Kaiserjäger
Despite the name "Tirol" in its title its members were not just recruited from the crown land of Tyrol[2] (including Vorarlberg) but also from other parts of the monarchy.
The first standing troops in the Tyrol were the native Tyrolese soldiers of the Tyrolean State Battalion (Tiroler Landbataillon) formed in 1703.
Due to the political situation during the Napoleonic era, the regiment was permanently stationed in Veneto – still Austrian at that time – in 1801, which is why it lost its original name.
The inhaber of the Rifles was Feldmarschall-Leutnant Franz Philipp Fenner von Fenneberg (1762–1824), which resulted in the contemporary title of Fennerjäger.
The soldiers of this regiment, whose strength was 5,000 men, were recruited by state conscription (Konscription) - until the introduction of general conscription (Wehrpflicht) in 1868, their posts were determined by lot - and by the absorption of 1,400 men from the former Fennerjägerkorps and of 600 Tyrolean soldiers who returned to their homeland after the end of the Napoleonic Wars.
On 1 May 1895 the 16 battalions of the Tyrolean Jäger Regiment (Emperor Franz Joseph) (Tiroler Jägerregiment Kaiser Franz Joseph) were directed to form into 4 regiments that were set up as follows: As a result of the usually frequent moves of the garrisons in Austria-Hungary, the units (official abbreviation TJR for Tyrolean Jäger Regiment) were based in the following towns and cities of the three Tyrolean regions (North, South and Welsch Tyrol) in August 1914: The Kaiserjäger saw operational service at the storming of Casina Fersada on 23 February 1849, the attack on the village of Pregasina on 16 June 1848, the night battle at Volta on 26 June 1848, capture of a French cannon on 4 June 1859 during the Battle of Magenta, the storming of Oliosi on 24 June 1866, and the storming of the insurgents' position in Kremenac on 21 October 1878 during the occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
During the First World War, the four regiments fought with heavy losses, first in Galicia and the Carpathians against Russia, until they were deployed on the plateau of the Seven Communities Trient and at Isonzo after the start of fighting on the Italian front.
On the contrary, the following saying circulated among the Fanti (infantry) and Alpini in 1916: "Dio ci liberi degli irredenti!"
It consisted of a crown and brim adorned with a circular, green cord, the Jäger emblem and a plume of black rooster feathers.
On the left hand side of the crown was a rearward sloping pocket made of hat felt for attaching the feathers.
The other ranks' coat was made of pike gray cloth and had grass-green epaulettes, shoulder trim, collar and cuffs.
Apart from the headdress, the most distinctive feature of the Kaiserjäger uniform was the base color of "pike grey" (Hechtgrau).
This color (which was of a greyer shade than the light blue shown in illustrations on this page) had distinguished the jäger regiments of the Austrian (and subsequently Austro-Hungarian) armies from 1801 until 1915.
The confusion arose from the decree of April 1917, in which Emperor Charles I granted the title Kaiserschützen to the Tyrolean state rifles.
One curiosity of the rifle troops was that the private soldier was called a Jäger (rifleman, literally "hunter") whereas the lowest NCO's rank was that of Unterjäger (unter normally meaning "under" or "below").
Monuments to the fallen Kaiserjägers were erected in Bregenz and in the Innsbruck district of Amras during the First World War and in the interwar period.
In order to maintain the tradition of the Jäger, in 2000 the annual officer cadet intake at the Theresian Military Academy in Vienna's Neustadt was given the title Kaiserjäger.
