noun
- a soldier armed with a harquebus, especially a mounted cavalry soldier in the 16th and 17th centuries
Usage: historical; also spelled arquebusier
Examples
- The harquebusiers formed the backbone of European cavalry units during the Renaissance.
- Armed with long-barreled firearms, harquebusiers could strike enemies from a distance.
- The Spanish army deployed harquebusiers alongside pikemen in their battle formations.
- By the 17th century, harquebusiers had largely been replaced by musketeers with more advanced weapons.