Editing Last stand (section)

==Tactical significance==
A "last stand" is a last resort tactic, and is chosen because the defending force realizes or believes the benefits of fighting outweigh the benefits of retreat or surrender. This usually arises from strategic or moral considerations, such as staying and fighting to buy time for wounded soldiers or civilians to get to a safe place, 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 Saragarhi]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Charles |last=Rollin |author-link=Charles Rollin |year=1804 |title=The ancient history of the Egyptians, Carthaginians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes and Persians, Macedonians, and Grecians |volume=3 |edition=10 |publisher=Printed for W. J. & J. Richardson |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=on8TAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA34 34]}}</ref><ref name="auto">Hamm, Jean Shepherd. ''Term Paper Resource Guide to Medieval History''. Greenwood (November 25, 2009). pp. 88-90. {{ISBN|978-0313359675}}</ref> 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]].<ref>David Plant [http://www.british-civil-wars.co.uk/military/1645-leicester-naseby.htm 1645: The Storming of Leicester and the Battle of Naseby] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509100109/http://www.british-civil-wars.co.uk/military/1645-leicester-naseby.htm |date=2008-05-09 }}, [http://www.british-civil-wars.co.uk/index.htm www.british-civil-wars.co.uk]  , Retrieved 2009-05-24</ref><ref>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}}. [https://books.google.com/books?id=gNobvgAACAAJ&dq=Wadborough+Hill++%22last+stand%22&pg=PA76 p. 76] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230817161137/https://books.google.com/books?id=gNobvgAACAAJ&dq=Wadborough+Hill++%22last+stand%22&pg=PA76 |date=2023-08-17 }}</ref>
[[File:Johann Peter Krafft 005.jpg|thumb|right|[[Siege of Szigetvár]] (1566) -- [[Nikola Šubić Zrinski]]'s charge from the fortress of [[Szigetvár]] (painting by [[Johann Peter Krafft]], 1825)]]
[[File:Edgar Samuel Paxson - Custer's Last Stand.jpg|thumb|right|[[Battle of the Little Bighorn|Custer's last stand]] in the [[Montana Territory]], United States in 1876 as depicted in a painting by [[Edgar Samuel Paxson]].]]
[[File:Shangani Patrol, Allan Stewart.jpg|thumb|right|''The [[Shangani Patrol]] -- The last stand of Major Allan Wilson, Matabeleland, 4 December 1893.'']]

Some military thinkers have cautioned against putting an opposing force into a last stand situation, recognising that trapped men will fight harder. [[Sun Tzu]] wrote: [[q:Sun Tzu#Chapter VII .C2.B7 Military Maneuvers|"To a surrounded enemy, you must leave a way of escape"]]. Similarly, they have sometimes suggested deliberately putting their own forces in such a situation, for example by burning boats or bridges that could tempt them to retreat.<ref>{{cite book|first=Tzu|last=Sun|author-link=Sun Tzu|title=The Art of War, Chapter XI 23-25|url=http://classics.mit.edu/Tzu/artwar.html|access-date=2019-05-09|archive-date=2018-03-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180308153259/http://classics.mit.edu/Tzu/artwar.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

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 such engagements.<ref>Bryan Perrett. ''Last Stand!: Famous Battles Against the Odds''. p. 9</ref>

===Fear of execution===
Troops may fight a last stand if they believe that they will be executed if they surrender. 

In [[Custer's last stand]], at the end of the battle, the extent of the soldiers' resistance to the Lakota and Cheyenne warriors indicated they had few doubts about their prospects for survival if they surrendered. In the end, the hilltop where [[George Armstrong Custer]]'s remaining troops made their last stand made it impossible for Custer's men to secure a defensive position. Nevertheless, the soldiers put up their most dogged defence, and died fighting.

