Musicians

See Band , Drummer , Fifer , and Trumpeter . Musket , or Musquet (Fr. mousquet ). The fire-arm for infantry soldiers, which succeeded the clumsy arquebuse, and has itself given way before the rifle (which see). The first muskets were matchlocks; after which came wheel-locks, a snap hans or snaphance muskets, and lastly percu ion muskets, which were a vast improvement both for accuracy and lightne on all which had gone before. Compared, however, to the present rifle, the musket was a heavy, ugly, and ineffective weapon.