On the other hand, the sappei-tai troops were composed of gokenin (an immediate vassal of the shogunate in the Kamakura and Muromachi through Edo periods) such as Kobushin-gumi (samurai without official appointments who receive small salaries) in the rank below omemie (the title with the privilege to have an audience with one's lord, a dignitary, etc.), and it was referred as gojikodutsu-gumi until 1866.
他方の撒兵隊は御目見以下の小普請組などの御家人から構成され、慶応2年（1866年）までは御持小筒組と称した。