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The New Model Army
raised by the forces of Parliament in the English Civil War can be said to
be the first truly professional army in Britain and the forerunner of the
British army. The army was commanded by Generals Sir Thomas Fairfax,
Skippon and Oliver Cromwell. It had infantry, cavalry and dragoons and all
men were trained ad disciplined to a high standard.
This man is a musketeer,
he wears the red coat adopted by the army and has no armour, unlike the
pikemen making up the other infantry element. In his broad brimmed hat he
wears a field sign, in this case a folded piece of paper or pamphlet, a
sign worn to distinguish friend from foe in the smoke of battle when
similar uniform was likely to be worn by both sides.
He is armed with a
musket, in this case an English 'dog lock', a variation of the flintlock
and a better system than the earlier matchlock. The charge being fired
when the trigger is pulled so releasing the hammer which strikes the pan
causing the spark which ignites the powder and fires the gun. His powder
charges are held in blue painted wooden containers, called the ' twelve
apostles ' and his priming powder is contained in a flask.
The man's only other
weapon is a simple sword or 'tuck' although contemporary accounts show
that in close combat musketeers were more likely to use the heavy butts of
their muskets as the preferred weapon of offence
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