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Fusilier was originally the name of a soldier armed with a light flintlock musket called the fusil. The word was first used around 1680, and has later developed into a regimental designation.
History
Various forms of flintlock small arms had been used in warfare since the middle of the 16th century. At the time of the English civil war (1642-1652) the term firelock was usually employed to distinguish these weapons from the more common matchlock musket.
The special value of the firelock in armies of the 17th century lay in the fact that the artillery of the time used open powder barrels for the service of the guns, making it unsafe to allow lighted matches in the muskets of the escort. Further, a military escort was required, not only for the protection, but also for the surveillance of the artillerymen of those days. Companies of firelocks were therefore organized for these duties, and out of these companies grew the fusiliers who were employed in the same way in the wars of Louis XIV. In the latter part of the Thirty Years' War (1643) fusiliers were simply mounted troops armed with the fusil, as carabiniers were with the carbine. But the escort companies of artillery came to be known by the name shortly afterwards, and the regiment of French Royal Fusiliers, organized in 1671 by Vauban, was considered the model for Europe.
The general adoption of the flintlock musket and the suppression of the pike in the armies of Europe put an end to the original special duties of fusiliers, and they were subsequently employed to a large extent in light infantry work, perhaps on account of the greater individual aptitude for detached duties naturally shown by soldiers who had never been restricted to a fixed and unchangeable place in the line of battle.
Fusiliers by country
British Army
The distinctive head-dress of fusiliers in the British service is a raccoon skin cap, generally resembling, but smaller than and different in details from, the bearskins of the Foot Guards. Attached to the beret, balmoral or tam o'shanter badge is the hackle. This is a short cut feather plume, the colour or colours of which varied according to the regiment. The eight regiments of fusiliers that existed in 1914 have been reduced by a series of disbandments and mergers to: Amalgamations in 2006 of both Welch and Scottish infantry regiments further reduced this total and the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers is now the only surviving fusilier regiment in the British Army to have a separate existence. The other two units named have been incorporated into larger regiments.Canadian Forces
There are five fusilier regiments patterned on the British tradition. Le Royal 22e Régiment, although not fusiliers, wears fusilier ceremonial uniform because of its alliance with The Royal Welch Fusiliers.- The Royal Highland Fusiliers of Canada (which wears highland uniform, but with fusilier hackles on feather bonnets)
- Les Fusiliers du Saint-Laurent
- Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal
- The Princess Louise Fusiliers
- Les Fusiliers de Sherbrooke
German Army
In the Prussian Army of 1870 Infantry Regiments 33 to 40 plus Regiments 73, 80 and 86 were all designated as fusiliers, as was the Guard Fusiliers Regiment. In addition the third battalions of all Guard, Grenadier and Line infantry were fusiliers. The title was honorific and did not have any tatical significance. These units remained in existence until the end of the German Imperial Army in 1918.Until 1914 the various Fusilier regiments and battalions in the German Army were distinguished by black leather belts and other equipment (as opposed to the white leather harness of non-fusilier infantry).
French military
In French service, there are the naval fusiliers (Fusiliers de Marine) and air fusiliers, who secure bases and other facilities.Netherlands Army
In the Royal Netherlands Army, one of the two foot guards regiments, the Garderegiment Fusiliers Prinses Irene is a regiment of fusiliers.References
"Fusilier"