PITONS, Fr. nails with round eyes. They likewise signify pins with iron rings.
Pitons d’affut, Fr. iron pins which are used to keep the plate-bands of the carriage of a cannon tight and compact.
PIVOT, (Pivot, Fr.) in a military sense, that officer, serjeant, corporal, or soldier, upon whom the different wheelings are made in military evolutions. There are two sorts of pivots distinguished according to the position of the troops who are governed by them, viz. standing pivot and moveable pivot. When a battalion, for instance, stands in open column of companies, the right in front, the last man upon the left of the front rank of each company, is called the inner, or standing pivot; and the first man upon the right ditto, is called the outer pivot, or wheeling flank. So much depends upon the accurate position of the different pivots, that no movement can be thoroughly correct unless the most scrupulous attention be paid to them. Officers, in particular, ought to recollect that when they are posted upon the flanks, they become essentially necessary to the preservation of that perpendicular and parallelism of a march, without which direction the best digested manœuvres must be ultimately rendered useless. They must constantly bear in mind, that it belongs to the mounted field officers to watch the aggregate, and that they themselves, being incorporated parts of the different divisions, are to move successively forward, with no other object in view than the perpendicular point before them. For if they once turn to the right or left, or become anxious about the movements of others, instead of being the means of insensibly correcting any errors that might casually occur, they will deviate themselves, and at every step increase the irregularity. On this account, the instant an officer has wheeled his division, he must resume his perpendicular position, look stedfastly on his leading pivot, preserve his relative distance, and keep his person perfectly square. He ought likewise to be particularly correct in stepping off when the wheel is completed.
Moveable Pivot, one which during the wheel of its division advances in a circular direction, instead of turning on the spot where it originally stood. Thus when divisions, &c. are successively wheeled, without being first halted, the pivot upon which they wheel is said to be moveable.
In the drill, single ranks are frequently wheeled on a moveable pivot. In which case, both flanks are moveable, and describe concentring circles round a point which is a few paces from what would otherwise be the standing flank; and eyes are all turned towards the outer pivot or flank man, whether he is on the outward flank, or on the flank wheeled to.
Pivot-Flanks, the flanks upon which a line is formed from column. When the right of the battalion is in front, the pivot flanks are on the left of its several companies, platoons, &c. and vice versâ, when the left is in front.
Pivot-flank officer, the officer who is on the first flank. In all wheelings during the march in column the officer on that flank upon which the wheel is made must attend himself to the correctness of the pivot.
Platoon Pivots, the men upon whom a battalion marches in column of platoons, is wheeled up into line, or into column, when the line has been formed according to a given front.
It is in the modern improved tactics determined that commissioned officers shall not themselves be the pivots, but that they shall consist of the non-commissioned officers, or rank and file on each flank only; and not the officers on those flanks; but the officers are strictly required to see that the pivots perform their duty correctly, and are responsible for it.
PLACAGE, Fr.. in fortification, a kind of revetement, 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.