Forlorn hope is a military term that comes from the Dutch verloren hoop, which should be translated as "lost troop" although in Dutch it can also mean "lost hope". The Dutch phrase fortutiously sounding like a accurate statement of the units future in English. In the days of muzzle-loading muskets it was most frequently used to refer to the first wave of soldiers attacking a breach in defences during a siege. It was likely that most members of the forlorn hope would be killed or injured. The intention was that some would survive long enough to seize a foothold that could be reinforced, or at least that a second wave with better prospects could be sent in while the defenders were reloading or engaged in mopping up the remnants of the first wave. Muskets and bayonets aboard the frigate Grand Turk A musket is a muzzle-loaded, smoothbore long gun, which a user generally fires from the shoulder. ... A siege is a prolonged military blockade and assault of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by force or attrition. ...

A forlorn hope was typically led by a junior officer with hopes of personal advancement. If he survived, and performed courageously, he was almost guaranteed both a promotion and a long-term boost to his career prospects. As a result, despite the risks, there was often competition for the opportunity to lead the assault. The French equivalent of the Forlorn Hope, called Les Enfant Perdus or The Lost Children, were all guaranteed promotion to officers should they survive and on both sides, men took up the suicidal mission as an opportunity to raise themselves in the army.

There was a symmetry between the risks faced by the forlorn hope and those faced by the defenders. Once a breach suitable for assault had been made in the walls, defenders were usually given a chance to surrender safely. The defenders had already shown their determination and there would be no loss of honour in surrender. If however they chose not to take this opportunity, forcing the attackers to undertake an assault, the usages of war made them subject to massacre, and made the position (often a town or city) that they were holding subject to being sacked and pillaged (see looting) as described by Shakespeare's Henry V before the walls of Harfleur: To surrender is when soldiers give up fighting and become prisoners of war, either as individuals or when ordered to by their officers. ... This article deals with mass killings which are not considered genocide. ... Looting (which derives via the Hindi lut from Sanskrit lunt, to rob) is the inconsiderate taking of valuables triggered by a change in authority or the absence thereof. ... William Shakespeare—born April 1564; baptised April 26, 1564; died April 23, 1616 (O.S.), May 3, 1616 (N.S.)—has a reputation as the greatest of all writers in English. ... William Shakespeare. ...

How yet resolves the governor of the town?

This is the latest parle we will admit;

Therefore to our best mercy give yourselves,

Or like to men proud of destruction

Defy us to our worst;

By extension, the term forlorn hope became used for any body of troops placed in a hazardous position; e.g. an exposed outpost, or the defenders of an outwork in advance of the main defensive position. This usage was especially common in accounts of the English Civil War, as well as in the British Army in the Peninsula War of 1808-1814. The term English Civil War (or Wars) refers to the series of armed conflicts and political machinations which took place between Parliamentarians and Royalists from 1642 until 1651. ... The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. ... The Peninsular War (1808-1814) was a major conflict during the Napoleonic Wars. ...

A more modern equivalent of the Forlorn Hope were the Shtraf penal battalions used by the Soviet Union during the Second World War. The battalions were mainly made up of convicts from the Gulags, often soldiers who had disgraced themselves by for example retreating in the face of the enemy or deserting. The penal battalions were seen as a way to redeem their previous crimes. The Shtraf battalions were given suicidal tasks such as mine clearing or assaults across open terrain towards German positions - thier compliance insured by NKVD units to their rear. Penal battalion, penal company, etc. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... Gulag ( , Russian: ) is an acronym for Главное Управление Исправительно—Трудовых Лагерей и колоний, Glavnoye Upravleniye Ispravitelno-trudovykh Lagerey i kolonii, The Chief Directorate [or Administration] of Corrective Labour Camps and Colonies of the NKVD. Anne Applebaum, in her book Gulag: A History, explains: Literally, the word GULAG is an acronym, meaning Glavnoe Upravlenie Lagerei, or Main Camp...

Despite the obvious high casualty rate, many men from Shtraf battalions became a Hero of the Soviet Union for their bravery and the battalions were eventually copied by the Wehrmacht. Hero of the Soviet Union (Russian: Геро́й Сове́тского Сою́за, transliterated as Geroy Sovetskogo Soyuza) was the highest honorary title and the superior degree of distinction of the former Soviet Union. ... German cavalry and motorized units entering Poland from East Prussia during the Polish Defensive War of 1939 Wehrmacht (help· info) (Defence force) was the name of the armed forces of Germany from 1935 to 1945. ...

See also

• cannon fodder

Cannon Fodder is an expression used to denote the treatment of armed forces as a worthless commodity to be expended. ...

External links

• dictionary entry