Feldjäger

Feldjäger (German, pronounced ’fɛltˌjɛːɡɐ, lit. field huntsmen), qualified hunters and foresters by trade (see Jäger), who have received military training for service in the field; some states maintain special corps of Feldjägers, composed entirely of officers, who are not only attached to commanding generals in time of war, but also serve as couriers in peacetime, stationed at Court.

Source: Rumpf, H. F.: Allgemeine Real-Encyclopädie der gesammten Kriegskunst (Berl. 1827)

Prussian Feldjäger, 1908.

Feldjäger, a corps of foot and mounted Jägers raised in Prussia by Frederick the Great (1740), consisting exclusively of sons of forestry servants and qualified huntsmen. Feldjäger zu Fuß served as light infantry, those mounted as Kolonnenjäger, Kurierjäger, and Fourierjäger. In 1908, the Feldjäger consisted of 2 Oberjägers and 80 Feldjägers (Oberleutnants and Leutnants); pictured above as the second mounted man from the left. The commander in chief of the Feldjägercorps was an adjutant general to the king, their commanding officer the inspector of Jägers and Schützen. The corps drew recruits from a pool of young graduates who had completed their studies for senior forestry service, and who remained with the corps until they found employment as chief foresters.

Source: Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon, 6. Auflage 1905–1909

Bibliography

Jäger Miniatures