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183:. In this context, a rearguard can be a minor unit of regular or irregular troops that protect the withdrawal of larger numbers of personnel (military or civilian) during a retreat, by blocking, defending, delaying, or otherwise interfering with enemy forces in order to gain time for the remainder to regroup or reorganize. Rearguard actions may be undertaken in a number of ways: defensively, such as by defending strongpoints or tactically important terrain; or offensively, by pre-emptively assaulting with a
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Narrowly defined, a rearguard is a covering detachment that protects the retreating main ground force element (main body), or column, and is charged with executing defensive or retrograde movements between the main body and the enemy to prevent the latter from attacking or interfering with the
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in 1915–1916. The nature of combat in rearguard actions involving combat between armies of nation-states is typically desperate and vicious, and rearguard troops may be called upon to incur heavy casualties or even to sacrifice all of their combat strength and personnel for the benefit of the
445:, Army Field Manual FM 3-90 (Tactics) (July 2001), pp. 5–39, 5–40: A spoiling attack is a defensive attack, undertaken to preempt or seriously impair an expected enemy assault by attacking the enemy while the latter is in the process of assembly or preparation for offensive operations.
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expression, outside any military context. That idiom refers to trying very hard to prevent a thing from happening even though it is probably too late. An example of a famous rearguard action outside the military context is the effort by Roman emperor
142:
The commonly accepted definition of a rearguard in military tactics was largely established in the battles of the late 19th century. Before the mechanization of troop formations, most rearguard tactics originally contemplated the use of
515:'s Serbian Army together with several thousand civilian refugees to reach Adriatic ports in Albania, where they were eventually evacuated, reorganized, and reequipped for the campaign in
556:
103:, Main (or Middle) and Rear. The Rear Ward usually followed the other wards on the march and during a battle usually formed the rearmost of the three if deployed in
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to an attempt at preventing something though it is likely too late to be prevented; this idiomatic meaning may apply in either a military or non-military context.
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rearguard n.1.b: A body of troops detached from the main force to bring up and protect the rear, esp. in the case of a retreat. Also fig. and in extended use."
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tanks in order to protect the withdrawal of French Forces. In two consecutive assaults, the unit lost all its armored cars, incurring heavy casualties.
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Fitzroy
Dearborn Chronology of Ideas: A Record of Philosophical, Political, Theological and Social Thought from Ancient Times to the Present
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Bond, Paul
Stanley (Lt. Col.) and Crouch, Edwin Hunter (1st Lt.), New York: The American Army and Navy Journal (1922)
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A more expansive definition of the rearguard arose during the large-scale struggles between nation-states during
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forces. This definition was later extended to highly mobile infantry as well as mechanized or armored forces.
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89:, i.e. "the guard which is behind", originating with the medieval custom of dividing an army into three
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as the state religion instead of
Christianity. Sportswriters employ the idiom as well.
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511:(2005) p. 542: The Serbian rearguard actions allowed some 125,000–145,000 soldiers of
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Murray, James A. H.; Bradley, Henry; Craigie, W. A.; Onions, C. T., eds. (1933).
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force that protects it from attack from the rear, either during an advance or
302:"rear guard, n.2: Chiefly Brit. The guard at the rear of a railway train."
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58:. The term can also be used to describe forces protecting lines, such as
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555:, World War II Magazine (September 1997), p. 32: On 9 June 1940, the
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590:
The Life and Career of David
Beckham: Football Legend, Cultural Icon
62:, behind an army. Even more generally, a rearguard action may refer
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Military unit or personnel that protects the rear of the main force
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221:-era example is the rearguard action fought by small units of the
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532:, (1st ed.), Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press,
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Eastern Europe: an introduction to the people, lands, and culture
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Fighting or mounting a rearguard action is also sometimes an
432:, Army Field Manual FM 3-90 (Tactics) (July 2001), p. 12-25
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providing rear security to his unit during a simulated
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Big Guns Blast Way in Serbia: Population Joins
Retreat
229:, and Serbian refugees from advancing forces of the
557:
97th
Foreign Legion Divisional Reconnaissance Group
417:
Tactics: the practical art of leading troops in war
552:World War II: A Tale of the French Foreign Legion
187:an enemy that is preparing offensive operations.
321:(2nd ed., Cambridge University Press, 2006) via
478:, Harper's Monthly Magazine (June 1917), p. 334
380:Soldiers Lives through History: The Middle Ages
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225:to protect retreating Serbian troops, the
593:, p. 70 (Rowman & Littlefield, 2014).
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190:Three examples of rearguard actions are:
343:(1st ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press.
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167:soldier providing rear security during
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340:The Oxford English Dictionary (vol. 8)
235:retreat through Albania and Montenegro
490:, The New York Times, 3 November 1915
107:or the left-hand ward if deployed in
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382:. Westport: Greenwood. p. 73.
572:Corey, Melinda and Ochoa, George.
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441:Headquarters, Dept. of the Army,
428:Headquarters, Dept. of the Army,
476:The Serbian Tragedy As I Saw It
459:Crowley, Liz and Hand, David.
404:Manual of Guard Duty, U.S. Army
530:Dunkirk: Fight to the Last Man
462:Football, Europe and the Press
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296:Oxford English Dictionary:
318:Cambridge Idioms Dictionary
255:around 362 A.D. to restore
151:movement of the main body.
131:'s rearguard action during
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21:Rearguard (disambiguation)
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578:, p. 47 (Routledge 2013).
465:, p. 31 (Routledge 2013).
74:The term rearguard (also
528:Sebag-Montefiore, Hugh,
499:Frucht, Richard (ed.),
443:5-166: Spoiling Attack
430:5-166: Spoiling Attack
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169:close-quarters combat
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549:Bimberg, Edward L.,
402:Burnham, W.P. (Lt.)
269:Quick reaction force
242:Idiomatic expression
238:withdrawing forces.
205:Battle of Tirad Pass
32:United States Marine
19:For other uses, see
324:The Free Dictionary
123:An illustration of
60:communication lines
356:Unknown parameter
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165:Niger Armed Forces
155:Contemporary usage
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587:Reavis, Tracey.
538:978-0-674-02439-7
389:978-0-313-33350-7
211:Battle of Dunkirk
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84:Old French
56:withdrawal
360:ignored (
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248:idiomatic
87:reregarde
44:rearguard
603:Category
517:Salonika
378:(2007).
279:Vanguard
263:See also
257:Paganism
199:Zulu War
127:Colonel
80:rearward
76:rereward
52:military
145:cavalry
135:of the
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70:Origins
38:in 2009
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36:patrol
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