The Thin Red Line (phrase): Difference between revisions

 

'''The Thin Red Line''' is a [[English language|English]] [[figure of speech]] for a thinly spread military unit holding firm against attack. The term originates in a journalist's description (a "thin red streak tipped with a line of steel") of the appearance of the [[Red coat (British army)|red-coated]] [[93rd (Highland) Regiment]] and parts of the Turkish army as they stood before (and repelled) a vastly superior force of Russian cavalry at the [[The Thin Red Line (1854 battle)|Battle of Balaclava]] during the [[Crimean War]]. The phrase later took on the metaphorical meaning of the barrier which the relatively limited armed forces of a country present to potential attackers.

 

[[Category:Military terminology]]