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A last stand is a general military situation in which a body of troops holds a defensive position in the face of overwhelming odds. The defensive force usually takes very heavy casualties or is completely destroyed, as happened at Thermopylae, or Custer's Last Stand. ==Tactical significance== 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.〔Hamm, Jean Shepherd. ''Term Paper Resource Guide to Medieval History''. Greenwood (November 25, 2009). pp. 88-90. ISBN 978-0313359675〕 The situation can arise in several ways. One situation is that retreat by the defending force would lead to immediate defeat, usually due to the surrounding geography or shortage of supplies or support, as happened to the Royalist infantry on Wadborough Hill after the Battle of Naseby.〔David Plant (1645: The Storming of Leicester and the Battle of Naseby ), (www.british-civil-wars.co.uk ), Retrieved 2009-05-24〕〔Martin Marix Evans, Graham Turner. ''Naseby 1645: The Triumph of the New Model Army'',, Osprey Publishing, 2007 ISBN 1-84603-078-1, ISBN 978-1-84603-078-9. (p. 76 )〕 Specifically, defeat or withdrawal by the defending force may give the attacking force a point of utmost tactical importance, making it imperative that the defending force hold its position at all costs. The historian Bryan Perrett suggests that although the majority of last stands throughout history have seen the defending force overwhelmed, on rare occasions the outnumbered defenders succeed in their desperate endeavours and live to fight another day, and he lists the Battle of Agincourt and the Battle of Rorke's Drift as one such engagement,〔Bryan Perrett. ''Last Stand!: Famous Battles Against the Odds'', p. 9〕 another example could be the Battle of Myeongnyang, where 13 ships led by Korean admiral Yi Sun-sin defeated 133 Japanese ships,〔Sŏng-nyong Yu (translated by Byonghyon Choi), 2002, The Book of Corrections: Reflections on the National Crisis During the Japanese Invasion of Korea, 1592-1598: Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Jan 1, 2002, p. 129〕 as well as battles such as Siege of the International Legations, the Battle off Samar and the Raid on Godfrey Ranch. In some cases, troops will make a last stand to protect their ruler or leader. When Rome was attacked in 1527 by the army of the Holy Roman Empire under Emperor Charles V, over 20,000 troops stormed the city. The 189 Swiss Guards made a last stand against the massive army to give Pope Clement time to escape through secret tunnels. The French Foreign Legion became known for its last stand in the 1863 Battle of Cameron. During the battle, 65 Foreign Legion troops protecting a supply convoy carrying gold bullion, siege guns and ammunition were attacked by a Mexican force of 3,000 soldiers. The Foreign Legion troops fought their way to a building, which they used as a defensive position for their last stand. They refused to surrender, and fought until almost all of the Legion troops were killed. When only a handful of troops were still alive, with no ammunition left, they conducted a bayonet charge at the much larger Mexican force. April 30 is called Cameron Day in France to remember this day. Sometimes, rather than face annihilation at the hands of a pursuing victorious army, a rearguard will be tasked by the commander of the defeated army with hindering the advance of the victorious army. Even if the rearguard is destroyed in a last stand, its sacrifice may buy their commander time to disengage without losing the majority of his army as happened during the Battle of Roncevaux Pass, Battle of Stamford Bridge and the Dunkirk evacuation.〔Hamm, Jean Shepherd. ''Term Paper Resource Guide to Medieval History''. Greenwood (November 25, 2009). pp. 88-90. ISBN 978-0313359675〕〔(Last of the Vikings – Stamford Bridge, 1066 (History) )〕〔John Harris, ''Dunkirk: "the storms of war"'', David & Charles, 1980, ISBN 0-7153-7857-0, ISBN 978-0-7153-7857-1. p.8 "Dunkirk was a military operation also — a hard-fought retreat with a magnificent last stand by the rearguard to allow the bulk of the troops to get ()"〕 A last stand may also be 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 First English Civil War at the Battle of Stow-on-the-Wold.〔Sidney Low, ''et al.'', ''The dictionary of English history'', Cassell and company, 1928. "At the battle of Naseby Astley commanded the infantry, and in 1646 he made a last stand at Stow-on-the-Wold against the Parliament."〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Last stand」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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