Last stand

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For the film of a similar name, see [[X-Men: The Last Stand]].

A last stand is a loose military term used to describe a body of troops holding a defensive position in the face of overwhelming odds. The defensive force usually takes very heavy casualties and on occasion is completely destroyed.

The situation can arise in one of two ways. Sometimes, the troops in question cannot retreat from their position without being destroyed by the enemy. At other times, the troops in question are following orders and refuse to retreat even though the option is open to them. In both cases, surrender is an option but the group as a whole decides instead to go down fighting, though in some cases the soldiers recognize that surrender would result in their deaths.

A siege will often lead to a last stand by the defenders of the besieged city. However, while sieges are generally characterised by a lengthy engagement, last stands are generally short and decisive.

Famous examples of last stands include:

480 BC: The Spartans' defence at Thermopylae. "Come and take them", Spartan King Leonidas to Xerxes when asked to surrender the weapons of the Spartan army.
62 BC: Catiline and his army are annihilated at Pistoria (now Pistoia). "[L]eave to your enemies a bloody and mournful victory."
14 October 1066: The housecarls around the body of King Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings.
May, 1453: The fall of Constantinople
August, 1566: Battle of Szigetvár
16 April 1746: Battle of Culloden The last battle between the Jacobite forces under Prince Charles Edward Stuart (aka "Bonnie Prince Charlie") and the forces of the Hanoverian sovereign King George II, ending the Rising of the '45, which was the last chance of the Stuart dynasty to regain the thrones of Scotland, England, and Ireland.
18 June 1815: Napoleon's Imperial Guard at the Battle of Waterloo "The Guard dies, it does not surrender!"
March, 1836: The Battle of the Alamo during the Texas Revolution
16 December, 1838: Battle of Blood River 464 Boer Voortrekkers defend an impromptu laager of wagons against 10,000 Zulus.
30 April 1863: The French Foreign Legion's stand at Camerone (Spanish: Camarón), Mexico.
25 June, 1876: Custer's last stand at Battle of the Little Bighorn.
22-23 January, 1879: 150 British soldiers, primarily of the British Army's 1st battalion of the 24th Regiment of Foot (later the South Wales Borderers), successfully defend the supply station at Rorke's Drift against 4,000 Zulu warriors. This engagement results in the largest number of Victoria Crosses ever awarded a regiment in a single battle.
12 September 1897 - The Battle of Saragarhi was fought between 21 Sikhs of the 4th Battalion (then 36th Sikhs) of the Sikh Regiment of India, defending an army post, and 10,000 Afghan and Orakazais tribe.
2 December 1899: The Filipinos' stand at the Battle of Tirad Pass
2 – 7 October 1918: The Lost Battalion - American Battalion under Major Charles White Whittlesey holds out in the Argonne Forrest
26 October – 1 November 1937: Defense of Sihang Warehouse - The defense of 800 Chinese soldiers of the Sihang Warehouse against Japanese forces
14 November 1941: Defence of the Soviet 316th Rifle Division under command of general Ivan Panfilov at Dubosekovo near Volokolamsk during the Battle of Moscow
8 December – 25 December 1941: The British Army, Canadian Army and British Indian Army defending against the Imperial Japanese Army's invasion at the Battle of Hong Kong
16 November 1942 – 22 January 1943: Japanese defence of the Papuan beachheads at the Battle of Buna-Gona.
20 November – 23 November 1943: Japanese defence of Tarawa
20 September – 30 September 1944: The Japanese defence of Angaur.
May 1945: Battle for Berlin
23 February 1950: Bukit Kepong Incident near Muar, Malaysia.
22 April – 25 April 1951: The Gloucestershire Regiment at the Battle of the Imjin River.
18 November 1962: The 13th Battalion, Kumaon Regiment at Rezang La (Sino-Indian War).
14 November-17 November, 1965: The 1st Battalion/7th Cavalry, the 2nd Battalion/7th Cavalry, and the 1st Battalion/5th Cavalry at the Battle of Ia Drang.
21 January - 8 April, 1968: Battle of Khe Sanh, 6,000 U.S. forces, primarily Marines, successfully defend this base against 20,000 North Vietnamese forces.
22 October 1973: The Barak Armored Brigade defending the southern Golan Heights during the Yom Kippur War.

Last stand

See also