[rollei_list] Re: OT: meaning of term

I see.
I wonder if the hyphen was dropped typographically by printers who didn't know the term? 

s.

On Sep 27, 2007, at 7:50 PM, Marc James Small wrote:


At 10:45 AM 9/26/2007, Allen Zak wrote:
>That means he takes measure to protect the right flank of his battle
>unit against attack by an enemy. An army in the field has sides, known 
>as flanks, as well as a front.  Those sides are often vulnerable to a
>flank attack because most of the weapons and deployment for combat
>takes place at the front.
Allen is correct. "Refuse" was a common tactical and operational term in the days of the US Civil War but has since fallen out of common military use. It is "re-fuse" (as in, "fuse again") and not "refuse" (as in to decline to do something). Imagine this: a battle develops and both sides push off to the flanks in an effort to envelop the enemy. When one side runs short of troops to continue the line, it will pull back its exposed flank into a loop connecting back to its own line. A fine example is that of Colonel Chamberlain with the 20th Maine at Little Round Top at Gettysburg. It worked -- and he refused to the front and not to the rear as was more commonly done. 

Marc


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Cha robh bàs fir gun ghràs fir!

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