American Forestry 



VOL. XXI 



APRIL, 1915 



No. 4 



FORESTERS IN THE GERMAN ARMY 



Bv T. R. Helms 



A 



GERMAN Army Corps, as 

 known, is a complete unit- 

 it consists of Infantry, Cavalry, 

 Field Artillery, Siege Artillery, 

 Pioneers, Railroad Service, and one 

 Battalion of Jaegers (foresters). Each 

 Army Corps has one Jaeger Battalion 

 which in the Garde Corps is called the 

 Garde Schiitzen Battalion. 



The Jaeger Battalions of all the 

 Prussian Army Corps are not classed as 

 ordinary Infantry, but are under a 

 separate head, known as "The Inspec- 

 tion der Jaeger und Schiitzen," which 

 prescribes all tactics, service, etc. The 

 uniform, equipment and arms of the 

 Jaeger Battalions differ radically from 

 the equipment of the other infantry. 

 While in ordinary times the coats of the 

 infantry are blue, the Jaegers have 

 green uniforms; the infantry have the 

 bright spiked helmet, the Jaegers have 

 a leather headgear like the "Landwehr" 

 and there is absolutely nothing bright 

 about it. 



The back cover of the knapsack of the 

 infantry is calfskin with the hair on, 

 and colored a reddish brown. The 

 knapsack of the Jaegers is adorned with 

 the skin of a badger even with its head 

 on and its natural long hair and natural 

 color. While the infantry is equipped 

 with the uniform rifle and bayonet, the 

 Jaegers have a lighter and shorter rifle, 

 known as "Jaeger Biichse," Hunters 

 Rifle, and their side arm, which is also 

 fixed so that it can be used as a bayonet, 

 is longer than that of the Infantry, and 

 is known as "Hirschf anger"- -Deer 

 Knife. 



The tassels, which fasten to the belt 

 and adorn the side arms of the infantry, 



are of different colors, and each respec- 

 tive color signifies the respective com- 

 pany of the battalion. The tassels of 

 the Jaegers are green and the tassels of 

 the noncommissioned officers of the 

 Jaegers are made of green silk and silver, 

 much more ornamental than the tassels 

 of the noncommissioned officers of the 

 Infantry, which are made of cotton. 

 The tassels of the officers of the Jaegers 

 are made of poor silver. 



The noncommissioned officers of the 

 infantry are called Unterofficier and 

 Sergeant, while in the Jaeger Battalions 

 they are called "Oberjaeger." 



The Jaegers are trained principally 

 for Scout Service, and their formation, 

 tactics, rules and regulations are 

 different from those of the Infantry. 

 These are formulated by the "Inspection 

 der Jaeger and Schiitzen." The target 

 practice is much more extended, exact- 

 ing and elaborate than that of the 

 Infantry and a much higher percentage 

 of markmanship is required from the 

 Jaegers and accurate shooting in any 

 and all positions, is the object of the 

 shooting practice. The bayonet drill is 

 practised to the same extent, but at the 

 same time the rules forbid the placing 

 of the side arm as a bayonet on the rifle. 

 The reason is, that the muzzle of the 

 rifle might be damaged and thereby 

 injure its efficiency. 



In times of war or at army maneu- 

 vers, the Jaeger Battalion is attached 

 to a brigade or division of Infantry by 

 orders of the Commander of the Army 

 Corps, and then sometimes curious 

 incidents and quite often confusions 

 occur on account of the difference in 

 their formation and tactics. When an 



527 



