The Grenadier Company continued during the eighteenth century to form the right Company of the Battalion in most European armies. Some of the Grenadiers were assembled in special Grenadier Regiments, like the “Grenadier Guards” in England. In Germany and Russia the title exists to this day, although the special functions of Grenadiers have been obsolete for two centuries. Thus, during the later portion of the seventeenth century, there were four different kinds of Infantry--_Pikemen_, _Musketeers_, _Grenadiers_, and _Fusiliers_. The changes in armament had the effect of reducing the number of ranks in battle. The first phalanxes of pikes had 25 ranks, which Maurice reduced to 10, and Gustavus to 6; by 1700 the number of ranks had become 4, which Frederick reduced to 3, and Wellington, on entering Spain in 1808, to 2. Two ranks became the rule in Great Britain in 1824, and in the French service in 1859. The Prussians were the last to give up three ranks, in 1888, but the third rank had long been used only for skirmishing. LIGHT INFANTRY The changes in the evolution of Infantry may be seen to be due to an ever-acting desire to have some picked troops, more mobile, and better armed than the rest--that is, _Light Infantry_, as they were styled later. The object of these troops was that they should act in advance, or on the flank, of the main portion of the army. They would thus guard it against surprise when at rest, or on the march, or in battle break the force of the attack by what became known as _skirmishing_ (from Italian _scherma_, _fencing_). Such Light Infantry were first seen at the battle of Pavia, in 1525, when 1,500 arquebusiers were extended in front of the Battalions. At first these picked troops were formed out of each Battalion, but there arose a general tendency to gather them under one Command, and form them into special Companies. The same tendency soon began to group these Companies into special Battalions, which gradually lost all idea of their special functions, and tended to become ordinary Infantry, while retaining their original special designation. We see this process acting when the Grenadiers were found too heavy for “light Infantry” work; and these duties were then allotted to the “Fusiliers,” or picked shots armed with the light fusil, who eventually became Fusilier Battalions. These, like the Grenadier Battalions, had by the end of the seventeenth century given up their distinctive mode of action, and become identical with the rest of the Infantry, while retaining the title of Fusiliers; so that when Pikemen were abolished, soon after 1700, there existed only one sort of Infantry, although certain Regiments and Companies were termed Grenadiers and Fusiliers. LIGHT INFANTRY AND RIFLES