English soldiers retreated -- that is beginning to suggest foes (7)
I believe the answer is:
enemies
'foes' is the definition.
(enemy is a kind of foe)
'english soldiers retreated that is beginning to suggest' is the wordplay.
'english' becomes 'e' (abbreviation).
'soldiers' becomes 'men' (I've seen this before).
'retreated' is a reversal indicator (I've seen 'retreat' mean this).
'that is' becomes 'ie' (synonyms).
'beginning to' suggests taking the first letters.
The first letter of 'suggest' is 's'.
'men' backwards is 'nem'.
'e'+'nem'+'ie'+'s'='ENEMIES'
(Other definitions for enemies that I've seen before include "Foes, adversaries" , "Foes, hostile groups" , "Foes, opponents" , "Those we fight" .)