Grenadier
In modern warfare, a grenadier is a specially trained soldier operating as part of a fireteam, proficient in the use of limited high-angle indirect fire over "dead zones".
The concept of troops being equipped with grenades dates back to the military of the Ming dynasty, when Chinese soldiers stationed on the Great Wall used thunder crash bombs.
References to grenade-throwing troops also appear in England during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, and it was during the reign of King Louis XIV that companies of soldiers serving as grenadiers were first introduced into the French Royal Army.
[4] On 29 June of that year the diarist John Evelyn saw them drilling at an encampment at Hounslow, near London: Now were brought into service a new sort of soldier called Grenadiers, who were dexterous in flinging hand grenadoes, every one having a pouch full; they had furred caps with coped crowns like Janizaries, which made them look very fierce, and some had long hoods hanging down behind, as we picture fools.
[5]The first grenades were small iron spheres filled with gunpowder fused with a length of slow-match, and roughly the size of a tennis ball.
[8] Preben Kannik, former Curator of the Danish Army Museum, however, definitely states that grenades were thrown underhand and that it was the slinging of firearms that required the special headdresses typical of early grenadiers.
Attached to the shoulder belt was a brass 'match case' that housed the slow match used to ignite the grenade fuse, a feature that was retained in later grenadier uniforms.
As noted, above average physical size had been considered important for the original grenadiers and, in principle, height and strength remained the basis of selection for these picked companies.
[11] Prior to the Battle of Culloden in 1745 the Duke of Cumberland ordered that grenadier companies were "to be completed out of the best men of their respective Regiments, and to be constantly kept so".
However with the outbreak of the Revolutionary Wars the urgency of mass mobilisation meant that the selection of grenadier and other special sub-units was done according to the preferences of individual officers.
In the Spanish Army of the early 19th century, for example, grenadier companies were excused routine duties such as town patrols but were expected to provide guards at the headquarters and residences of senior officers.
Both began to appear in various armies during the second half of the 17th century because grenadiers were impeded by the wide brimmed infantry hats of the period when slinging their firearms while throwing grenades.
[17] The mitre cap, whether in stiffened cloth or metal, had become the distinguishing feature of the grenadier in the armies of Britain, Russia, Prussia and most German states during the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
[20] Russian grenadiers had worn their brass fronted mitre hats on active service until 1807 and some of these preserved for parade wear by the Pavlovsky Guards until 1914 still had dents or holes from musket balls.
Grenadier caps gradually increased in size and decoration, with added devices such as pompoms, cords, badges, front-plates, plumes, and braiding, as well as various national heraldic emblems.
After the Battle of Friedland in 1807, because of their distinguished performance, Russia's Pavlovsk Regiment were allowed to keep their mitre caps and were admitted to the Imperial Guard.
During the Napoleonic Wars, British grenadiers had usually worn the bearskin cap only for full dress when on home service, since the fur was found to deteriorate rapidly during campaigning overseas.
These were disbanded prior to the outbreak of war with Turkey and picked infantrymen were transferred to one of two grenadier companies incorporated in each (two-battalion) line infantry regiment.
[34] With the standardisation of training and tactics, the need for separate grenadier companies at regimental level had passed by the mid-19th century and the British, French and Austrian armies phased out these sub-units between 1850 and 1862.
[44] Though the M203 was later replaced by the M320 Grenade Launcher Module in U.S. Army service starting in 2009, the M203 remains a popular and familiar choice in the grenadier role and is still issued by other U.S. military branches.
The regiment was founded in 1903 as a recreation of a unit that existed from 1813 to 1826 under the leadership of national hero General José de San Martín.
First raised in 1837 from companies drawn from the line infantry of the newly independent kingdom, these troops served with distinction in both World Wars.
In 1960 the historic blue and red full dress worn prior to World War I was reintroduced for limited wear, although the tall bearskin headdress is now made of synthetic material.
It still continues today, both in its reserve role and as a ceremonial guard at the National War Memorial, Rideau Hall, and other places of symbolic importance.
The unit stands guard at Quito's Carondelet Palace and retains the uniform worn during the Battle of Tarqui of 1829, reporting as part of the Ecuadorian Army.
The National Guard maintains regional grenadier companies for public security duties, while performing law enforcement and wearing NG uniforms.
Their uniform includes bearskin hats, and white baldrics (cross belts) that originally carried the fuses used to light grenades.
The grenadiers bear the King's own Life Company banner, which was presented to the unit in 1868 by Charles XV's consort, Queen Louise.
[50] The United States Marine Corps rifle squad consists of three four-man fireteams including a team leader who also works as the M203 grenadier.
Bombaši (Serbian Cyrillic: бомбаши; "bombardiers" or "bombers") is the name widely used for the Yugoslav Partisan volunteer grenadiers, who had a significant importance in operations during World War II and are regarded as particularly heroic.
