Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CAM-IS-ADE', n. [Fr. from chemise, a shirt; It camicia; Sp. camisa.]

An attack by surprise, at night, or at break of day, when the enemy is supposed to be in bed. This word is said to have taken its rise from an attack of this kind, in which the soldiers, as a badge to distinguish each other, bore a shirt over their arms. – Encyc.