II., situated on the Gulf of Santa Euphemia, 6 miles northeast from
Monteleone. It was at Pizzo that Murat, the ex-king of Naples, landed
with a few followers, October 8, 1815, with the view of recovering his
kingdom, He was immediately taken prisoner and shot in the castle of
Pizzo on the 13th. In 1860 it was taken by Garibaldi.
=Placage= (_Fr._). In fortification, a kind of revetment, which is made
of thick plastic earth laid along the talus of such parapets as have no
mason-work, and which is covered with turf.
=Place.= In fortification, signifies, in general terms, a fortified
town, a fortress; hence we say it is a strong place.
=Place Basse= (_Fr._). In fortification, the lower flanks according to
certain systems are so called.
=Placed, To be.= This expression is frequently used in military matters,
to signify the appointment or reduction of officers. Hence, _to be
placed_ upon full or half-pay. It is more generally applicable to the
latter.
=Placentia.= See PIACENZA.
=Places of Arms.= This term has various significations, although it
uniformly means places which are calculated for the rendezvous of men in
arms, etc. When an army takes the field, every stronghold or fortress
which supports its operations by affording a safe retreat to its depots,
heavy artillery, magazines, hospitals, etc., is called a _place of
arms_. In offensive operations, those lines are called _places of arms_,
or parallels, which unite the different means of attack, secure the
regular approaches, etc., and contain bodies of troops who either do
duty in the trenches, protect the workmen, or are destined to make an
impression upon the enemy’s outworks. There are _demi-places of arms_
between the _places of arms_. These are more or less numerous in
proportion to the resistance made by the besieged. See RE-ENTERING
PLACES OF ARMS.
=Plain.= A field of battle.
=Plan.= A scheme devised; a method of action or procedure expressed or
described in language; a project. A plan of campaign (says Napoleon)
should anticipate all that an enemy may do, and combine within itself
the means necessary to baffle it. Plans of campaign are modified by
circumstances, the genius of the chief, the nature of the troops, and
topography. There are good and bad plans of campaign, but sometimes the
good fail from misfortune or mismanagement, while the bad succeed by
caprices of fortune.
=Plan of a Work.= A plan shows the tracing; also the horizontal lengths
and breadths of the works; the thickness of the ramparts and parapets;
the width of the ditches, etc. It exhibits the extent, division, and
distribution of the works; but the depth of the ditches and the height
of the works are not represented in a plan.
=Plane of Comparison.= In the plan of a fortress, and of the surrounding
country, are expressed the distances of the principal points from a
horizontal plane, imagined to pass through the highest or lowest points
of ground, in the survey. This imaginary plane is called a _plane of
comparison_.
=Plane of Defilade.= Is a plane supposed to pass through the summit or
crest of a work, and parallel to the plane of site.
=Plane of Fire.= See POINTING.
=Plane of Sight.= See POINTING.
=Plane of Site.= The general level of the ground or ground line, upon
which the works are constructed, is called the _plane of site_, whether
that plane be horizontal or oblique to the horizon.
=Plane Table.= A surveying instrument, consisting of a table or board
and arrangements for leveling and traversing it. It is much used in
military surveys and in gunnery in getting the ranges of projectiles by
the method of intersections.
=Plant, To.= In a military sense, to place; to fix; as, to plant a
standard. It likewise signifies to arrange different pieces of ordnance
for the purpose of doing execution against an enemy or his works; hence,
to plant a battery. Some authors apply this word to the act of directing
a cannon properly.
=Plantagenet.= The surname of a dynasty of English kings who ruled from
1154 to 1485. Henry II. was the founder, and Richard III., who was
killed at Bosworth, the last of the line. They were generally warlike
and ambitious rulers, being engaged in contests at home (see ROSES, WARS
OF THE) and in France. The name belonged to the house of Anjou, and is
said to have been derived from the circumstance of the first count of
this house having caused himself to be scourged with branches of broom
(_planta genista_) as a penance for some crime. The name passed to the
English line of kings through the extinction of the old Norman dynasty
in the male line in the person of Henry II., and the marriage of
Matilda, his daughter, to Geoffrey, count of Anjou, their son succeeding
to the throne.
