vanguard

The leading units at the front of an army or fleet.

• They ſay, that the King diuided his Armie into three Battailes; whereof the Vant-guard onely well ſtrengthened with wings, came to fight.

The person or people at the forefront of a group or movement.broadly

• The outsiders are looking more like insiders, the vanguard of a cultural and political shift that could be far more profound than in his first presidency.