Well, ‘bowman’ does have a nautical sense too, though the piece name is definitely not intending to refer to that.
Arguably, ‘archer’ refers also to crossbowmen, whereas ‘bowman’ is more specific about the weapon used.
Also apparently the Chess Bishop (presumably with both its modern and archaic moves) was sometimes called an Archer, which may be why you're finding ‘archers’ moving like Elephants
Well, ‘bowman’ does have a nautical sense too, though the piece name is definitely not intending to refer to that.
Arguably, ‘archer’ refers also to crossbowmen, whereas ‘bowman’ is more specific about the weapon used.
Also apparently the Chess Bishop (presumably with both its modern and archaic moves) was sometimes called an Archer, which may be why you're finding ‘archers’ moving like Elephants