During the [[Warsaw Ghetto Uprising]], by the end of 1942, the Jews trapped in the [[Warsaw Ghetto]] learned that the deportations were part of an [[Holocaust|extermination process]], as the deportees were sent to [[death camps]]. Many of the remaining Jews decided to revolt.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005188 | title=Warsaw Ghetto Uprising | publisher=United States Holocaust Memorial Museum | access-date=18 May 2014 | archive-date=19 January 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119021035/http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005188 | url-status=live }}</ref> The first armed resistance in the ghetto occurred in January 1943.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/warsaw_ghetto_testimonies/resistance.asp?WT.mc_id=wiki|title=January 1943: The First Armed Resistance in the Ghetto - Holocaust Survivors Describe the Last Months in the Warsaw Ghetto – Voices from the Inferno - Yad Vashem|website=www.yadvashem.org|access-date=2017-05-13|archive-date=2019-04-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401015208/https://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/warsaw_ghetto_testimonies/resistance.asp?WT.mc_id=wiki|url-status=live}}</ref> On 19 April 1943, Passover eve, the Nazis entered the ghetto. The remaining Jews knew that the Nazis would murder them all and they decided to resist the Nazis to the last, rather than surrender.<ref name="yadvashem.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/warsaw_ghetto_testimonies/fighters.asp?WT.mc_id=wiki|title=Fighters in the Warsaw Ghetto - Holocaust Survivors Describe the Last Months in the Warsaw Ghetto – Voices from the Inferno - Yad Vashem|website=www.yadvashem.org|access-date=2017-05-13|archive-date=2019-04-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401030742/https://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/warsaw_ghetto_testimonies/fighters.asp?WT.mc_id=wiki|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Gordon&Shughart.jpg|thumb|Delta snipers [[Sergeant First Class|SFC]] [[Randy Shughart]] (left) and [[Master Sergeant|MSG]] [[Gary Gordon]] (right)]]
Another example of a famous last stand was during the [[First Battle of Mogadishu]], where two US [[Delta Force|1st SFOD-D]] snipers, [[Master Sergeant|MSG]] [[Gary Gordon]] and [[Sergeant First Class|SFC]] [[Randy Shughart]], protected the crash site of helicopter "Super 6-4" and injured pilot [[Mike Durant]], whom they feared would be executed by a crowd of deadly rioters. The two snipers killed 25 and wounded dozens more before they ran out of ammunition and were killed. Their defense, however, allowed Mike Durant to survive long enough for one of the local warlords to take him prisoner. The US was ultimately able to arrange for his release and he was returned home. For their actions, MSG Gordon and SFC Shughart were [[Wiktionary:posthumously|posthumously]] awarded the [[Medal of Honor]].

===Fear of mistreatment===
People may fight to the death due to the belief that if they surrender they will be tortured or enslaved. At the [[Siege of Numantia]], the inhabitants refused to surrender to the Romans because they were unwilling to become slaves. [[Japanese prisoners of war in World War II|Japanese soldiers in World War II]] were told by their superiors that they would be tortured if captured.

===Protecting leader===
In some cases, troops will make a last stand to protect their ruler or leader or commander.  
In the [[Battle of Hastings]] in 1066, [[King Harold II]] battled the Norman [[William the Conqueror]], who invaded with 7,000 men. After most of the English were killed in the battle, "Harold and his [[housecarl]] bodyguard...fought on until an arrow struck the king in the eye." After Harold died, the housecarl bodyguard made a last stand and "...fought to the death around the body of their dead king."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://listverse.com/2009/08/28/10-heroic-last-stands-from-military-history/|title=10 Heroic Last Stands from Military History - Listverse|date=28 August 2009|website=listverse.com|access-date=30 December 2015|archive-date=27 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181027174351/http://listverse.com/2009/08/28/10-heroic-last-stands-from-military-history/|url-status=live}}</ref>

When [[Sack of Rome (1527)|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 Guard]]s made a last stand against the massive army by forming a square around [[St. Peter's Basilica]] to give [[Pope Clement VII]] time to escape through [[secret tunnel]]s, and held the doors until Clement could escape.