=Plassey.= A village of British India, in the district of Nuddea,
presidency of Bengal, on the left bank of the Hooghly, 96 miles north of
Calcutta. It is memorable as the scene of the victory that laid the
foundation of the British-Indian empire. On June 23, 1757, Clive, with a
force of 900 Europeans and 2100 Sepoys, crossed the river to attack
68,000 men under Sooraj-oo-Dowlah, soubahdar of Bengal. After much
cannonading on both sides, Meer Jaffier, who was in the interest of the
British, advised the soubahdar to retreat. Clive immediately advanced,
routed the army, and took the camp of the soubahdar, who was dethroned
to make way for the traitor Meer Jaffier.
=Plastron= (_Fr._). Stuffed pad or cushion, formerly worn at the
shoulder to sustain the recoil of heavy muskets and other fire-arms,
still used by fencers upon the right side; also a breastplate or half
cuirass. In the old French service, the gens d’armes, the heavy cavalry,
the light horse, etc., were obliged to wear them on all occasions, at
reviews, etc.
=Platæa= (more commonly _Platææ_). An ancient city of Bœotia, on the
northern slope of Mount Cithæron, on the frontiers of Attica. At an
early period, the Platæans deserted the Bœotian confederacy, and placed
themselves under the protection of Athens; and when the Persians invaded
Attica in 490 B.C., they sent 1000 men to the assistance of the
Athenians, and had the honor of fighting on their side at the battle of
Marathon. Ten years afterwards (480 B.C.) their city was destroyed by
the Persian army under Xerxes at the instigation of the Thebans. It was
the site of the battle between Mardonius, commander of the army of
Xerxes of Persia, and Pausanias, commanding the Lacedæmonians and
Athenians, 479 B.C.; the same day as the battle of Mycale. Of 300,000
Persians, scarce 3000 escaped with their lives. The Grecian army, about
110,000, lost but few men. The Greeks obtained immense plunder, and were
henceforth delivered from the fear of Persian invasions. In the third
year of the Peloponnesian war (429), the Thebans persuaded the Spartans
to attack Platæa, and after a siege of two years at length succeeded in
obtaining possession of the place (427). Platæa was then razed to the
ground, but was again rebuilt after the peace of Antalcidas (387 B.C.).
It was destroyed the third time by its inveterate enemies, the Thebans,
in 374 B.C. It was rebuilt by Philip II. of Macedon, after his victory
at Chæronea, 338 B.C.
=Plate.= Metallic armor composed of broad pieces, and thus distinguished
from mail.
=Plate.= To arm with plate or metal for defense. “Why plated in
habiliments of war?”
=Plate-armor.= Armor of strong metal plates for protecting
fortifications and the like; also mail consisting entirely of metallic
plates, formerly worn to protect the person.
=Platform.= Is a strong flooring upon which a piece of ordnance, mounted
on its carriage, is manœuvred when in battery. Its object is to
facilitate the service of heavy guns and mortars, and to insure accuracy
of fire. Fixed platforms are used for casemate and barbette batteries in
fortifications, and are constructed with the works; siege-platforms for
guns and howitzers; and siege-platforms for mortars; the other kinds are
the rail-platform, the ricochet-platform, and the platforms for
sea-coast mortars. Platforms should possess strength and portability,
and the pieces composing them should be constructed of the same
dimensions, viz.: 9 feet long, 5 inches wide, and 3¹⁄₂ inches thick. The
weight of each piece in a platform is about 50 pounds; and in a
siege-platform for guns and howitzers, there are 49 pieces, 1 being used
as a _hurter_ on the front part of the platform to prevent the carriage
from running too far forward, and 12 for sleepers. The weight of this
platform complete is 2601¹⁄₂ pounds. This platform is laid with an
elevation to the rear, of 1¹⁄₂ inches to the yard, or 4¹⁄₂ inches in the
whole length. This elevation is given to diminish the recoil of the
piece and to permit the water to run off. The length of this platform
is 15 feet by 9 feet. The platform for a siege-mortar is composed of
only 6 sleepers and 21 deck-planks. It is laid level, and the front and
rear deck-planks are connected by eye-bolts to every sleeper. This
platform is about 9 feet deep by 9 feet wide, and weighs 1220 pounds.
