soldier's battles
Preserved but no longer current.
Engagements which are more of the nature of hand to hand encounters than regular pitched battles; those that have to be fought by the soldiers themselves, their leaders not haying been able to take up strategical positions. The principal "Soldiers' Battles" of English history are Malplaquet, 1709, and Inkermann, 1854.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “soldier's battles” mean?
Engagements which are more of the nature of hand to hand encounters than regular pitched battles; those that have to be fought by the soldiers themselves, their leaders not haying been able to take up strategical positions. The principal "Soldiers' Battles" of English history are Malplaquet, 1709, and Inkermann, 1854.
Is “soldier's battles” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.