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].