The rail-platform for siege-mortars consists of 3 sleepers and 2 rails
for the cheeks of the mortar-bed to slide on, instead of the deck-plank,
and is very strong, and easily constructed and laid. For method of
laying platforms for siege-gun or howitzer, and for mortars, see
“Hand-book of Artillery,” by Roberts, pages 143-47.
=Platform Wagon.= A sort of wagon used for transporting heavy ordnance.
=Platoon.= Probably from the French _peloton_, a “ball of thread,” a
“knot,” was a term formerly used in the English service to designate a
body of men who fired together. In U. S. tactics, it is now a recognized
subdivision of a company, being one-half.
=Plattsburg.= A township and capital of Clinton Co., N. Y., situated on
both banks of the Saranac River, at its entrance into Lake Champlain. In
the bay was fought the naval battle of Champlain, in which the British
flotilla, under Commodore Downie, was defeated by the American commodore
McDonough, September 11, 1814; while the land forces amounting to 14,000
men, under Sir George Prevost, were defeated by Gen. Macomb.
=Play.= Is occasionally applied to a military action; as, the guns
played upon the enemy.
=Plea.= That which is alleged by a party in support of his cause; in a
stricter sense, an allegation of fact in a cause, as distinguished from
a demurrer; in a still more limited sense, and in modern practice, the
defendant’s answer to the plaintiff’s declaration and demand. That which
the plaintiff alleges in his declaration is answered and repelled or
justified by the defendant’s _plea_.
=Plevna.= A town of Bulgaria, which became important in a military sense
through the battles which took place around it during the Russo-Turkish
war. The first battle took place July 15-16, 1877, resulting in the
capture of Nikopolis. The second took place July 30, with considerable
loss to both sides, but without any decisive results. The third took
place September 11.
=Plombée= (_Fr._). An ancient war-club, whose head was loaded with lead.
=Plongée.= In artillery and fortification, means a slope toward the
front. Thus, in speaking of the course of a shell through the air, its
plongée is from the point of greatest altitude to the point at which it
strikes the earth. So, in fortification, the plongée is the top of the
parapet, sloping gently toward the front. This depression varies from
one-fourth to one-sixth of the thickness of the parapet.
=Ploy.= To form a column from a line of battle on some designated
subdivision.
=Ployments.= A general term for all tactical movements by which a column
is formed from line upon a designated subdivision.
=Pluck.= Spirit; perseverance under opposition or discouragement;
indomitableness; courage.
=Plume.= A large and handsome feather worn as an ornament on a helmet,
on a military hat, and the like.
=Plummet.= In gunnery, is a simple line and bob for pointing mortars. A
plummet is also used for regulating the march of infantry. It is made by
means of a musket-ball, suspended by a silk string, upon which the
required lengths are marked; the length is measured from the point of
suspension to the centre of the ball. The different lengths of these
plummets are as follows: for common time, 90 steps in a minute, 17.37
inches; quick time, 110 steps in a minute, 11.6 inches; double time, 165
steps in a minute, 5.17 inches.
=Plunder.= To take the goods of another by force; to take from by
robbery; to spoil; to strip; to rob; as, to plunder a place. Also to
take by pillage or open force; as, the enemy plundered all the goods
they found.
=Plunder.= That which is taken from an enemy; pillage; spoil.
=Plunging Fire.= See FIRE, PLUNGING.
=Pluteus.= A kind of wicker helmet covered with raw ox-hide, worn by the
ancient Greeks when engaged in sapping walls. Others were made of
hurdles, covered in the same way, running upon three wheels, and
affording cover to 7 or 8 miners.
