Editing Platoon (section)

== Etymology ==

According to [[Merriam-Webster]], the word came into the English language via the [[French language|French]] ''peloton'' ("small detachment"), from the [[Middle French]] ''pelote'' ("little ball") and derived from the Low Latin "pilotta", itself derived from the [[Classical Latin]] "pila". The use of the word is first attested in c. 1547, referring to "a subdivision of a company-sized military unit normally consisting of two or more squads or sections"."<ref name="merriam-webster">{{ cite web|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/platoon|title=Definition of PLATOON|website=www.merriam-webster.com |date=29 August 2023 }}</ref> The meaning was a group of soldiers firing a volley together, while a different platoon reloaded. This suggests an augmentative intention. Since soldiers were often organized in two or three lines, each firing its volley together, this would have normally meant platoons organized so that half or a third of the company is firing at once.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}

The platoon was originally a firing unit rather than an organization.{{Clarify|date=April 2024}} While the system is claimed in the 1829 London Encyclopaedia to have been introduced by [[Gustavus Adolphus|Gustavus Adolphus the Great of Sweden]] in 1618,<ref>p.250 Curtis, Thomas ''The London Encyclopaedia: Or, Universal Dictionary of Science, Art, Literature, and Practical Mechanics...'' Volume 9 T. Tegg, 1829</ref> the "peloton" appears to predate his birth. In the French Army in the 1670s, a battalion was divided into 18 platoons who were grouped into three "firings" with each platoon either firing or reloading at any given time during a [[fusillade]].<ref>p.486 Lynn, John A. ''Giant of the Grand Siècle: The French Army, 1610-1715'' Cambridge University Press, 14/12/2006</ref> This system was also used in the British, Austrian, Russian and Dutch armies.<ref>p.404 Nimwegen, Olaf Van ''The Dutch Army and the Military Revolutions, 1588-1688'' Boydell & Brewer, 21/10/2010</ref>