Brandenburg-Ansbach Jägercorps, 1769–1791

Brandenburg-Ansbach Jägercorps, 1769–1791.

A typical Jäger zu Fuß serving with the German Auxiliary Forces in North American. Jägers were foresters and gamekeepers who would be called up for military duty when needed. The man shown here is taking a rest on a beautiful day in August. Leaning against the tree is a Jäger rifle which had much better accuracy and greater range than a regular infantry musket, but which took more time to load. Jägers were trained to act individually or in small groups, and they could be trusted not to desert at the first opportunity. When the Anspach-Bayreuth infantry regiments mutinied during embarkation at Ochsenfurt, the Feld-Jäger company under Capitain von Cramon was employed as military police to bring the infantry back into line.

Ansbach Jägercorps, 1777

  • Kommandeur
    •  
  • Bataillonsstab
    • Adjutant
    • Auditeur
    • Quartiermeister
    • Regimentsfeldscher Rapp
  • Feld-Jäger Kompanie
    • Capitain von Cramon
      Hauptmann Freiherr von Waldenfels (March 1779)
    • Premier-Lieutenant von Freilitzsch
    • Second-Lieutenant von Ebenauer
      Leutnant Bach (formerly Sergeant)
    • Second-Lieutenant von Forstner
    • 2 Sergeants
    • Quartiermeistersergeant
    • 5 Corporals, a Korporal Grasser amongst them
    • Feldscher
    • Quartiermeister
    • 87 Jäger
  • Feld-Jäger Kompanie
    • Capitain
    • Premier-Lieutenant
    • Second-Lieutenant
    • Second-Lieutenant
    • Jägers
  • Feld-Jäger Kompanie
    • Capitain
    • Premier-Lieutenant
    • Second-Lieutenant
    • Second-Lieutenant
    • Jägers
  • Feld-Jäger Kompanie
    • Capitain
    • Premier-Lieutenant
    • Second-Lieutenant
    • Second-Lieutenant
    • Jägers

Jägers are elite German light infantry who served primarily on foot or as mounted infantry. In addition to their combat role, Jägers were often used as scouts, dispatch riders, and military police. The most famous member of the Anspach-Bayreuth Jägercorps was a young Lieutenant von Gneisenau who served in North America in 1782 and 1783, and who later became a prominent military reformer and field-marshal of the Prussian army. Lieutenant von Gneisenau saw no action in North America, but he and the many other Europeans who participated in the struggle learned a great deal about light troops and skirmish tactics.

The Army of Ansbach and Bayreuth