Fusiliers is a name given to various kinds of soldiers; its meaning depends
on the historical context. While fusilier is derived from the
17th-century French word fusil – meaning a type of flintlock musket – the term
has been used in contrasting ways in different countries and at different
times, including soldiers guarding artillery, various elite units, ordinary
line infantry and other uses. History
Flintlock small arms were first used militarily during the early 17th
century. Flintlocks, at the time, were more reliable and safer to use than
matchlock muskets, which required a match to be lit near the breech before
the weapon could be triggered. By contrast, flintlocks were fired by
flint. By the time of the English Civil War, one flintlock musket, the
snaphance, was in common use in Britain. The term fusiliers was first used
officially by the French Army in 1670, when four fusiliers were distributed
amongst each company of infantry. The following year the Fusiliers du Roi
"("King's Fusiliers"), the first regiment composed primarily of soldiers
with flintlocks, was formed by Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban.
Guarding and escorting artillery pieces was the first task assigned to the
Fusiliers du Roi: flintlocks were especially useful around field
artillery, as they were less likely than matchlocks to accidentally ignite open
barrels of gunpowder, required at the time to load cannons. At the time,
artillery units also required guards to maintain discipline amongst civilian
draymen. Hence the term fusilier became strongly associated with the role of
guarding artillery in Britain and the English-speaking world, especially after
the formation of the first official "Fusilier" units, during the 1680s.
During the 18th century, as flintlocks became the main weapon used by infantry,
the term fusilier gradually ceased to have this meaning and was applied to
various units. France
By the mid-18th century, the French Army used the term fusiliers to designate
ordinary line infantry, as opposed to specialist or élite infantry, such as
grenadiers, voltigeurs, carabiniers or chasseurs.
The French Army no longer uses the term fusiliers, although a number of its
infantry regiments descend from fusilier regiments.
The term fusiliers is still used in the navy and air force. They are protection
forces of riflemen assuring security and policing on land bases and installations
as well as on ships. The commandos are selected from their ranks. The commandos
are special forces units. They are: French Navy: Force maritime des
fusiliers marins et commandos French Air Force: Fusiliers Commandos de
l'Air United Kingdom
The original fusiliers in the British Army were The 7th Foot, Royal Regiment
of Fuzileers raised in 1685. This subsequently became The Royal Fusiliers.
The original purpose of this unit was to act as escort to artillery guns, as well
as keeping discipline amongst the civilian drivers. Both a Scots and Welsh
regiment also became fusiliers in the period up to and including 1702 and all
three regiments were distinguished by the wearing of a slightly shorter
version of the Mitred Cap worn by Grenadier companies of all other
infantry regiments. A number of additional infantry regiments were
subsequently designated as fusiliers during the 19th century, but this was
simply a historic distinction without any relationship to special weapons or
roles. In 1865 a distinctive head-dress was
authorised for British Army fusilier regiments. Originally a sealskin cap for
other ranks, this was replaced by a black raccoon skin cap of nine inches in
height, according to the 1874 Dress Regulations. Fusilier officers however
wore a taller bearskin like their counterparts in the Foot Guards The
badge for each regiment was placed at the front of the bear or raccoon skin
headdress, and consisted of a stylized flaming grenade, with different emblems
placed on the ball of the grenade. Attached to the various types of
fusilier headdress, including the modern beret, is the hackle. This is a short
cut feather plume, the colour or colours of which varied according to the
regiment. Initially, the only regiment authorised to wear a plume or hackle
were the 5th of Foot. The regiment had originally worn a white feather
distinction, authorised in 1824 to commemorate the victory of St Lucia in
1778 when men of the Fifth Regiment were supposed to have taken white feathers
from the hats of fallen French soldiers. When in 1829 a white plume was ordered
for all line infantry regiments, to preserve the Fifth Regiment's emblem,
they were authorised to wear a white plume with a red tip, allegedly to
indicate a distinction won in battle. The Fifth were designated Fusiliers in
1836. Following the Second Boer War plumes
were added to the headgear of all fusilier regiments in recognition of
their service in South Africa. The following fusilier regiments existed
prior to the outbreak of World War I: The nine regiments of fusiliers that
existed in 1914 have since been reduced to one by a series of disbandments and
mergers: In 1920 the Royal Welsh Fusiliers was
renamed as the "Royal Welch Fusiliers". Due to the creation of the Irish Free
State, the Royal Munster Fusilers and Royal Dublin Fusiliers were disbanded on
31 July 1922. In 1935 the Northumberland Fusiliers was
awarded the title "Royal". Under the Defence Review of 1957 the
number of infantry regiments was reduced. The Royal Scots Fusiliers was
amalgamated with the Highland Light Infantry on 20 January 1959 to form the
Royal Highland Fusiliers. The new regiment wore the white hackle of the
RSF, with a flaming grenade badge bearing the monogram of the HLI.
