of its range in a right line strictly taken; but the greater the velocity, the nearer it approaches to a right line; or the less crooked its range.

For the point blank ranges of different pieces of ordnance, see the different natures.

The French _point blank_ or _but en blanc_, is what the English artillery call the _line of metal elevation_; in most guns between one and two degrees.

POINTER, _Fr._ to point; as, _pointer un canon_. To point a cannon.

POINTEURS, _Fr._ Levellers. Officers in the old French artillery, who were subordinate to the extraordinary commissaries; but who were never employed except upon field service.

POINTS _d’appui_, _Fr._ Basis, support. The general signification of this term expresses the different advantageous posts, such as castles, fortified villages, &c. which the general of an army takes possession of in order to secure his natural position. In a more limited sense, they mean those points which are taken up in movements and evolutions. See POINT D’APPUI. _Am. Mil. Lib._

POINTING _of a gun or mortar_, is the placing either one or other, so as to hit the object, or to come as near it as possible.

_To_ POISON _a Piece_, (_Enclouer une piéce_, _Fr._) in gunnery, to clog or nail it up.

POISSON, _Fr._ literally means fish.

POITREL, armor for the breast of a horse.

POIX, _Fr._ pitch.

POIX _résine_, _Fr._ Rosin.

POLACRE, _Fr._ A lappel coat.

POLACRE, or _Polaque_, _Fr._ a Levantine vessel, which carries a smack sail on the mizen and mizen mast, and square sails on the main mast and bowsprit.

POLAIRE, _Fr._ Polar.

POLE, in a four wheel carriage, is fastened to the middle of the hind axle-tree, and passes between the fore axle-tree and its bolster, fastened with the pole-pin, so as to move about it; keeping the fore and hind carriages together. It is also called the _tongue_.

POLES, in castrametation, long round pieces of wood, by which a marquee or tent is supported. There are three sorts, viz.

_Ridge_ POLE, a long round piece of wood, which runs along the top of an officer’s tent or marquee, and is supported by two other poles, viz.

_Front_ POLE, a strong pole, which is fixed in the front part of an officer’s tent or marquee, and is kept in a perpendicular position by means of two strong cords, called weather cords, that run obliquely from each other, across two other cords from the rear pole, and are kept fast to the earth by wooden pegs.

_Rear_ POLE, a strong pole, which is fixed in the back part of an officer’s marquee or tent, and is kept in the same relative position as has been described above.

_Fire_ POLES, or _Rods_, artificial fireworks. They are generally of the length of ten or twelve feet, and of the thickness of two inches at most. One of the ends of the fire pole is hollowed out with three or four flutes to the length of two or three feet. Into one of these flutes are fixed rockets or squibs. Paper crackers are fixed in the others. After holes have been bored through the body of the pole, in order that the rockets may have communication with the crackers, they must be neatly wrapped in paper, the more effectually to deceive the spectators.

POLEAXE, an axe fixed to the end of a long pole. See BATTLE AXE.

POLICE, _Fr._ in a military sense, among the French, this term comprehends the inspectors, the treasurers, the paymasters, the commissaries, the provost marshal, &c.

POLICE _d’assurance_, _Fr._ a policy of Insurance.

POLICY _in war_. See STRATAGEM.

POLITICAL, relating to policy, or civil government.

POLITICS, (_Politique_, _Fr._) a part of ethics which consists in the governing of states, for the maintenance of the public safety, order, and good morals.

POLK, _Fr._ a Polish term, signifying a regiment, from whence is derived polkowink, colonel.

POLLAM, _Ind._, a measure equal to twenty ounces: forty make a viz in weight in Madras.

POLL _Money_, commonly called poll-tax, or capitation.

POLTROON, (_Poltron_, _Fr._) a coward, a dastard, who has no courage to perform any thing noble. The etymology of poltron or poltroon, as it is usually pronounced, is curious. Both in ancient and modern times frequent instances have occurred of men, who had been forcibly enlisted, having rendered themselves unfit for service by cutting off their thumbs or fingers. When this happened among the Romans, they were called _Pollice trunci_. The French, (as they do in most of their words that are derived from the Latin) contract these two, and by an elision make poltron or poltroon, from whence we have adopted the term. Another, and in our opinion a more correct derivation, comes from the Italian _Poltrone_, which takes its derivation from _Poltro_, a colt; because of that animal’s readiness to run away; or _Poltro_ a bed, as pusillanimous people take a pleasure in lying in bed. This last word is derived from the high Dutch _Polster_, which signifies a bolster or cushion. This contemptible character is so little calculated for a military life, that the slightest imputation of cowardice is sufficient to render an individual unworthy of serving among _real_ soldiers. Poltroon and coward stand, in fact, foremost in the black catalogue of military incapacities. Every young man, therefore, ought well to weigh, examine, and digest the necessary qualifications for a profession, which, above all others, exacts a daring spirit, and an unqualified contempt of death.

POLIGARCHY, (_Polygarchie_, _Fr._) a government composed of many chiefs or leaders.

POLYGARS, _Ind._ Chiefs of mountainous and woody districts in the peninsula, who pay only a temporary homage.

POLYGON, (_Polygone_, _Fr._) is a figure of more than four sides, and is either regular or irregular, exterior or interior.

_Regular_ POLYGON, is that whose angles and sides are equal. It has an angle of the centre, and an angle of the polygon. The centre of a regular polygon, is the centre of a circle, which circumscribes the polygon; that is, whose circumference passes through all the angles of the figure.

_Irregular_ POLYGON, is that whose sides and angles are unequal.

_Exterior_ POLYGON, that whose lines touch the points of the flanked angles, when a place is fortified inwards.

_Interior_ POLYGON, that outward fortification which makes the angles of the gorget; so that the whole bastion is without the polygon.

POLYEDRE, _Fr._ See POLYEDRON.

_Lunettes_ POLYEDRES, _Fr._ Magnifying glasses.

POLYEDRICAL, POLYEDROUS, having many sides.

POLYEDRON, a solid figure or body consisting of many sides.

POLYGRAPHIE, _Fr._ See POLYGRAPHY.

POLYNOMIAL, (_Polynôme_, _Fr._) an algebraical term, signifying a quantity made up of many others by means of the sign + or _more_, and the sign - or _less_.

POLYORCETE, _Fr._ a term used among the french to distinguish great warriors. It literally signifies the taking of strong towns. Marshals Saxe and Lowendalh, _les grands Polyorcetes_ of the last century.

POLYTECHNIQUE, _Ecole_ POLYTECHNIQUE, a word derived from the Greek, and used by the French to distinguish an establishment in which all sciences are taught. The military school, which existed during the French monarchy, is comprised in this institution. See MILITARY SCHOOL.

POMADA, an exercise of vaulting the wooden horse, by laying one hand over the pommel of the saddle.