At the 1795 [[battle of Krtsanisi]], where the Persian army led by [[Agha Muhammad Khan]] defeated the [[Georgia (country)|Georgians]], the [[Three Hundred Aragvians]] – a detachment of the highlanders from the [[Aragvi River|Aragvi valley]] – loyally fought and died in order to enable the escape of King [[Heraclius II of Georgia|Heraclius II]], for which they are remembered as national heroes and were canonized by the Georgian Church.

The [[Battle of Pavan Khind]] involved a rearguard last stand. It took place on July 13, 1660, at a mountain pass in the vicinity of fort Vishalgad, near the city of Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India between the [[Maratha Empire|Maratha]] warrior [[Baji Prabhu Deshpande]] and Siddi Masud of [[Adil Shahi dynasty]]. 300 Marathas in a rearguard action, held off an attacking force of 10,000 Bijapuris, allowing their king [[Shivaji]] to escape to a nearby fort. Ultimately the battle ended with the destruction of the rearguard Maratha forces, and a tactical victory for the Adil Shahi Sultanate, but failed to achieve its strategic objective of capturing the Maratha king Shivaji.

The [[Battle of Chamkaur]] occurred in 1704 when the tenth [[Sikh Guru]], [[Guru Gobind Singh]], and a small force of 40 [[Sikhs]], was attacked by a much larger force of [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] soldiers at [[Anandpur Sahib|his fort]] for his refusal to convert to [[Islam]]. The forty Sikhs fought to their death, allowing enough time for the Guru to escape the fort and live another day.<ref name=fenechmcleod218>{{cite book|author1=Louis E. Fenech|author2=W. H. McLeod|title=Historical Dictionary of Sikhism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xajcAwAAQBAJ|year=2014|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-4422-3601-1|pages=218|access-date=2020-12-04|archive-date=2023-08-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230817161136/https://books.google.com/books?id=xajcAwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Defending tactically crucial point===
During the [[second Persian invasion of Greece]] the Greeks hoped to use the narrow pass of [[Thermopylae]] to prevent the vastly large army of the Persians from outflanking them. A Greek force of 7,000 men marched north to block the pass in the middle of 480 BC. The Persian army, ranging between about 100,000 and 150,000,<ref>{{cite book|last=Sacks|first=Kenneth|title=Understanding Emerson: "The American scholar" and his struggle for self-reliance |year=2003|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0-691-09982-8|url=https://archive.org/details/understandingeme0000sack|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/understandingeme0000sack/page/157 157]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Cassin-Scott|first=Jack|title=The Greek and Persian Wars 500-323 B.C.|year=1977|publisher=Osprey|isbn=978-0-85045-271-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=geWUfjew_PEC&pg=PA11|page=11}}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> arrived at the pass in late August or early September. During the [[Battle of Thermopylae]], the vastly outnumbered Greeks held off the Persians for seven days (including three of battle) before the rear-guard was annihilated in one of history's most famous last stands. During two full days of battle, the small force led by Leonidas blocked the only road by which the massive Persian army could pass. When Leonidas became aware that his force was being outflanked, he dismissed the bulk of the Greek army and remained to guard their retreat with 300 [[Spartan hoplite|Spartans]], 700 [[Thespiae|Thespians]], 400 [[Thebes, Greece|Thebans]], fighting to the death. Although the Greeks lost the battle, it did check the advance of the Persian army and the delay helped the Greeks prepare a successful defence and ultimately win the war.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cummins |first=Joseph |year=2011 |title=History's Greatest Wars: The Epic Conflicts that Shaped the Modern World|publisher=Fair Winds Press|isbn=978-1-59233-471-1|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=eTdiDZjckzEC&pg=PA13 13]}}</ref>

