The American War of Independence / Revolutionary war etc is still fairly new to me and so far I’ve not been able to get satisfactory answers to a couple of pretty basic questions regarding Grenadiers.
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| A grenadeless grenadier |
If anyone is able to shed some light on the following I’d really appreciate it.
1. British grenadiers used to throw grenades, hence the name, which must have been pretty useful in assaults. Grenadiers are still a « thing » in the AWI period but they no longer seem to use grenades. When did grenades fall out of use…and why? I note that in the AWI they still seemed to have been equipped with vestigial items like match cases.
2. In the AWI the British formed composite grenadier battalions by nicking the grenadier companies from their parent line regiments and lumping them together in a semi temporary formation. Did these grenadier composite battalions have a specific unit flag given their disparate nature?
3. American regiments of the period seem to have included light companies like the British, but not grenadiers. Why would that be?
No prizes on offer I’m afraid cos I’m a retired old skinflint with nothing anyone would want, however you might experience a faint warm glow from enriching my life with answers to these perplexing issues.
Ta mutchly, in anticipation.