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PLATOON

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Originally appearing in Volume V21, Page 825 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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PLATOON (Fr. peloton,' from Fr. pelote, a See also:

ball or pellet; Cf. Ger. Haufe, heap); a small See also:group of soldiers. In the See also:early 17th See also:century it was a definite See also:tactical unit of See also:infantry, corresponding .. to the See also:modern See also:section or See also:half See also:company. In the 18th century the See also:battalion, irrespective of its organization into companies, was told off on See also:parade into six, eight or ten platoons of equal strength. " Platoon See also:fire " was the systematic and regulated fire of platoon volleys, the platoons firing one after the other. Hence a " platoon " sometimes means a volley. The fire of a See also:long See also:line of infantry was as arule conducted on the same principles, each, battalion of the front line employing platoon fire, which is often picturesquely described as a " See also:rolling platoon fire," or " rolling volleys." The word is obsolete in the See also:British See also:army, but is used in the See also:United States, and, in various forms, in the armies of See also:France and other Latin nations.

End of Article: PLATOON

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PLATT, THOMAS COLLIER (1833-191o)

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