Light infantry
Some units or battalions that historically held a skirmishing role have kept their designation "light infantry" for the sake of tradition.
[citation needed] Early regular armies of the modern era frequently relied on irregulars to perform the duties of light infantry skirmishers.
[1] In the 17th century, dragoons were sometimes employed as the skirmishers of their day, as mounted infantrymen who rode into battle but dismounted to fight, giving them a mobility lacking to regular foot soldiers.
They did not usually fight in disciplined ranks as did the ordinary infantry but often in widely dispersed groups, necessitating an understanding of skirmish warfare.
They were expected to avoid melee engagements unless necessary and would fight ahead of the mainline to harass the enemy before falling back to the main position.
During the period 1777–1781, the Continental Army of the United States adopted the British Army practice of seasonally drafting light infantry regiments as temporary units during active field operations, by combining existing light infantry companies detached from their parent regiments.
In France, during the Napoleonic Wars, light infantry were called voltigeurs and chasseurs and the sharpshooters tirailleurs.
The Austrian army had Grenzer regiments from the middle of the 18th century, who originally served as irregular militia skirmishers recruited from frontier areas.
They were gradually absorbed into the line infantry becoming a hybrid type that proved successful against the French, to the extent that Napoleon recruited several units of Austrian army Grenzer to his own army after victory over Austria in 1809 compelled the Austrians to cede territories from which they were traditionally recruited.
Some armies, including the British and French, recruited whole regiments (or converted existing ones) of light infantry.
By the late 19th century, the concept of fighting in formation was on the wane due to advancements in weaponry and the distinctions between light and heavy infantry began to disappear.
These differed from other infantry only in maintaining such traditional distinctions as badges that included a bugle-horn, dark green home service helmets for full dress, and a fast-stepping parade ground march.
Light infantry forces typically rely on their ability to operate under restrictive conditions, surprise, violence of action, training, stealth, field craft, and fitness levels of the individual soldiers to compensate for their reduced lethality.
Due to the rocky and mountainous terrain of the Falkland Islands, operations on the ground were only made possible with the use of light infantry because the use of mechanized infantry or armour was severely limited by of the terrain, leading to the "Yomp" across the Falklands, in which Royal Marines and Paras yomped (and tabbed) with their equipment across the islands, covering 56 miles (90 km) in three days carrying 80-pound (36 kg) loads after disembarking from ships at San Carlos on East Falkland, on 21 May 1982.
Each of the three regular army regiments (Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, Royal Canadian Regiment and Royal 22e Régiment) maintains their third battalion as light infantry capable in airborne, mountain, and amphibious operations, with varying degrees of capability.
Jägarna), a legacy of a Finnish volunteer Jäger battalion formed in Germany during World War I to fight for the liberation of Finland from Russia.
For example, when World War I veteran Léon Weil died, the AFP press agency stated that he was a member of the 5th "Regiment de Chasseurs Alpins".
These usually made up the bulk of Gaelic and even later Anglo Norman Irish armies during the Middle Ages to renaissance era's.
They could provide effective support to heavily armed troops as well as endlessly harassing enemies in difficult terrain.
(11) Military Operation Command was not formed Portuguese light infantry soldiers were known as caçadores (literally "huntsmen").
In the 1950s, the designation caçadores started to be also given to the expeditionary provisional light infantry battalions and independent companies responsible for reinforcing the overseas territories garrisons.
In the 1950s, the Portuguese Air Force formed a unit of paratroopers called caçadores paraquedistas ("parachutist hunters").
Until 2006 the modern Spanish Army maintained a Brigada de Cazadores de Montaña "Aragón I" (Mountain Huntsmen Brigade "Aragón I") The British Army first experimented with light infantry in the French and Indian War, to counter the tactics used by the French-allied Native Americans.
Along with secondment of regular infantry, several specialised units were raised (including Rogers' Rangers and the 80th Regiment of Light-Armed Foot), though most if not all had been disbanded by the middle of the 1760s.
Dedicated rifle and light infantry regiments began to be formed or converted in the Napoleonic Wars, to counter the French Chasseurs.
Some extant regiments began to be designated "Light Infantry" at this point, receiving skirmishing training but generally still equipped with red coats and muskets.
This meant that the distinctions between light and line infantry were effectively limited to details such as name, a rapid march of 140 steps per minute, buglers instead of drummers and fifers, a parade drill which involved carrying rifles parallel to the ground ("at the trail") and dark green cloth helmets instead of dark blue.
[11] In the Second World War, the use of light infantry was revived in what became the British Commandos and the Parachute Regiment.
The Parachute Regiment has survived to this day, while the Royal Marine Commandos are directly descended from those units formed in the Second World War.
Following a series of amalgamations and one disbandment, none of the historic Light Infantry regiments now survive as separate entities within the modern British Army.
