PLATOON  (Fr. peloton,' from Fr. pelote, a

ball or pellet; Cf . Ger . Haufe, heap); a small group of soldiers . In the early 17th century it was a definite tactical unit of infantry, corresponding .. to the modern section or half company . In the 18th century the battalion, irrespective of its organization into companies, was told off on parade into six, eight or ten platoons of equal strength . " Platoon fire " was the systematic and regulated fire of platoon volleys, the platoons firing one after the other . Hence a " platoon " sometimes means a volley . The fire of a long line of infantry was as arule conducted on the same principles, each, battalion of the front line employing platoon fire, which is often picturesquely described as a " rolling platoon fire," or " rolling volleys." The word is obsolete in the British army, but is used in the United States, and, in various forms, in the armies of France and other Latin nations .