Peril. To expose to danger; to hazard; to risk, etc.
Perim. A small island belonging to Great Britain, situated in the strait of Bab-el-Mandeb, at the entrance to the Red Sea, about 1 mile distant from the Arabian, and about 13 miles from the African coast. On its southwest side is an excellent harbor, capable of accommodating 40 men-of-war. Fortifications have been erected on the island, and the guns command the strait on both sides. It was first occupied by the English in 1799, and held by them as a check upon the designs of the French, who were then in Egypt. It was abandoned in 1801, but was reoccupied by Great Britain in February, 1857, with a view to the protection of her Indian possessions, which were thought to be exposed to some chance of danger from the opening of the Suez Canal.
Perjury. False swearing; the act or crime of willfully making a false oath, when lawfully administered; or the crime committed when a lawful oath is administered, in some judicial proceeding, to a person who swears willfully, absolutely, and falsely in a matter material to the issue. For punishment of persons convicted of perjury, see Appendix, [Articles of War], [60] and [62].
Perkernucka. Petty officers are so called in India.
Perm. A government of Russia, situated partly in Russia in Europe and partly in Russia in Asia. It was invaded and ruined by the Mongols in the 13th century.
Permanent Fortification. See [Fortification].
Permanent Rank. A rank in the military service which does not cease with any particular service, or locality of circumstances; in opposition to local or temporary rank.
Péronne. A town of France, in the department of Somme, 30 miles east of Amiens. Louis XI. of France, having placed himself in the power of the Duke of Burgundy, was forced to sign the treaty of Péronne, confirming those of Arras and Conflans, with several humiliating stipulations, October 14, 1468. Louis XI. had promised Champagne and Brié as appanages to his brother Charles, duke of Berry, not intending to keep his word, apprehending that those provinces, being so near Burgundy, would prove a fresh source of broils and disputes. Péronne was a place of much importance in the Middle Ages, and bore the name of La Pucelle (“The Maiden City”), as it was never captured till Wellington took it eight days after the battle of Waterloo.
Perpendicular Direction. In the march of a line, is the direction at right angles to the line which each man should take in a direct movement to the front. Without the strictest attention is paid to this essential principle in all movements, the greatest irregularity, and ultimately the greatest confusion, must ensue. Perpendicular and parallel movements constitute, indeed, the whole system of good marching. When several columns, divisions, or companies advance, the lines and directions of marching must be strictly perpendicular and parallel to each other, otherwise the distance will be lost, and the ultimate object of forming a correct line must be defeated.
Perpendicular Fortification. Owes its origin to the Marquis de Montalembert, a distinguished French general, who published his works upon the subject in 1776. Vauban had, it was admitted, rendered the art of attack superior to that of defense. Montalembert strove to reverse this relation, and in his endeavors, rejected entirely the bastion system of the older engineers. Instead of the occasional bastions, with intervening curtains, with which they surrounded their [enceinte], he broke the whole polygon into salient and re-entering angles, the latter being generally at right angles. Before the connected redans thus formed were counterguards of low elevation and ravelins, to which the approaches were through casemated [caponnieres]. In the salient angle of each redan he built a brick tower, 40 feet in diameter, twelve-sided, and four stories high. The second and third tiers were built for heavy guns, and the upper loop-holed for musketry. In the centre of the tower was a circular [reduit], intended as a last refuge for the garrison. Montalembert maintained that from these towers every possible approach could be commanded, which to a great extent is true; but it must be also remembered that the greater space a gun commands, by so much the more is it raised above the plain, and rendered visible. These towers would have little chance against the rifled ordnance of the present day. Montalembert’s system was violently attacked by the French engineers, but Carnot subsequently adopted it, with some modifications, and it enters largely into the modern German defensive works. The system has never, however, found favor with British engineers.