Last Stand

Last stand is a loose military term used to describe a body of troops holding a defensive position in the face of overwhelming odds where the majority of soldiers are killed. The defensive force usually takes very heavy casualties or is completely destroyed, while also inflicting high casualties on the opponent as happened at the Battle of Little Big Horn, popularly known as "Custer's Last Stand". Sometimes the term is used to describe the last pitched battle of a war where the position of the defending force is hopeless but the defending force considers it their duty not to surrender until forced to do so, as happened to the last Royalist field army of the English Civil War at the Battle of Stow-on-the-Wold. A last stand is a last resort tactic, and is chosen because the defending force realizes the benefits of fighting outweigh the benefits of retreat or surrender. This usually arises from strategic or moral considerations, leading defenders to conclude that their sacrifice is essential to the greater success of their campaign or cause, as happened at the end of the Battle of Thermopylae.... Mehr