īy the early 19th century, because of their civilian occupations, Jäger were usually familiar with the first true rifles, rather than the muskets used by regular infantry. However, it was not until the first half of the 18th century that the widespread recruitment began in various German states of gamekeepers, huntsmen and foresters employed on crown estates or those of noble landowners, for specialized units of riflemen and skirmishers. Wilhelm supposedly formed an elite light infantry unit for the Hessian Army, around a core drawn from his personal staff of gamekeepers ( Revierjäger 'game preserve hunter'), forest rangers and professional hunters.

jagers) to avoid the umlaut.įranz Rudolf Frisching in the uniform of an officer of the Bernese Jäger Corps with his Schweizerischer Niederlaufhund, painted by Jean Preudhomme in 1785Īccording to a popular theory, the earliest known Jäger unit was a company formed in about 1631 in Hesse-Kassel, under William V, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel. In English Jäger is often written as jaeger (both pl. ' ranger' (especially in North American English see below).' rifleman' (in an infantry role) or 'Rifles' (in regimental names) and.Jäger is usually translated into English as: Conversely, in the modern German army ( Bundeswehr), Feldjäger is the name given to military police. For instance, Feldjäger was the name given by the Prussian Army to scouts and runners. The word's usage and derivatives broadened over time. As a consequence, Jäger was used to describe skirmishers, scouts, sharpshooters and runners. In German-speaking states during the early modern era, the term Jäger came to denote light infantrymen whose civilian occupations (mostly hunters and foresters) made them well-suited to patrolling and skirmishing, on an individual and independent basis, rather than as part of a large-scale military unit or traditional line infantry. Jäger (singular Jäger, plural Jäger, German pronunciation: ' hunter') is a German military term referring to specific light infantry units.

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