An [[Battle of the Persian Gate|analogous battle]], with reversed roles, would be fought 150 years later, during the [[Wars of Alexander the Great|invasion of the Achaemenid Empire]] by [[Alexander the Great]]: Persians, led by [[Ariobarzanes of Persis]], tried desperately to stop the [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedon]] offensive towards the capital city [[Persepolis]], blocking the [[Persian Gates]] pass.<ref name="Robinson1929">{{cite book |last=Robinson |first=Cyril Edward |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.183571 |title=A History of Greece |publisher=Methuen & Company Limited |year=1929 |access-date=7 April 2013}}</ref>

A similar action to Thermopylae occurred in April 1951 at the [[Battle of Kapyong]] when strategic Hill 677 was held by the 700 men of the Canadian 2 PPCLI against two attacking Chinese PVA divisions, encircled and outnumbered by more than 10 to 1 in the immediate battle area, and by about 30 to 1 on the larger battlefield. The PPCLI were exhausted of ammunition and supplies, but the commander Lt. Col. [[James Riley Stone]] ordered "no retreat, no surrender", and called in artillery fire on his own positions when they were overrun. The PVA divisions eventually withdrew with about 5,000 dead and a large number wounded.

===Buying time===
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]] (778), [[Battle of Tirad Pass]] (1899), the [[Battle of Badgam]] (1947) which proved to be critical to preventing the fall of Srinagar to tribal lashkars.<ref name="Slender">{{cite book |title=Slender Was the Thread: Kashmir Confrontation 1947-48 |last=Sen |first=Maj Gen L. P. |year=1969 |publisher=Orient Longman |location=New Delhi |isbn=0-86131-692-4 |pages=308 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PkDRAAAAMAAJ |access-date=16 August 2021 |archive-date=17 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230817161138/https://books.google.com/books?id=PkDRAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Perceived duty===
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]] in 1646.<ref>[[Sidney Low]], ''et al.'', ''The dictionary of English history'', Cassell and company, 1928. "At the battle of Naseby [[Jacob Astley, 1st Baron Astley of Reading|Astley]] commanded the infantry, and in 1646 he made a last stand at Stow-on-the-Wold against the Parliament."</ref>

At the [[Battle of Saragarhi]] in 1897, the British Indian contingent consisting of 21 Sikh soldiers of the [[36th Sikhs]], when faced with insurmountable opposition of 10,000 Afghans, decided to make a last stand in accordance with their traditional and religious belief that duty is above all convictions. All 21 Sikhs were killed, together with approximately 600 Afghans.<ref name="bbcn">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-16027179|publisher=bbc.co.uk|work=British Broadcasting Corporation|title=India polo match honours Sikhs' 1897 Saragarhi battle|author=Pandey, Geeta|date=5 December 2011|access-date=19 July 2012|archive-date=7 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190507113438/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-16027179|url-status=live}}</ref>

During the [[Battle of Okinawa]], the Imperial Japanese Navy battleship ''[[Japanese battleship Yamato|Yamato]]'' sailed from the Japanese home islands to [[Operation Ten-Go|join the fight]], in which she would have been hopelessly outgunned. As a last ditch effort she would have beached herself on the shore, her crew joining the troops on the island and using her as a stationary gun battery. ''Yamato'' was sunk on her approach with the loss of some 3,055 crew of her complement of 3,332 after coming under attack from a large strike force of carrier borne aircraft. Given the tactical situation, one battleship accompanied by several smaller vessels with no air support against a fleet of aircraft carriers, the outcome was predictable to military leaders, and ultimately one born out of shame at being questioned by the Emperor over their lack of contribution to the ongoing defensive war effort when the Japanese Army was slowly being annihilated and while air crews were performing suicidal kamikaze missions.<ref name=cfrecord>{{Cite web | url = http://combinedfleet.com/yamato.htm | title = Combined Fleet – tabular history of ''Yamato'' | access-date = 1 April 2010 | publisher = Parshall, Jon; Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp, & Allyn Nevitt | year = 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101129040009/http://www.combinedfleet.com/yamato.htm | archive-date = 29 November 2010 | url-status = live }}</ref>