Musketeer

A musketeer (French: mousquetaire) was a type of soldier equipped with a musket. Musketeers were an important part of early modern armies, particularly in Europe and the west, as they normally comprised the majority of their infantry. 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.

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 muskets. 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".

The famous Janissary corps of the Ottoman army were using matchlock muskets as early as the 1440s. The Ottoman Empire, centering on Turkey and extending into Arabia, used muskets to conquer Constantinople (modern Istanbul) and were one of the earliest users of muskets in a military conflict. It also utilized large cannons, the Great Turkish Bombard and incendiary devices. They are also probably the first to use muskets aboard ships.

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