Musketeer

A musketeer (French: mousquetaire) was an early modern type of soldier equipped with a musket. Musketeers were an important part of early modern armies, particularly in Europe. In most cases they served on foot as infantry, though sometimes they could operate on horseback: as a cavalryman or dragoon. The musketeer was a precursor to the rifleman. Muskets were replaced by rifles in most western armies during the mid-1850s. The traditional designation of "musketeer" for an infantry private survived in the Imperial German Army until World War I.

Asia

China

Muskets were used in China at least from the 14th century and musketeers were utilized in the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing dynasties (1644–1911). In Zhao Shizhen's book of 1598 AD, the Shenqipu, there were illustrations of Ottoman Turkish riflemen with detailed illustrations of their muskets, alongside European musketeers with detailed illustrations of their muskets. There was also illustration and description of how the Chinese had adopted the Ottoman kneeling position in firing while favoring European-made rifles. The Chinese also built the first repeating fire-arm, several barrels behind a small wooden shield: the musketeer would turn the barrels and light each barrel with a slow match one by one. These weapons were most effective being fired from walls or high positions. Needham considered this weapon to be a "primitive machine-gun".

Musketeer (disambiguation)

A musketeer is an early-modern type of infantry soldier.

Musketeer also may refer to:

Fiction

Warfare-focused topics

Other

See also