Vanguard
Thevanguard(sometimes abbreviated tovanand also called theadvance guard) is the leading part of an advancingmilitary formation.It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force.
Innaval warfarethe van is the advance ship, or fleet, that will make the initial engagement with an enemyfleet.
History
[edit]The vanguard derives from the traditional division of amedievalarmy into threebattlesorwards;the Van, the Main (or Middle), and theRear.[1]The term originated from the medieval Frenchavant-garde,i.e. "the advance guard". The vanguard would lead the line of march and would deploy first on the field of battle, either in front of the other wards or to the right if they deployed inline.
The makeup of the vanguard of a15th centuryBurgundianarmy is a typical example. This consisted of:
- A contingent offoreriders,from whom a forward detachment of scouts was drawn;
- The main body of the vanguard, accompanied by civil officials and trumpeters to carry messages and summon enemy towns and castles to surrender; and
- A body of workmen under the direction of the Master of Artillery whose job it was to clear obstacles which would obstruct the baggage and artillery travelling with the main army.[2]
In an English force ofthe period,the foreriders of the vanguard would be accompanied by the harbingers, whose job was to locate lodgings for the army for the following night.[3]
In modern times, the word can also be referred to as a group of people leading the way in new developments or ideas.
Forward detachments
[edit]DuringWorld War II,theRed Armybegan formingad hocvanguard formations called "forward detachments"(peredovye otriady),fromarmy,corpsanddivisionalunits. Forward detachments brought together the mobile (motorized or mechanized) elements of the parent formation to play an exploitation role once a breakthrough of the German lines occurred. A rifle division, for example, might mount one or twobattalionsofinfantryon trucks, with motorizedantitank gunsand motorizedartilleryin support.[4]
See also
[edit]- Vanguardism,a political theory developed byVladimir Lenin
- Forlorn hope
- Rearguard
References
[edit]- ^Rogers, Clifford(2007).Soldiers Lives through History: The Middle Ages.Westport: Greenwood. p. 73.ISBN978-0-313-33350-7.
- ^Michael, Nicholas (1983).Armies of Medieval Burgundy 1364–1477.London: Osprey. pp.22–3.ISBN0-85045-518-9.
- ^Rogers (2007), pp 76–7
- ^David M. Glantz,Colossus Reborn,University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2005, pp. 110, 119
