main guard
noun1
Government, Military, Politics, War A body of troops comprising the chief guard units, especially a unit of cavalry on the wing of a camp towards the enemy, or a group of soldiers in a fortress responsible for dealing with disturbers of the peace.
2
Fortification, Fortifications, Government, Military, Politics, War The keep of a castle; a guardhouse or building in a fortress where such a body of troops is lodged.
- [A]fter an obstinate engagement, in which divers wounds were given and received, every soul of them was taken, and conveyed to the main-guard, where the commanding officer […] set them all at liberty […].1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC: