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Cuirassiers (, from French ''cuirassier'', ) were cavalry equipped with armour and firearms, first appearing in late 15th-century Europe. This French term means "the one with a cuirass" (''cuirasse''), the breastplate armour which they wore. The first cuirassiers were produced as a result of armoured cavalry, such as the man-at-arms and demi-lancer, discarding their lances and adopting the use of pistols as their primary weapon. In the later 17th century, the cuirassier lost his limb armour and subsequently employed only the cuirass (breastplate and backplate), and sometimes a helmet. By this time, the sword was the primary weapon of the cuirassier, pistols being relegated to a secondary function. Cuirassiers achieved increased prominence during the Napoleonic Wars and were last fielded in the opening stages of World War I. Cuirassiers continue to be employed as ceremonial troops by a number of countries. ==The 16th and 17th century cuirassier== The first cuirassiers were similar in appearance to the fully armoured Late Medieval man-at-arms. They wore three-quarter armour that covered the entire upper body as well as the front half of the legs down to the knee. The head was protected by a close helm, burgonet or lobster-tailed pot helmet, usually worn with a gorget for the neck. The torso was protected by a breast and back plate, sometimes reinforced by a 'placate'. The arms and shoulders were fully armoured with pauldrons, rerebraces, elbow couters and vambraces. Armoured gauntlets were often abandoned, particularly for the right hand, as they interfered with the loading of pistols. Long tassets, instead of a combination of short tassets with cuisses, protected the front of the thighs and knees, Riding boots were substituted for lower leg armour (greaves and sabatons).〔Tincey, J. (McBride, A. - illustrator) (1990) ''Soldiers of the English Civil War (2) Cavalry'', Osprey Publishing, ISBN 0-85045-940-0. pp. 31 and 45.〕 Weapons included a pair of pistols in saddle holsters, these were the primary weapons instead of a lance, a 'horseman's pick' (a type of war hammer) was sometimes employed and a sword. Horse armour was not used. The armour of a cuirassier was very expensive; in England, in 1629, a cuirassier's equipment cost four pounds and 10 shillings, whilst a harquebusier's (a lighter type of cavalry) was a mere one pound and six shillings.〔Haythornthwaite, P. (1983) ''The English Civil War, An Illustrated History'' Blandford Press. ISBN 1-85409-323-1. pp. 45 and 49.〕 During the latter half of the 16th century, the heavy "knightly" lance gradually fell out of use perhaps because of the widespread adoption of the infantry pike. Also, the lance required a great amount of practice to perfect its use, whilst proficiency in the use of firearms was considerably more easily acquired. The lancer or demi-lancer, when he had abandoned his lance, became the pistol-armed cuirassier or reiter. The adoption of the pistol as the primary weapon led to the development of the stately caracole tactic, where cuirassiers fired their pistols at the enemy, then retired to reload whilst their comrades advanced in turn to maintain the firing. Following some initial successes, this tactic proved to be extremely ineffective as infantry, with superior firearms and numbers could easily outgun the cuirassiers. The change from cavalry being reliant on firearms, to shock-capable close combat cavalry reliant mainly on the sword was often attributed to Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden in the 1620s and 1630s.〔Brzezinski, R. (Hook, R. - illustrator) (1993) ''The Army of Gustavus Adolphus (2) Cavalry.'' Osprey Publishing, ISBN 1-85532-350-8, p. 4〕 Gustavus Adolphus also reduced the number of ranks in a cavalry formation from the previously usual six to ten, for pistol-based tactics, to three to suit his sword-based shock tactics, or as a partial remedy to the frequent numerical inferiority of his cavalry arm.〔Blackmore, D. (1990) ''Arms & Armour of the English Civil Wars'', Trustees of the Royal Armouries. ISBN 0-948092-08-4, pp.9-10〕 Only two cuirassier regiments were raised during the English Civil War, the Lifeguard of the Earl of Essex and the 'London lobsters,' though individuals within other regiments did serve in full armour. With the refinement of infantry firearms, especially the introduction of the powerful musket, the usefulness of the protection afforded by full armour became greatly lessened. By the mid 17th century, the fully armoured cuirassier was becoming increasingly anachronistic. The cuirassier lost his limb armour and entered the 18th century with just the breast and backplate.〔Blackmore, D. (1990) ''Arms & Armour of the English Civil Wars'', Trustees of the Royal Armouries. ISBN 0-948092-08-4, pp.9-10〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「cuirassier」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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