Civil War-era Americans thought French the language of war, not love. In contemporary literature, a wounded soldier was said to have been rendered hors de combat-out of combat.

Hors de combat, literally meaning "out of the fight," is a French term used in diplomacy and international law to refer to soldiers who are incapable of performing their military function. Examples include a downed fighter pilot, as well as the sick, wounded, detained, or otherwise disabled. Soldiers hors de combat are normally granted special protections according to the laws of war, sometimes including prisoner of war status.