Under the same review, the three English fusilier regiments were grouped as the
Fusilier Brigade in 1958. While retaining their individual identities, a
single cap badge was adopted. This was flaming grenade bearing St George and
the Dragon within a laurel wreath the whole ensigned by a crown. This combined
elements of the badges of the three regiments, who continued to be
distinguished by their coloured hackles: red over white for the Royal
Northumberland Fusiliers, white for the Royal Fusiliers and primrose yellow for
the Lancashire Fusiliers. Also in 1958 the North Irish Brigade was
formed, consisting of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, the Royal Irish
Fusiliers and the Royal Ulster Rifles. All regiments adopted a harp and crown
badge on the caubeen, worn with a hackle: grey for the Inniskillings,
green for the Royal Irish Fusiliers and black for the Rifles.
On 1 May 1963 the Royal Warwickshire Regiment was redesignated as the Royal
Warwickshire Fusiliers and joined the Fusilier Brigade. An old gold and blue
hackle was adopted. On 23 April 1968 the four regiments of
the Fusilier Brigade were amalgamated to form The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.
The RRF are now the only English fusiler regiment and wear the red over white
hackle of the 5th Foot with the badge adopted in 1958 for the Fusilier
Brigade. On 1 July 1968 the three regiments of
the North Irish Brigade were amalgamated to form the Royal Irish Rangers and
ceased to be a fusilier regiment. The green hackle of the Royal Irish
Fusiliers continued in use. Following a further merger in 1992 the lineage is
now continued by the Royal Irish Regiment.
On 1 March 2006, the Royal Welch Fusiliers were amalgamated with the
Royal Regiment of Wales to form the Royal Welsh. The white hackle of the RWF
is worn with the cap badge of the RRW. Elements of the regimental band wear
fusilier full dress. On 28 March 2006 the Scottish infantry
regiments were merged into the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The individual
battalions of the regiment retain the titles of the predecessor units, and The
Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland continues
to wear the white hackle of the Royal Scots Fusiliers.
In addition, the Scots Guards were known as the Scots Fusilier Guards from 1831
to 1877. Canada
There are five fusilier regiments patterned on the British tradition
forming part of the militia of the Canadian Forces. The Royal 22e Régiment,
although not fusiliers, wears fusilier ceremonial uniform with scarlet plumes
because of its alliance with the Royal Welch Fusiliers.
The Royal Highland Fusiliers of Canada Les Fusiliers du St-Laurent, white plume
Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal, white plume The Princess Louise Fusiliers
Les Fusiliers de Sherbrooke, white plume Germany
Prussia made early use of the title "fusilier" for various types of
infantry. In 1705 the Foot Guards were designated as Fusilier Guards. By 1837
low-quality infantry raised from garrison companies also were named
fusiliers. These latter units were dressed in blue with low mitre caps. See
[2]. Between 1740 and 1743 on Frederick the Great raised 14 separate Fusilier
Regiments. Except for the mitre caps, these new regiments were identical in
appearance, training and role to the existing line infantry.
Subsequently Prussia and several other German States used the designation
Fusilier to denote a type of light infantry, dressed in green, that acted
as skirmishers. In the Prussian Army they had been formed in 1787 as
independent battalions, with many of the Officers having had experience in the
American Revolutionary War. The Prussian reforms of 1808 absorbed the Fusiliers
as the third battalion of each line infantry regiment. Now wearing blue
uniforms, they were distinguished by black leather belts, and a slightly
different arrangement of cartridge pouch.
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 Fusilier Regiment. In
addition the third battalions of all Guard, Grenadier and Line infantry
regiments retained the designation 'Fusilier Battalion'. They were armed
with a slightly shorter version of the Dreyse Rifle, that took a sword bayonet
rather than the standard socket bayonet. Although still theoretically
skirmishers, in practice they differed little from their compatriots, as all
Prussian infantry fought in a style that formed a dense 'firing' or 'skirmish'
line. By the 1880s the title was honorific
and, while implying 'specialist' or 'elite', did not have any tactical
significance. In a sense all infantry were becoming fusiliers, as weapons,
tactics and equipment took on the fusilier characteristics - that is:
skirmish line, shorter rifles, sword bayonets and black leather equipment.
