Sentence:  I was this day in the van, and our <WSD>forlorn</WSD> having entered "Huntingdon" without any great reſiſtance till they came to the bridge, finding it barricaded, they ſent me word; I cauſed the troops to halt, and rode up to the <WSD>forlorn</WSD>, to view the countenance of the enemy, and found by the poſture they had put themſelves in, that they reſolved to ſell us the paſſage as dear as they could. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A forlorn hope.