A body of workmen.
1845. The crop, in consequence, had been so great as to be beyond the ability, to gather in the harvest, of the “force” by which it was made.—W. G. Simms, ‘The Wigwam and the Cabin,’ p. 178 (Lond.).
1853. Its [San Jacinto Bay’s] shores present great advantages to emigrants, especially those of smaller means, and without what is termed a large “force” or number of negroes.—S. A. Hammett (‘Philip Paxton’), ‘A Stray Yankee in Texas,’ p. 245.
1853. A man named Greene, who owned a small “force,” was engaged in the brick-making business.—Id., p. 391.
