Part 384

PRENDRE son êlan, Fr. To dart forth, to spring forward.

PRENDRE un rat, Fr. A figurative expression used among the French when a musquet or pistol misses fire, Il voulut tirer, mais son pistolet ne prit qu’un rat. Literally, he would have fired, but his pistol only caught a rat.

PRENDRE langue, Fr. To seek for information, to obtain intelligence.

PRENDRE du temps, Fr. To take time in executing a thing.

PRENDRE son temps, Fr. To do a thing with perfect convenience to one’s self.

PRENDRE la parole, Fr. To speak first.

PRENDRE sa revanche, Fr. To make up for any past loss or disadvantage. We familiarly say, to take one’s revenge.

PRENDRE à partie, Fr. An expression peculiar to the French, in judicial matters, which signifies to attack a judge, for having prevaricated and taken the part of one side against another, without any regard to justice. It likewise means to impute misconduct or criminality, and to make a person responsible for it.

Se PRENDRE de vin, Fr. To get drunk. Excess of drinking was so little known among the French officers and soldiers, that the greatest disgrace was affixed to the habit. It is recorded, that when marshal Richelieu had determined to storm a place in the Mediterranean, he gave out the following order--“any soldier who shall appear the least intoxicated, shall be excluded from the honor and glory of mounting the assault to-morrow morning.” Every man was at his post, and not a single instance of intoxication occurred. Such was the esprit de corps and the amour propre which prevailed in all ranks, that the dread of corporeal punishment had less effect than the being deprived of an opportunity to shew courage and resolution.

Vaisseau PRENEUR, Fr. A term peculiarly applicable to a ship that has taken a prize.

PREPARATIFS de guerre, Fr. Warlike preparations. A French writer, under this article, very judiciously observes, that the necessary arrangements which must be made before an army takes the field, and sometimes before an open declaration of war takes place, ought to be managed with extreme caution and great secrecy; although it is impossible to prevent the neighboring powers from being totally ignorant of what is going forward. It is recorded that Henry the IVth of France, having conceived a vast military project, kept it a profound secret for several years, and made the necessary preparations with extreme caution, before he put it into execution.

When Louis the XIVth resolved to invade Italy, in 1663, he dispatched commissaries, purveyors, &c. the preceding year, under various pretences, to buy up corn, to secure forage for his cavalry, and to provide every thing that might be wanted in the train of artillery; and in 1667, when he formed the plan of entering Belgium in person, he arranged all matters relative to the interior government of France during his absence, examined into the state of the finances, filled his treasury with money, augmented, by insensible degrees, the different regiments of his army, and by means of these and other sage precautions, secured the conquest of his object. In fact, well digested plans and cautious arrangements previous to the execution of a military project, however apparently tedious, are the sure forerunners of a prompt and decisive victory. It was a maxim among the Romans, and it is still one among the Turks, De faire de grosses et courtes guerres. To make war upon a scale previously vast and heavy, that its issue may be ultimately short and effectual.

PREPARATIVE, having the power of preparing, qualifying, or fitting. This word is used in a military sense to give notice of any thing about to be done. Hence

PREPARATIVE. A beat of the drum by which officers are warned to step out of the ranks when the firings are to commence.

When the preparative is beat, for the firings, the officers in the front rank step out nimbly two paces from the vacancies between the divisions, platoons, companies, or sub divisions, face to the left without word of command, and look right of companies, &c. When the preparative has ceased, they severally commence the firing. When the general is beat they fall back into the front rank.

To PREPARE. To take previous measures.

PREPARE for action. A word of command used in the artillery. To battery, is a command of the same import.

PREPARATORY, antecedently necessary; giving that knowlege in any art or science which is necessary to qualify individuals for a superior class or branch. Hence preparatory schools.

PREPARATORY Academies. The junior department of the British military college, is preparatory to the senior. The first elements of military science are taught in the former, and officers get qualified in the higher branches of the profession when they enter the latter.

PRESENCE of mind. Ready conception of expedients, producing promptitude of action under difficult and alarming circumstances.

There is a very remarkable instance of that species of presence of mind which gives a sudden turn to public opinion, and, as it were, electrifies the human mind. When a dangerous mutiny broke out among the Roman legions, on a proposed expedition against the Germans, Cæsar suddenly exclaimed, “Let the whole army return ignominiously home if it think proper, the tenth legion and myself will remain and combat for the republic.” Having, as Plutarch observes, excited his troops to fresh ardor, he led them against the Germans; and being informed that the enemy had been warned by their soothsayers not to engage before the next moon, he took an immediate occasion to force them to battle, in which he as usual obtained victory. On a subsequent occasion this great man discovered a promptitude of conception and a presence of mind which have since been imitated on various occasions by a modern general, but have never been surpassed in ancient or modern history.

Having led his army against the Nervii, the most uncivilized, and the most fierce of all the nations bordering upon the Roman territory, he met a resistance, which as it was not expected, somewhat shook the firmness of his troops. The Nervii, by a sudden onset, at first routed his cavalry, but perceiving the danger to which his army was exposed, Cæsar himself snatched up a buckler, and forcing his way through his own men, he, with the assistance of his tenth legion, changed the fortune of the day, and cut the enemy almost entirely off. For, as Plutarch states, out of 60,000 soldiers, not above 500 survived the battle. The instances of presence of mind in modern wars are numerous, for several see Memoirs of Bonaparte’s first campaign: and several subsequent occasions.

En PRESENCE, Fr. In sight.

All PRESENT. A term used when an officer takes his serjeant’s report, and makes the necessary enquiry respecting the state of his troops or company.

To PRESENT, PRESENTER, Fr. This word is used in various senses. Those which are more immediately applicable to military usage are as follow:

To PRESENT. To offer openly. To exhibit. To give in ceremony; as to present the colors.

To PRESENT arms. To bring the firelock to a certain prescribed position, for the purpose of paying a military compliment. See MANUAL.

PRESENTER les armes, Fr. To present arms, to bring the firelock to any position that may be prescribed in military exercise. In the firings it signifies make ready, viz. Presentez les armes, make ready; Joue, aim; feu, fire. In the manual and other exercises of the piece, it corresponds with our term.