PRISONER AT LARGE. Free to take exercise within bounds.
PRISONERS OF WAR. Men who are captured after an engagement, who are deprived of their liberty until regularly exchanged, or dismissed on their parole.
PRISONER UNDER RESTRAINT. Suspended from duty; deprived of command.
PRISON-SHIP. One fitted up for receiving and detaining prisoners of war.
PRITCH. A dentated weapon for striking and holding eels.
PRIVATE. The proper designation of a soldier serving in the ranks of the army, holding no special position.
PRIVATEER PRACTICE, or Privateerism. Disorderly conduct, or anything out of man-of-war rules.
PRIVATEERS, or men-of-war equipped by individuals for cruising against the enemy; their commission (see [Letters of Marque]) is given by the admiralty, and revocable by the same authority. They have no property in any prize until it is legally condemned by a competent court. The admiral on the station is entitled to a tenth of their booty. This infamous species of warfare is unhappily not yet abolished among civilized nations.
PRIVATE PROPERTY. Commissions of privateers do not extend to the capture of private property on land; a right not even granted to men-of-war. Private armed ships are not within the terms of a capitulation protecting private property generally.
PRIVATE SIGNAL. Understood by captains having the key, but totally incomprehensible to other persons.