Nonetheless these titular units remained in existence until the end of the German
Imperial Army in 1918, as follows: Guard Fusilier Regiment
Fusilier Regiment Count Roon No.33 Fusilier Regiment Queen Victoria of
Sweden No.34 Fusilier Regiment Prince Henry of
Prussia No.35 Fusilier Regiment General Field Marshal
Count Blumenthal No.36 Fusilier Regiment von Steinmetz No.37
Fusilier Regiment Field Marshal Count Moltke No.38
Lower Rhineland Fusilier Regiment No.39 Fusilier Regiment Prince Charles Anton
of Hohenzollern No.40 Fusilier Regiment Field Marshal Prince
Albert of Prussia No.73 Fusilier Regiment von Gerdsdorff No.80
Fusilier Reqiment Queen No.86 Grand-Ducal Mecklenburg Fusilier
Regiment No.90 Fusilier Regiment Emperor Francis Joseph
of Austria King of Hungary Württemberg) No.122
In addition, there was the following regiment:
Royal Saxon Schützen Regiment Prince George No.108
This was a special case, as it was also classed as 'Schützen': this designation
originally signified a type of 'Jäger', and thus the regiment wore the
Jäger-style dark green uniform. The various Fusilier regiments and
battalions in the German Imperial Army of 1914 did not have any single
distinctions of dress or equipment to distinguish them as fusiliers.
Individual regiments did however have special features worn with the dark blue
full dress. Some of these features were maintained on the field grey dress of
the trenches right up to 1918. As examples in full dress, the Guard
Fusiliers had nickel buttons and yellow shoulder straps, and the 80th Fusiliers
special braiding on collars and cuffs. When a regiment was permitted the
distinction of a horse-hair plume on the pickelhaube, for fusiliers it was always
black. This included the third Battalion of those regiments normally
distinguished by a white horse-hair plume.
In World War II the elite German Division Großdeutschland contained a
regiment titled Panzerfüsiliere, to maintain the old German traditions. This
was again titular, as in organisation, appearance and tactical use they were
essentially Panzergrenadiere. The modern German Army has no fusiliers.
Netherlands In the Royal Netherlands Army, one of
the two foot guards regiments, the Garderegiment Fuseliers Prinses Irene is
a regiment of fusiliers. Belgium
The Belgian Army has no specific regiment called fusiliers, but the
general denomination for infantry soldiers is Storm fusilier.
The Belgian Navy used to have a regiment of marine infantry composed of marine
fusiliers in charge of the protection of the naval bases. However this unit was
disbanded in the 1990s reforms . Portugal and Brazil
From the 18th to the 19th centuries, the term fuzileiros was used, in the
Portuguese Army, to designate the regular line infantry, as opposed to the
grenadiers and the light infantry. The Portuguese Army discontinued the use of
the term in the 1860s, but the Brazilian Army continues to use it today, to
designate all infantry soldiers. The term fuzileiros marinheiros has been
used in the Portuguese Navy, since the late 18th century, to designate the
naval infantry. Presently, both the Portuguese and the Brazilian Marine
Corps are called Fuzileiros Navais. Mexico
On 1 January 1969 the Mexican Army created the Parachute Fusilier Brigade
with two infantry and one training battalions. The brigade's role is that
of a strategic reserve, based in Mexico City.
Switzerland Line infantry soldiers of the lowest
rank in the Swiss Army have historically been designated as fusiliers. Because
the modern Swiss infantry soldier is trained in a much broader variety of
tasks than his historical counterpart and because of some negative
connotations attached to the term "Füsiliere", modern infantry battalions
of the Swiss army have been renamed "Infanteriebattalione" or "InfBat". The
individual soldiers are officially called "Infanteristen", not "Füsiliere"
but colloquially they are still referred to as "Füsiliere" or "Füsle". This
meaning is retained in the name of the 1938 Swiss film Fusilier Wipf.
See also Musketeer
Rifleman Grenadier
References and notes Further reading
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain:
Chisholm, Hugh, ed.. Encyclopædia Britannica. Cambridge University Press.
Hoffschröer, Peter; Bryan Fosten. Prussian Light Infantry 1792–1815.
Osprey Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-85045-540-5.
External links French Infantry of the Napoleonic Wars