Carbines
Carabineers , Carabiniers or policemen were originally with the carbine armed soldiers. In some armies, the term has traditionally been used for units with modern equipment. In some Romansh-speaking countries, the term also refers to police officers in the respective national language.
Infantry and cavalry
In the cavalry in particular, carbines were assigned partly as specialists to the regular squadrons or companies , partly as a closed unit to the regiments . In contrast to the common musket , the carbine originally had a more precise barrel because it was provided with rifling . In the old Prussian cavalry, the private carbines were often called. Later the carbines were drawn together in various armies as elite troops to form independent regiments.
In the Napoleonic Grande Armée the two carbine regiments (there from 1809 in fact cuirassiers ) were for example. B. at the head of the line cavalry. In the light infantry , as elite companies, they formed the counterpart to the grenadiers of the line infantry .
In the course of the 19th century, the term carbine was increasingly out of use, as the special position of the carbine in weapons technology was increasingly lost. On the one hand, carbines were generally introduced with the cavalry, on the other hand, because of the faster loading process and not least for cost reasons, carbines were often only given smooth-barreled rifles. Towards the middle of the century, with the introduction of Minié bullets , rifles with rifles with rifled barrel became common for the masses of the army.
For reasons of tradition, z. B. in Saxony the 2nd Heavy Regiment of the Cavalry until 1919 called the Carabinier Regiment . The British Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (now a tank unit) still use the name Carabiniers and Grays as their official nickname . The 1st Battalion of the Midium Brigade of the Belgian Army is called Carabiniers / Grenadiers.
Police and gendarmerie
In the Kingdom of Sardinia , a gendarmerie force based on the French model was set up in 1814 , which still bears the original name “ Carabinieri ” in today's Italy and, in 2000, was separated from the army , since the fourth armed forces . There was a similar development. B. with the Carabineros de Chile and in Colombia.
literature
- General Military Encyclopedia , Association of German Officers, 1861, Leipzig. P. 114
