(Joshua 6:9), the troops in the rear of an army on the march, the rear-guard. This word is a corruption of the French arriere-garde. During the wilderness march the tribe of Dan formed the rear-guard (Numbers 10:25; Comp. 1 Samuel 29:2; Isaiah 52:12; 58:8).

Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language

(n.) The rear guard of an army.