Soldiers destroyed a bridge (7)
I believe the answer is:
brigade
'soldiers' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'destroyed a bridge' is the wordplay.
'destroyed' indicates an anagram.
'a'+'bridge'='abridge'
'abridge' is an anagram of 'BRIGADE'.
(Other definitions for brigade that I've seen before include "Corps" , "Part of an army division" , "Army unit" , "Army grouping" , "Company" .)