Grenadiers were assault troops armed with grenades. Soldiers trained to carry and throw them were equipped with a length of slow match with which to ignite their fuses. Since they were weapons of assault, those who were trained to throw them had to be highly motivated risk-takers; ideally, they were also large and agile, since length of arm and bodily strength contributed to the distance that the grenade could be thrown. These factors led to grenadiers becoming élite soldiers by the end of the 17th century and to their being dressed in ways reflective of this status.
Grenadiers first appeared in France: in 1667 four men per infantry company were trained as grenadiers and in 1671 one company per battalion was a grenadier company. Grenadier companies (see flank companies) were introduced in the British infantry in 1678 and in 1676 mounted grenadiers were created in Louis XV's household troops; in 1679 horse grenadiers were added to the British Household Cavalry and known as Horse Grenadier Guards. By the end of the 17th century each European nation had companies of foot or regiments of horse or foot armed and dressed as grenadiers. The grenadier company of a line infantry battalion was paraded on the right of the line, the place of honour accorded to its status. In the 18th century, it became the practice, in time of war, for the grenadier companies to be grouped together to form battalions or larger formations: such units would be placed in the forefront of any assault. This practice continued in peacetime in some nations, France creating a regiment of grenadiers in 1748—Les Grenadiers de France—and Austria creating grenadier battalions in 1769. By this time though, the grenade itself had been largely dropped from the infantryman's armoury and grenadiers were simply soldiers selected for their appearance and height. These attributes were embellished, in the French army, by encouraging grenadiers to grow fierce moustaches; elsewhere, their height was exaggerated by ‘mitre’ or grenadier caps. These caps, close-fitting, tall, and pointed, developed from soft round hats which, for 17th-century grenadiers, replaced the broad-brimmed infantryman's hat. Such headdress interfered less with their ability to sling their muskets and hurl their grenades overarm.
Grenadier companies were abolished in the British army in 1855 and in the French army in 1868, but the name lived on because the British 1st Foot Guards became the Grenadier Guards in 1815 in commemoration of their defeat of the Grenadiers of Napoleon's Imperial Guard at Waterloo. The Grenadier Guards adopted the bearskin cap which, by 1815, marked grenadier companies out from battalion and light companies; subsequently the other regiments of British Foot Guards also adopted the bearskin cap. In WW II, regiments of Panzergrenadieren were attached to Wehrmacht armoured divisions. These were assault-trained infantry; élite troops who accompanied tanks into battle as part of blitzkrieg tactics and whose mobility was consequently enhanced. Although armed with grenades, like all German infantry, their name was a deliberate invocation of the original grenadiers' élite traditions.
— Stephen Wood
