The word musketeer comes from the French mousquetaire. This was the name of soldiers armed with muskets in the 16th century.
Then, in the European army, which consisted of mercenaries, the musketeers were the heart of the European infantry, as well as pikemen-soldiers, armed with pikes. It was not easy for the musketeers: their weapons were very heavy, and bruises constantly appeared on the shoulders from the recoil, so then they began to use a special pad on the shoulder.
The musket appeared in Spain in 1521. it began to be used instead of the arquebus. When the musketeers ran out of gunpowder, they switched to close combat. For this they used a sword. And they also had a dag in their arsenal (a dagger 20-50 cm for the left hand with a three-edged blade, intended mainly for protection). Garda served as a good protection for the musketeer's hand from the enemy's blade.
The musketeers did not have uniforms as such, contrary to the opinion of the majority. It was even difficult to distinguish them from enemies. In contrast, the elite (royal) musketeers differed significantly in uniforms. Only nobles were accepted into their ranks and they were not foot soldiers, but fought on horseback.
The fact that the Musketeers were nobles was very beneficial to the state. This saved him unnecessary costs. Wars were given only a musket, and a horse with a harness, a servant, clothing, ammunition, edged weapons had to be purchased by the nobles themselves. In view of this, all the Musketeers tried to differ from each other in their own special way: a more expensive horse, fashionable clothes, etc.
But, nevertheless, the royal musketeers of the 1st and 2nd companies had their own distinctive insignia - a short coat "Kazakin". It was blue, trimmed along the edges with silver braid (braid), crosses were embroidered on the sides, front and back. Also, the first company was different from the second: the 1st was on gray horses, and the 2nd - on the black ones.
Like most nobles, the Musketeers watched over their appearance. They didn’t take off their hats with ostrich feathers even indoors, but only in front of beautiful ladies.
Their shoulder-length hair served them not only for the sake of beauty, but along with the rawhide straps woven there, wide-brimmed hats and wide collars, to protect the neck from the chopping blow of the enemy's sword or saber. And, most importantly, any musketeer, even the poorest, had to have spurs.
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After the death of King Louis XV in the course of the military reform that began on December 15, 1775, the musketeer detachments were abolished.