7th Jäger Battalion

This week’s offering from the 1870 Prussians is the Westpahalian Jäger Battalion No. 7. Formed in 1815 from many of the disbanded volunteer jäger units and elements of the Bergischer Jägers as well as some Schaumburg-Lippe, Saxon and Nassau infantry, the battalion entered service as the Rhenish Jäger battalion, with a permanent garrison in Wetzlar from 1818.

It fought in the First Schlegwig-Holstein War and in 1860 was renamed the Westphanian Battalion Number 7. It saw action in the Danish War of 1864, fighting at Missunde and Düppel. Two years later it formed a part of the Elbe Army and fought at Münchengrätz and Königgrätz.  It was attached to the VII Corps in the restructure of 1867 and fought with that corps in 1870, with battle honours for Spicheren, Borny and Gravelotte.

It was mobilised in 1914 as apart of the 26th Infantry Brigade and spent the entire war on the Western Front. It was disbanded in December 1918.

In the organisation of 1870 each North German Corps was assigned one jäger battalion. The battalion number always matched the corps to which they were attached and generally recruited in the same region. The South German firmations had a different organisation with a higher ratio of jägers to line troops, with one battalion attached to each brigade (sometime two battalions in some Bavarian brigades).

The jägers were trained in the tradition of light infantry where small groups of skilled riflemen lurked in concealing terrain harassing line troops, picking off officers and NCOs. However, in many ways the title jäger, much like those of grenadiers and fusiliers, was becoming obsolete by 1870 where they fought, in the opening battles certainly, pretty much as any line infantry unit - in company lines. At Spicheren the 3rd Jägers clambered up a ravine on the western face of the Rotherberg along with several other line infantry battalions and attempted to storm the crest, only to be pinned down in battalion line by French fire. At that same battle the 7th Jägers, again in battalion line, turned the extreme left of the French line and compelled them to abandon their position. On the same day at Froeschwiller the 11th Jägers had just formed in line after crossing the Sauerbach when they were attacked in the flank by the 3rd Tirailleurs Algériens and driven back across the stream in disorder. They reformed and later stormed the Lansberg Farm only to be later thrown out of there when attacked by the 3rd Zouaves. The attack of the Lauenburg jäger battalion number 9 at Gravelotte in close order battalion line, officers leading the advance, was captured by Ernst Zimmer in this painting. 

While I am happy with the overall result of this unit, I struggled with these figures because as nice as the poses are they seemed rushed in design: the detail is indistinct, the faces are bland and there were a number of casting flaws.