Simon Fischer, a Jäger. Jäger is ambiguous; it may have meant simply a "huntsman" (as on a royal preserve) or, beginning c. 1750, a soldier skilled in the use of a rifle - a weapon which took longer to load than the smoothbore musket of the line infantry, but which had greater range and accuracy. Drawn from a "well-esteemed class" (per General Martin Ernst von Schlieffen (1732-1825), quoted in Dr. Rodney Atwood's The Hessians: Mercenaries from Hessen-Kassel in the American Revolution (Cambridge University Press 1980), the Jägers were primarily used for reconnaissance, skirmishing, or screening bodies of heavier troops. They owned their own weapons and could (in principle) fill a crucial defensive role as militia in case of surprise assaults before any mobilization had been ordered, or as organizers of partisan warfare after an occupation. Jäger were not just skilled riflemen; they were also able to handle and maintain delicate, accurate rifles in an age when very few people had any mechanical skill.
Anna Maria's mother was named Catharina David.
Both were born c. 1760 and died c. 1836 in Niederlauken, Herzogtum („duchy") Nassau (modern-day Hessen).
Anna Maria's mother was named Catharina David.
Both were born c. 1760 and died c. 1836 in Niederlauken, Herzogtum („duchy") Nassau (modern-day Hessen).
Simon Fischer, a Jäger. Jäger is ambiguous; it may have meant simply a "huntsman" (as on a royal preserve) or, beginning c. 1750, a soldier skilled in the use of a rifle - a weapon which took longer to load than the smoothbore musket of the line infantry, but which had greater range and accuracy. Drawn from a "well-esteemed class" (per General Martin Ernst von Schlieffen (1732-1825), quoted in Dr. Rodney Atwood's The Hessians: Mercenaries from Hessen-Kassel in the American Revolution (Cambridge University Press 1980), the Jägers were primarily used for reconnaissance, skirmishing, or screening bodies of heavier troops. They owned their own weapons and could (in principle) fill a crucial defensive role as militia in case of surprise assaults before any mobilization had been ordered, or as organizers of partisan warfare after an occupation. Jäger were not just skilled riflemen; they were also able to handle and maintain delicate, accurate rifles in an age when very few people had any mechanical skill.
Anna Maria's mother was named Catharina David.
Both were born c. 1760 and died c. 1836 in Niederlauken, Herzogtum („duchy") Nassau (modern-day Hessen).
Anna Maria's mother was named Catharina David.
Both were born c. 1760 and died c. 1836 in Niederlauken, Herzogtum („duchy") Nassau (modern-day Hessen).
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