Forlorn-hope, the body of men selected to effect a lodgment on a breach, or to lead in scaling the wall of a fortress. Skeat derives the word from the Dutch de verloren hoop (hoop pron. as English hope), 'the lost band or troop;' Fr. enfants perdus. The name is given on account of the extreme danger to which such a body is exposed.
Forlorn-hope
Chambers's Encyclopaedia, Volume 4: Dionysius to Friction, p. 737
Source scan(s): p. 0754