Light infantry
Light infantry are lightly armed and lightly armed infantrymen , who mostly fight as skirmishers in dissolved or loose formation .
Antiquity
→ See: Peltast , Velites , Schleuderer and Archer .
In antiquity , skirmishers like the Greek peltasts and gastraphetess shooters , or the Roman Velites emerged. There were also slingers , archers and javelin throwers . These light units were used to weaken enemy ranks before the approach of the main contingents and to bring them into disorder. The main burden of the fight then lay on heavily armed hoplites and legionaries who fought in closed formations ( phalanx , maniples ).
middle Ages
→ See: Almogàvers , Archers and Slingers .
Throughout the Middle Ages there were archers, slingers, crossbowmen and other lightly armed infantry who either renounced heavy armor in favor of greater mobility or could not afford it. In the High Middle Ages , crossbowmen were an inexpensive and quickly trained type of troop. A simple crossbowman could kill a knight who had to go through long training and whose armor, equipment, weapons and horses were extremely expensive with one well-placed shot. A memorable role during the Reconquista took over Almogàvers , mercenaries from the Spanish Principality of Catalonia . These light infantrymen even managed to capture the French Duchy of Athens . In the late Middle Ages , during the Hundred Years War, the English longbow archers became a real threat to the heavily armored French knights and soldiers. They were only lightly armored and protected from enemy cavalry with pointed stakes. The long archers were increasingly used in large contingents; they were so numerous that they far exceeded the number of the heavy infantry. The heavy infantry, consisting of dismounted knights and soldiers, took on a minor role in the battle, downgraded to protect the long archers.
Early modern age
→ See: Musketeer , Rodeleros , Lost Pile and Forlorn Hope .
In the early modern period the importance of the bow and the crossbow decreased and that of the arquebusiers and musketeers increased significantly. The heavy infantry consisted mainly of halberd-bearers and pikemen . In order to break the formations of these heavy troops, there were troop types such as the Rodeleros or the Lost Pile (also Forlorn Hope ).
18th century
→ See: Hunters , Riflemen and Fusiliers .
With the development of line tactics , light troops were required for outpost, security and reconnaissance tasks, which operated independently of the armies fighting with rigid line tactics . During the War of the Austrian Succession , mostly mounted light units such as the Pandours and Croats were used on the Austrian side for this task. Based on this model, Frederick II created the free battalions , which did not operate in the battle line of the large formations and disturbed the enemy with sudden, surprising attacks. They were also used to ward off Maria Theresa's Pandours . The fusiliers equipped with flint rifles, the fusil , are light infantry of the line infantry that were not used independently in scattered combat.
The light infantry experienced increased use by the American Revolutionary War and the French Revolution in the 18th century. While in all other armies well-drilled soldiers often fought involuntarily, there were highly motivated but poorly trained volunteers in these armies. The tactics of the light infantry made it possible to compensate for the lack of training for fighting in the line.
In the Austrian and Prussian armies there were hunter battalions in which hunters and forest rangers were used as snipers to shoot enemy officers during the battle. Rifle battalions were formed in the 19th century by civil riflemen with the same mission.
Napoleonic Wars
→ See: Tirailleurs , Voltigeurs and King's German Legion .
Towards the end of the 18th century, the free battalions were replaced by rifle units introduced in addition to line tactics . The Tirailleurs achieved great importance as light infantry among the troops with their column tactics in the French Revolution . Initially organized only in their own regiments or battalions , soon all battalions were assigned such shooters - either in their own companies (like the French voltigeurs ) or - especially in German-speaking countries - in the form of the third (rear) members of each division.
In the German army , the term Jäger was used for light infantry units. The fighters were to operate in smaller units and in a more relaxed manner, especially on enemy flanks, and use cover of all kinds for targeted firing. This use of rifles, in contrast to the muskets of the line infantry, was the main difference. A large number of these hunters were recruited from the ranks of foresters and hunters.
Painful experiences in North America , such as the disaster of Monongahela in 1755 and the lessons of the American War of Independence, forced Great Britain to experiment with troops specially trained in disbanded combat. Therefore, the King's Royal Rifle Corps , originally Royal Americans , was formed from colonists in North America and later renamed the 60th Rifles. The 5th Battalion of the 60th Regiment, set up in January 1798 under Lieutenant Colonel Francis de Rottenburg , is considered the cornerstone of the British Light Infantry.
This strongly German-influenced unit was followed by the Experimental Rifle Corps in January 1800 , from which the 95th Rifles ( Prince Consort's Own ) developed. Their specialty was the equipment with rifles (rifled barrel = accurate) instead of muskets (smooth barrel = rather imprecise) and the uniform color, which deviates from the generally red basic color, dark green.
The two battalions of the King's German Regiment set up in 1803 , the basis for the King's German Legion , also received green uniforms and were successively equipped with rifles. In addition to the six Rifles battalions (5./60 Rgt., 1./95 Rgt., 2./95 Rgt., 3./95 Rgt. And 1st and 2nd Light Battalion KGL) in green uniforms, numerous line regiments were in light Regiments renamed. But they kept their red uniform and muskets.
today
→ See: fusiliers , hunters , paratroopers and mountain fighters .
The light infantry of the Bundeswehr includes hunters , paratroopers and mountain fighters . The terms Grenadier , Fusilier , Karabiniers (also Carabiniers or Karabiniere) and Jäger are now used synonymously for motorized infantry , some of which are also equipped with protected wheeled vehicles , or for mechanized infantry equipped with wheeled armored vehicles . The light infantry is particularly capable of fighting in difficult or impassable terrain, especially in house-to-house warfare , jungle warfare or mountain warfare, as well as behind enemy lines . The light infantry also includes the airmobile infantry equipped with helicopters or interacting with them .
Snipers , whose task used to be the main task of light infantry in addition to scattered combat, are now integrated into all branches of infantry or infantry forces of other branches and branches of the armed forces.
The United States Army maintains units of up to division strength light infantry such as the 10th Mountain Division , 82nd Airborne Division , 101st Airborne Division , the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team in Europe, the United States Army Rangers, and the 32nd Infantry Brigade (Light) of the Wisconsin Army National Guard .
The British Army maintains light infantry units with the British Parachute Regiment and The Rifles Regiment, and the Royal Navy with the Royal Marines .
The Bundeswehr possessed with the Jägerregiment 1 (air movement) about airmobile infantry. This task was returned to the paratroopers. The hunter battalion that emerged from the Jägerregiment and two other newly established ones will in future be run as grenadiers by mechanized brigades. The Bundeswehr also has Jäger Battalion 292 and Jäger Battalion 291 in the D / F Brigade. The previously remaining two airborne brigades were reclassified to two paratrooper regiments in one airborne brigade. The Gebirgsjägerbrigade 23 serves as a large unit of light infantry of the Bundeswehr for combat in the mountains or under winter conditions.
literature
Napoleonic Wars:
- John FC Fuller : British Light Infantry in the Eighteenth Century. Hutchinson, London 1925.
Present:
- Franz Uhle-Wettler : Light Infantry in the Atomic Age. The danger of over-engineering modern armed forces (= contributions to defense research. 12, ISSN 0067-5253 ). Defense and Knowledge, Darmstadt 1966.
Web links
- Literature on light infantry in the catalog of the German National Library