FORLORN a.
was still living. Thomson. A forlorn hope Etym: [D. verloren hoop, prop., a lost band or troop; verloren, p.p. of verliezen to lose + hoop band; akin to E. heap. See For-, and Heap.] (Mil.), a body of men (called in F. enfants perdus, in G. verloren posten) selected, usually from volunteers, to attempt a breach, scale…
FORT n.
A strong or fortified place; usually, a small fortified place, occupied only by troops, surrounded with a ditch, rampart, and parapet, or with palisades, stockades, or other means of defense; a fortification. Detached works, depending solely on their own strength, belong to the class of works termed forts. Farrow.…
GLOBE n.
A body of troops, or of men or animals, drawn up in a circle; -- a military formation used by the Romans, answering to the modern infantry square. Him round A globe of fiery seraphim inclosed. Milton. Globe amaranth (Bot.), a plant of the genus Gomphrena (G. globosa), bearing round heads of variously colored flowers, w…
GUIDE n.
ioned officer or soldier placed on the directiug flank of each subdivision of a column of troops, or at the end of a line, to mark the pivots, formations, marches, and alignments in tactics. Farrow. Guide bar (Mach.), the part of a steam engine on which the crosshead slides, and by which the motion of the piston rod is…
HEAVY a.
) (a) Guns of great weight or large caliber, esp. siege, garrison, and seacoast guns. (b) Troops which serve heavy guns. -- Heavy cavalry. See under Cavalry. -- Heavy fire (Mil.), a continuous or destructive cannonading, or discharge of small arms. -- Heavy metal (Mil.), large guns carrying balls of a large size; al…