=Plymouth.= A seaport town in England, county of Devon, on the east side
of a peninsula, between the rivers Plym and Tamar, at the head of
Plymouth Sound, 37 miles southwest of Exeter. Prior to the time of the
Norman conquest it was called _South Town_, or _Sutton_; under the Saxon
dynasty it was called _Tamerweorth_. The growing prosperity of the town
excited the jealousy of France; and in 1339 a force from thence landed,
and attempted to burn it. They succeeded in burning a portion, but were
ultimately repulsed, with the loss of 500 men, by Hugh Courtenay, earl
of Devon, aided by a number of “knights and men of the countrie.” A
similar attempt was made in 1377, but with no great result; and after
each, the fortifications were extended and strengthened. In 1335 the
Black Prince embarked from Plymouth for France, and on his return to
England he landed here with his prisoner, King John of France, who had
been captured at the famous battle of Poitiers. During the civil war
between Charles I. and the Parliament, Plymouth was held by the troops
of the latter party, who, though besieged, and almost reduced by famine,
resisted for three years every effort of the royalists. After the
restoration the citadel was erected, and in the reign of William III.
the dock-yard and the naval arsenal were established toward the west,
upon the eastern shore of Hamoaze.
=Plymouth.= A town of Washington Co., N. C., on the south bank of
Roanoke River about 8 miles from its mouth, where it empties into
Albemarle Sound. During the civil war it was held for some time by the
Union troops as a key to the river, and was strongly fortified. On April
17, 1864, a Confederate force under Gen. Hoke attacked this place, and
after four days’ severe fighting, being five times repulsed with great
slaughter, succeeded in capturing it, by the powerful assistance of an
ironclad ram and a floating sharpshooter battery.
=Pocket Ledger.= In the British service, is a small book in the
possession of each soldier, containing the result of the monthly
settlement of pay, the state of his savings-bank account, the date of
his enlistment, his services, wounds, decorations, date of birth, next
of kin, a summary of the regulations which affect him, and many other
useful particulars.
=Podoll= (Bohemia). The site of a severe conflict between the Austrians
and a part of the army of Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia, June 26,
1866, in which the latter had the advantage.
=Point.= In heraldry, a triangular figure issuing from the dexter and
sinister base of the shield. It is common in French and German heraldry,
and occurs in the shield of Hanover, which was a part of the royal arms
of Great Britain from the accession of George I. till that of the
present sovereign. A shield charged with a point is in heraldic drawing
hardly distinguishable from one parted per chevron.
=Point d’Appui.= Any particular given point or body, upon which troops
are formed, or by which they are marched, in line or column. _Points
d’appui_ also signify the different advantageous posts, such as castles,
fortified villages, etc., which the general of an army takes possession
of in order to secure his natural position.
=Point of Alignment.= The point which troops form upon and dress by.
=Point of Formation.= A point taken, upon which troops are formed in
military order.
_Perpendicular points_, the points upon which troops march in a
straight-forward direction.
_Relative points_, the points by which the parallelism of a march is
preserved.
=Point of Honor.= See HONOR, POINT OF.
=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-blank.= The second point at which the line of sight intersects
the trajectory of a projectile. See POINTING.
=Point-blank.= Directed in a line toward the object aimed at; aimed
directly toward the mark.
=Point-blank Range.= Is the distance from the muzzle of the piece to
that point in a projectile’s trajectory where it cuts the prolongation
of the natural line of sight, a second time, the natural line of sight
being horizontal. The British define point-blank range as, “the distance
from the muzzle to the first graze when the axis of the piece is
parallel to the horizontal plane upon which the carriage stands.” This
definition is being adopted in the U. S. service.--See POINTING.
=Point-blank Shot.= The shot of a gun pointed directly toward the object
to be hit.
=Pointing.= To point or aim a fire-arm is, to give it such direction and
elevation that the projectile shall strike the object.
_Definitions._--The _axis of the piece_ is the centre line of the bore.
