|
Each gendarme & light horse, the war having come each must select one young soldier of the age of twenty to twenty-five years, strong disposed & courageous to assist him in all combats & reside in his lodgings; They are armed with a rondache of wood three feet in diameter, covered with leather & encircled with copper; the small morion pointed, the leather breastplate, the short sword, the dagger & the light arquebuse rouet[1] from large ditches. They are given some adventurous man for Captain, as the Captain pleases. Their duty is to guard the quarters, to stand the guard at the barricades, to be on the flanks to checkmate the enemy before their masters become involved, to kill the horses & the masters of the enemies who are on foot, rescue & remount their own, sight the dead horses & fight with their said masters. In short, this strong force of men of war is very useful in all ways & of great support to the cavalry. For they serve them as friends, escort & valets & if it happens that they become lost, the damage is not great. But this happens rarely, being as quick & of long-winded as horses can be. |
| 1. "Arquebuse a' Rouet": "A fire-lock or peece that gots with a fire-locK." [Cotgrave] |