Manoeuvre soldiers around America (4)
I believe the answer is:
ruse
'manoeuvre' is the definition.
(I know that ruse is a type of manoeuvre)
'soldiers around america' is the wordplay.
'soldiers' becomes 're' (Royal Engineers).
'around' indicates putting letters inside.
'america' becomes 'US' (United States).
're' enclosing 'us' is 'RUSE'.
(Other definitions for ruse that I've seen before include "Ploy, artifice" , "Artful ploy" , "Deceptive tactic" , "Clever stratagem or plan" , "Sue to be a ploy" .)