POST, a word derived from the Latin positus, "set or placed." It is used in several different meanings, but all of them referring either immediately or remotely to this primitive sense of position. Thus the word Post signifies, 1. A stake or piece of timber set upright; 2. A
station, particularly a military station; 3. An office or employment; 4. An operation in book-keeping; 5. A conveyance for letters or dispatches; 6. A particular mode of travelling.
Post, a stake or piece of timber set upright. Posts are used both in building and in fencing ground. In brick-buildings much of the strength of the fabric depends on the nature of the posts; as it is through them that the several parts are sustained and held together. The corner posts are called the principal posts; those formed into bressummers between principal posts for strengthening the cornice of the house are called the prick-posts. Posts which are to be set in the ground ought to be well seasoned and coated to preserve them from rotting; burning the downward end has been recommended as an excellent preservative, but a coating of pitch or tar, particularly the late invented coal-tar, can be most safely relied upon. For the various uses to which posts may be applied, and the form and species of them fitted to be employed in each case, see the articles ARCHITECTURE, JOINING, GARDENING, HOUSE, FENCE, &c. In architecture and sculpture POSTS are a term used to denote certain ornaments formed after the manner of rolls or wreathings.
Post, a station, particularly a military station.— Any place where persons are set or placed upon particular occasions may be termed a post; but the word in this view is now chiefly restricted to military operations, and means any place or situation where soldiers are stationed. Thus the detachments established in front of the army are termed the out-posts, the stations on the wings of the army are said to be the posts of honour, as being the most conspicuous and most exposed. But in the operations of a campaign, a post properly signifies any spot of ground capable of lodging soldiers, or any situation, whether fortified or not, where a body of men may make a stand and engage the enemy to advantage. The great advantages of good posts, in carrying on war, as well as the mode of securing them, are only learned by experience. Barbarous nations disdain the choice of posts, or at least are contented with such as immediately fall in their way; they trust solely or chiefly to strength and courage: and hence the fate of a kingdom may be decided by the event of a battle. But enlightened and experienced officers make the choice of posts a principal object of attention. The use of them is chiefly felt in a defensive war against an invading enemy; as by carrying on a war of posts in a country where this can be done to advantage, the most formidable army may be so harassed and reduced, that all its enterprises may be rendered abortive. Indeed in modern times this is so well understood, that pitched battles have become much more rare than formerly, manœuvring and securing of posts being considered as the most essential objects in the conduct of a campaign; a change in the art of war much to the advantage of humanity; skill, conduct, and prudence, having thus obtained the ascendancy over brutal courage and mere bodily strength. In the choice of a post, the general rules to be attended to are, that it be convenient for sending out parties to reconnoitre, surprise, or intercept the enemy; that if possible it have some natural defence, as a wood, a river, or a morass, in front or flank, or at least that it
be difficult of access and susceptible of speedy fortification; that it be so situate as to preserve a communication with the main army, and have covered places in the rear to favour a retreat; that it command a view of all the approaches to it, so that the enemy cannot advance unperceived and rest concealed, while the detachment stationed in the post are forced to remain under arms; that it be not commanded by any neighbouring heights; and that it be proportioned in extent to the number of men who are to occupy and defend it. It is not to be expected that all these advantages will often be found united; but those posts ought to be selected which offer the greatest number of them. See WAR, Index.