Sentence:  It was the opinion of some of us that these must be part of the Committeemen who had been in the Battle of the North Bridge , which entitled them to a sort of veteran <WSD>status</WSD> , and we felt that if they employed this tactic , it was likely enough the best one . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  the relative position or standing of things or especially persons in a society