had a ten-troop regiment plus a lifeguard of 150 men, whilst Oliver Cromwell's regiment had fourteen troops. Tactics There were national variations in the battlefield employment of harquebusiers. The French tended to retain greater use of firearms, with their harquebusiers often giving a volley of carbine or pistol fire before closing with the sword. The Swedish and Royalist English horse charged home directly with the sword, not using firearms until the melee. The Parliamentarian English cavalry retained the use of firearms in the charge until later in the Civil War, but by the time of the New Model Army had largely adopted the direct charge with the sword. The Royalists, under Prince Rupert's direction, began the Civil War using the Swedish three ranks-deep formation but the Parliamentarians retained a six-deep formation until late 1643 or early 1644. A cavalry unit drawn up in a shallow formation would outflank a similar-sized unit arrayed in a deep formation, a considerable tactical advantage. The Swedes and Royalist horse usually charged at speed, while the Parliamentarian Ironsides charged at a slower pace, the troopers keeping together knee-to-knee in order to retain their formation. In England many harquebusiers did not employ a carbine, as is described in Militaire Discipline of 1661: Many troops and regiments only with sword and pistol armed, their encounterings being not after the ancient manner of firing at a distance and wheeling off, which hath been found to be of dangerous consequence, but to fire at near distance their swords hanging at their wrists by a string, and with their sword points charging through adverse troops. Demise The term harquebusier fell out of use gradually, as armour use declined and the fully-armoured cuirassier disappeared. Harquebusiers became part of the undifferentiated "horse" or, in French, "cavalerie", of the early to mid-18th century. In the British army many cavalry regiments having their origins as units of harquebusiers eventually transformed into dragoons. In the last two decades of the 17th century, the use of armour and the buff coat declined and helmets were definitively replaced by felt hats and uniform coats. As an example, all items of armour previously employed by the regiment of Oxford Blues (precursor of the Royal Horse Guards) were ordered to be put in store in 1688 before the regiment went on active service. The equipment of the harquebusier disappeared at different rates; the doglock carbine was replaced by the