# musketeers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 17, 2011, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musketeers/582217 "2011-05-17T17:01:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musketeers/582217/1 "2011-05-17T17:01:50Z")
The thing most people think about The Three Musketeers is sword fighting. Muskets, however, are guns. Why are the Musketeers known for swords and not the guns from whence their name comes? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musketeers/582217/2 "2011-05-17T17:06:43Z")
Because nobody at the time used muskets to fight duels. Most of the fights the musketeers are involved in are affairs of honor or encounters with the Cardinal’s guards. Neither is one where random musket fire is needed. Besides, the muskets were only used when the musketeers were used in battle. The swords are their everyday carry weapon. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musketeers/582217/3 "2011-05-17T17:56:35Z")
The Richard Lester version showed them holding muskets when D’Artagnan was made a musketeer. They belong to an elite military unit called “The Musketeers.” Musketeers is a name, not a description. Next you’ll be asking why human beings are Navy Seals. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musketeers/582217/4 "2011-05-17T18:58:53Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > They belong to an elite military unit called “The Musketeers.” Musketeers is a name, not a description. Next you’ll be asking why human beings are Navy Seals. I don’t see where you’re making any sense here. “Musketeer,” like “rifleman,” is a descriptive name. It wasn’t just picked out of the air – its meaning is a soldier with a musket, as the OP quite logically inferred. The Navy SEAL thing is a whole different kettle of fish, and fails badly as an analogy. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musketeers/582217/5 "2011-05-17T19:09:02Z")
[Musketeers of the Guard](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musketeers_of_the_Guard). ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musketeers/582217/6 "2011-05-17T21:23:53Z")
No doubt Dumas pere found swords sexier than muskets when writing the book. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musketeers/582217/7 "2011-05-17T21:50:48Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > The Richard Lester version showed them holding muskets when D’Artagnan was made a musketeer. > > They belong to an elite military unit called “The Musketeers.” Musketeers is a name, not a description. Next you’ll be asking why human beings are Navy Seals. I hear that modern dragoons mostly ride in tanks and other vehicles, not horses, let alone dragons. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musketeers/582217/8 "2011-05-17T23:22:11Z")
[Previous thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=53962). ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musketeers/582217/9 "2011-05-17T23:30:20Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Because nobody at the time used muskets to fight duels. Most of the fights the musketeers are involved in are affairs of honor or encounters with the Cardinal’s guards. Neither is one where random musket fire is needed. > > Besides, the muskets were only used when the musketeers were used in battle. The swords are their everyday carry weapon. This is pretty much it. A gentleman or royal guardsman would be rarely found without his rapier, but muskets were much heavier and the weapons of the time actually might have required a musket rest in addition to the musket itself. This is not something you walk around with casually. Furthermore, muskets of the time required lit matchcord to fire. Not something you have time to do in a street brawl. There were wheellock pistols of course, but they were also a bit bulky and keeping them wound up all the time was not good for them. On duty, they would certainly be carrying their muskets. As noted, the Dumas characters were part of an elite guard with a reputation to keep up. In the book the King actually rewards the musketeers for defeating the rival Cardinal’s Guard. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musketeers/582217/10 "2011-05-18T00:12:48Z")
Last time I checked, the Air Cavalry don’t ride pegasi. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musketeers/582217/11 "2011-05-18T02:27:16Z")
A musket was a battlefield weapon and there weren’t many scenes of D’Artagnan and crew on a battlefield. It’s like how Maverick considered himself a fighter pilot even when he wasn’t flying around in his plane. And to answer another common question, there were only three musketeers - Aramis, Athos, and Porthos - as characters in the book. D’Artagnan was trying to become a musketeer. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musketeers/582217/12 "2011-05-18T03:39:10Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > I hear that modern dragoons mostly ride in tanks and other vehicles, not horses, let alone dragons. Riding in a horse would be rather bloody. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musketeers/582217/13 "2011-05-18T03:59:48Z")
It just seems like a book or movie about musketeers ought to have some people getting shot with muskets every now and then. Maverick did fly about a good bit in Top Gun. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musketeers/582217/14 "2011-05-18T05:16:11Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > Riding in a horse would be rather bloody. Nice username/post combo. I’m sure your cousin Luke told you all about the animals he’s been inside. Once on Hoth because it was cold, and several times inside them when he grew up on Tatooine, but that was more of a loneliness issue. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musketeers/582217/15 "2011-05-18T06:05:12Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > It just seems like a book or movie about musketeers ought to have some people getting shot with muskets every now and then. Maverick did fly about a good bit in Top Gun. There were some battle scenes with musket shooting in the Richard Lester movies. ---
**Author:** ![Double\_Foolscap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@Double\_Foolscap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Double_Foolscap)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musketeers/582217/16 "2011-05-18T08:27:39Z")
I’m fairly sure there were whole chapters I skimmed over involving various sieges - I assume muskets were being used there. ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musketeers/582217/17 "2011-05-18T09:07:40Z")
i read only the abridged version. what i know is the captain, monsieur de treville, was from gascon and mostly gasconians are allowed to join the musketeers. what i’m not sure of is whether or not they were the king’s exclusive guards. staying on-topic, units also tend to be named after their primary weapon(s) like lancers, grenadiers, sabres, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musketeers/582217/18 "2011-05-18T09:19:24Z")
> [@Double\_Foolscap](#): > > I’m fairly sure there were whole chapters I skimmed over involving various sieges - I assume muskets were being used there. There was a thread covering the subject, and relinked here by **squeegee**. But, toward the end of the book there is the siege of La Rochelle where the Musketeers work as a military unit, with guns and everything. When they’re in town, they act more as a bodyguard unit. I wonder if pistols show up in the story though, cant remember. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musketeers/582217/19 "2011-05-18T18:06:09Z")
If the book (or movies) had focused on battle scenes then it would have been a story about war. Which it wasn’t. While the main characters were part of a military unit, and their roles were defined by that, the story was essentially a political thriller. An equivalent would be _A Few Good Men_. The setting was a courtroom and the story was about a legal trial. But the characters were defined by the fact that they were members of the military - the story wouldn’t have been the same if everyone was a civilian. However, despite the fact the story is about military people, it’s not about war - showing the characters in combat would have been a distraction from the story. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musketeers/582217/20 "2011-05-18T20:48:44Z")
Quoth **Mr. Miskatonic** : > [@](#): > > This is pretty much it. A gentleman or royal guardsman would be rarely found without his rapier, but muskets were much heavier and the weapons of the time actually might have required a musket rest in addition to the musket itself. This is not something you walk around with casually. > > Furthermore, muskets of the time required lit matchcord to fire. Not something you have time to do in a street brawl. It was also what we today would call a squad weapon: The actual musketeer would fire off a shot, then pass the empty gun off to a lackey who would hand him a loaded one and reload the one that was just shot. The lackey, of course, had almost no social status, and it was up to the Musketeer himself to recruit and pay him (at least, so it’s depicted in the book). Quoth **Little Nemo** : > [@](#): > > And to answer another common question, there were only three musketeers - Aramis, Athos, and Porthos - as characters in the book. D’Artagnan was trying to become a musketeer. Well, D’Artagnan did get initiated into the unit at the very end of the book, though by that point the original three were mostly going their own ways. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musketeers/582217.md?page=2)