The vanguard (also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing
military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force.
History
The vanguard derives from the traditional division of a
medieval army into three ''
battles'' or ''wards''; the Van, the Main (or Middle), and the
Rear
Rear may refer to:
Animals
*Rear (horse), when a horse lifts its front legs off the ground
*In stockbreeding, to breed and raise
Humans
*Parenting (child rearing), the process of promoting and supporting a child from infancy to adulthood
*Gende ...
. The term originated from the medieval French ''avant-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 in
line
Line most often refers to:
* Line (geometry), object with zero thickness and curvature that stretches to infinity
* Telephone line, a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system
Line, lines, The Line, or LINE may also refer to:
Arts ...
.
The makeup of the vanguard of a
15th century
The 15th century was the century which spans the Julian dates from 1 January 1401 ( MCDI) to 31 December 1500 ( MD).
In Europe, the 15th century includes parts of the Late Middle Ages, the Early Renaissance, and the early modern period.
M ...
Burgundian Burgundian can refer to any of the following:
*Someone or something from Burgundy.
*Burgundians, an East Germanic tribe, who first appear in history in South East Europe. Later Burgundians colonised the area of Gaul that is now known as Burgundy (F ...
army is a typical example. This consisted of
*A contingent of
foreriders, 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.
In an English force of
the 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.
Forward detachments
During
World War II, the
Red Army began forming ''ad hoc'' vanguard formations called "forward detachments" ''(peredovye otriady)'', from
army,
corps and
divisional units. 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 two
battalions of
infantry on trucks, with motorized
antitank guns
Anti-tank warfare originated from the need to develop technology and tactics to destroy tanks during World War I. Since the Triple Entente deployed the first tanks in 1916, the German Empire developed the first anti-tank weapons. The first deve ...
and motorized
artillery in support.
[David M. Glantz, ''Colossus Reborn'', University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2005, pp. 110, 119]
See also
*
Vanguardism, Lenin's political theory
*
Medieval warfare
*
Forlorn hope
*
Front line
A front line (alternatively front-line or frontline) in military terminology is the position(s) closest to the area of conflict of an armed force's personnel and equipment, usually referring to land forces. When a front (an intentional or uninte ...
*
Avant-garde
*
Rearguard
References
{{Authority control
Military tactics
Military terminology