The _line of fire_ is the axis of the piece prolonged.
The _plane of fire_ is a vertical plane through the line of fire.
The _line of sight_ is the right line from the eye to the object to be
hit, passing through the front and rear sights.
The _plane of sight_ is a vertical plane through the line of sight.
The _angle of sight_, or the _elevation_, is the vertical angle included
between the line of sight and the plane containing the axis of the piece
and a horizontal line at right angles to it.
The _natural line of sight_ is the line of sight nearest to the axis of
the piece. In guns without rear sights it is the right line through the
highest point of the base-ring and swell of the muzzle or top of the
front sight when there is one. It is sometimes called the _line of
metal_, as in mortars. For convenience and accuracy the _natural line of
sight_ is usually parallel to the axis of the piece. When special
breech-sights are used, it passes through the zero of the scale, which
in the _pendulum hausse_ and other vibrating scales coincides with the
axis of vibration. All other lines of sight are called _artificial lines
of sight_.
_Point-blank_, in small-arms, is the second point in which the natural
line of sight (when horizontal) cuts the trajectory. In artillery, it is
the point where the projectile first strikes the horizontal plane on
which the gun stands, the axis of the piece being horizontal.
_Pointing Guns and Howitzers._--In pointing old model guns and howitzers
under ordinary angles of elevation, the piece is first directed toward
the object, and then elevated to suit the distance. The accuracy of the
aim depends: (1) On the fact that the object is situated in the plane of
sight; (2) That the projectile moves in the plane of fire, and that the
planes of sight and fire coincide, or are parallel and near to each
other; and (3) On the accuracy of the elevation. The first of these
conditions depends on the eye of the gunner, and the accuracy and
delicacy of the sights; the errors under this head are of but little
practical importance. When the trunnions of the piece are horizontal,
and the sights are properly placed on the surface of the piece, the
planes of sight and fire will coincide; but when the axis of the
trunnions is inclined, and the natural line of sight is oblique to the
axis of the bore, the planes are neither parallel nor coincident, but
will intersect at a short distance from the muzzle, and the aim will be
incorrect. If the natural line of sight be made parallel to the line of
fire, by making the height of the front sight equal to the dispart of
the piece, the planes of sight and fire will be parallel. Field-guns of
the present day have special breech-sights or pendulum-sights. The zero
of the scale and top of front sight are in a line parallel to the axis
of the piece, and in pendulum-sights this zero coincides with the pivot
at which the scale vibrates. Siege and sea-coast cannon are generally
fired from fixed platforms, which renders the axis of the trunnions
horizontal; they are, therefore, not furnished with pendulum-sights, but
usually with breech-sights set in sockets at the breech. In the absence
of a breech-sight the piece can be pointed with a natural line of sight
so as to strike objects not situated at point-blank distance. Owing to
the shape and size of the reinforce of sea-coast cannon, the natural
line of sight is formed by affixing a front sight to the muzzle, or to a
projection cast on the piece between the trunnions. Although the latter
arrangement does not give quite so long a distance between the sights as
is desirable, it permits the use of a shorter breech-sight, and the
front sight does not interfere with the roof of the embrasure, when the
piece is fired under high elevation.
_Errors in Pointing._--When the platform or ground upon which the gun
stands is not level there is an error in pointing (except when
compensating sights such as the _pendulum hausse_ are used), which
varies in direction with the circumstances of the pointing and in amount
with the elevation of the piece.
If the _natural line of sight_ is pointed upon the object and the
elevation then given by a gunner’s quadrant or other device, the shot
will go to the side of the lower wheel. If the gun be depressed, it will
go to the side of the upper wheel.
If the _tangent scale_ or old pattern _breech-sight_ is used with the
ordinary fixed muzzle-sight, and it be placed on a chalk-mark just
determined, the shot will fall on the side of the upper wheel. If the
scale is placed on the permanent mark, the contrary will hold.
If a _socket or fixed breech-sight_ is used, the shot will fall on the
lower or upper side according as the gun is elevated or depressed.