Hearing of leader in tactical retreat after uprising (5)
I believe the answer is:
trial
'hearing' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'leader in tactical retreat after uprising' is the wordplay.
'leader in' says to take the initial letters.
'retreat' becomes 'lair' (I've seen this before).
'after uprising' says the letters should be written in reverse.
The initial letter of 'tactical' is 't'.
'lair' written backwards gives 'rial'.
't'+'rial'='TRIAL'
'of' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for trial that I've seen before include "Court hearing" , "Judicial hearing and judgment" , "Ordeal or lawsuit" , "Criminal court case" , "competition" .)