Looking at this very interesting photo collection, it seems that once the main weapon in war transitioned from swords, axes, arrows, etc. to rifles, the regular soldier no longer wore mail, steel armor, hard helmets, etc. but instead just wore a uniform.
Why was this? Did it simply become too expensive to outfit every soldier with armor? Or was it seen as impractical at the time?
Thanks in advance.
Soldier's during the Renaissance stopped wearing large armor due to a number of reasons. One was that there wasn't a real need. Swords of that era had become small and lightweight, thus heavy armor would slow you down. Second, bullets and cannons were becoming all too common by the 1600 and 1700 hundreds. Armor at that time, no matter how thick, was not a good way to stop bullets. To brush on your question on cost, yes they were expensive. By the 1800's armor was only used for more wealthy units, like cavalry. Take the French Cuirassier, for example:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Bataille_Waterloo_1815_reconstitution_2011_cuirassier.jpg
Link: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/body-armor2.htm
