Fusiliers
After the middle of the seventeenth century an important change in the firearm was invented, by which the charge was ignited by flint and steel instead of match, giving more certainty to the fire. The new flintlock was called a fusil (from fucile, flint); it was at first given to picked shots, called Fusiliers, for skirmishing work, but about 1700 all Infantry were armed with flintlocks. It was introduced in Great Britain in the shape of “Brown Bess,” the musket used until rendered obsolete by the introduction of the percussion cap in 1840.
The individual Fusiliers carried out what were later termed the duties of Light Infantry (see p. [188]). By their superior shooting and activity they were better fitted to move rapidly in front of the heavier Infantry, so as to annoy the enemy by their fire, and clear the way for the main body. These Fusiliers were before long grouped into separate Battalions of Fusiliers, which were created in France in 1671, and later in England and Prussia, where they survive to this day.