Our bed was a waterproof sheet on the bare stone-floors, and as the convent swarmed with fleas of all sizes, from the heavy dragoon down to the light infantry, there was no fear of a sentry sleeping on his post.

The affair began by a skirmishing of the fleas, who acted as cavalry; then came the main body of lice, followed by the light infantry of bedbugs, to the number of forty thousand.

What they dealt with in giving nursing care was in addition to the constant influx of lice, the “light infantry” of fleas, frequent harassment by droves of huge rats, earthquakes, the fickle weather of the Russian winter, […]

Light infantry

Meaning

Noun