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The Cuirass was a piece of defensive armour made of iron 
_ plate well hammered, covering the body from neck to the girdel 
_ Habegeon, which was a short coat of mail of armour consisting of 
_afront and back without sleeves, and was formed of iron rings 
united and descending from the neck to the middle of the body. 
The Cuirass seems to have been more generally used in the 
reign of Charles the First, when the light cavalry were armed with 
buff coates, having the breast and back covered with steel plates, 
~ subsequently this piece of armour fell into disuse and was only 
_ reassumed after Waterloo. 
__ The original of these two pieces of armour was the Wambais or 
7 Gambeson, a quilted tunic stuffed with wool fitting the body and 
worn under the Habergeon, it was afterwards made strong enough 
to resist ordinary cuts and used without other armour. 
_ The interesting paper of Messrs. King and Watts on Cavaliers 
and Roundheads has already told us much about the Citizen 
Army during the Commonwealth. 
_ New muskets, pikes and swords were bought upon the return 
