Origins
The concept of throwing grenades may go back to the Ming Dynasty, when Chinese soldiers on the Great Wall were reported using this weapon. The earliest references to these grenade-throwing soldiers in Western armies come from Austria and Spain. References also appear in England during the English Civil War. However, it was King Louis XIV of France who made the grenadier an official type of soldier and company during his army reforms late in the 17th century. According to René Chartrand, Lt. Col. Jean Martinet introduced the idea of having men detailed to throw grenades in the Régiment du Roi in 1667.
Read more about this topic: Grenadier
Famous quotes containing the word origins:
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