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Thoughts On The Issue of The T.W. Pistor Jaeger Rifle
By Matt Morehouse

By November 1777, the Hesse-Kassel Jaeger Korps mustered 1,028 men in six companies, one of which was mounted (Selig & Skaggs, 19). Originally raised from foresters and huntsmen, it is assessed that most of the jaegers in the first two companies carried their personal jaeger rifles with them. This is based on the fact that the 1st Kompanie embarked for America, via Portsmouth on April 17, 1776, four months after the Landgraf signed an agreement to supply troops to the English (www.jaegerkorps.org). Ewald’s 2nd Kompanie embarked in May (Selig & Skaggs, 19). But what about the subsequent jaeger companies and individual augmentations sent after 1776; what rifles did they have? I think there is good evidence the Hesse-Kassel jaeger companies and recruits arriving after 1776 were armed with the Pistor Jaeger rifle. There are two reasons for this. The first is based on the rapid expansion of the Korps and the fact the Jaegers had to rely on the English logistical system and ammunition available, and the second is based on quotations from Ewald and Bartholomai during the siege of Charleston.

In March 1774, the Leib Jaeger Kompanie mustered 31 men under Capt Ewald. On April 22, 1774, the Hesse-Kassel War Ministry ordered the expansion of the Leib Jaeger Kompanie to 102 men (Selig & Skaggs, 19). In two and a half years, the Korps grew to 10 times that amount. Based on this increase, it is likely many of the men were armed with the Pistor. Capt Ewald writes about the first recruits on June 8, 1777. These were 75 men who, ‘consisted of a few adventurers and experienced jaegers’ (Tustin, 63-64). Although the “experienced jaegers” could have brought their own weapons, it is likely the “adventurers” were issued the Pistor from the Landgraf’s stores. Ewald makes further references to jaeger recruits from Hesse and their varying quality (Tustin, 178 & 250). A 1779 quote describing 229 recruits in De Witt Bailey’s British Military Flintlock Rifles also points to jaegers being issued Pistors: ‘…though there were only 100 of them arm’d, it being intended that the armed and accoutrements for the rest, …shou’d be supplied out of the Landgraf’s Depot in America’ (Bailey, 61). These jaegers were replacements/augmentees for the Hesse-Kassel jaegers already in America. Taking the above quote with those from Ewald, one can surmise any recruits coming over were equipped with the Pistor Jaeger made at Schmalkalden. By the end of the war, the Jaeger Korps attained an estimated 60% attrition rate (Selig & Skaggs, 19). As such, the jaegers equipped with personal rifles probably would have declined as the war progressed.

Inferential evidence of issued rifles also comes from the Siege of Charleston (when the 2nd Kompanie came south). On May 8, 1780, Ewald states, ‘In addition, boxes filled with cartridges were placed along the parapet, so that firing could be sustained continuously’ (Tustin, 236). One can wonder how firing could have been sustained (at least for the jaegers) if there were an abundance of personal rifles with varying calibers. On 11 May, Lieutenant Bartholomai (Ansbach-Beyreuth Jaegers) mentions, ‘I asked the English Colonel commanding in the trenches to issue us ammunition from the light infantry supply, which we then fired…’ (Burgoyne, 91). From Bailey’s book, we know that Ansbach Jaeger rifles were .65 caliber and the Hesse-Kassel rifle is .62 caliber. English carbine ball (used in the Light Infantry carbines (like Bryan has)) was .615 caliber. Therefore, the Ansbach rifles could surely draw on existing English ammunition supplies. The Hesse-Kassel Pistor rifle could also, but would require the use of a much thinner patch or cartridge paper due to the closer tolerance involved.

With this said, information gaps still exist. It is unknown exactly how many Pistor Jaegers were made and issued. The Pistor in Bailey’s book is marked “206” on the buttplate, but it is unknown if this is a rack number or manufacturing serial number. Additonally Ewald, Bartholomai, and the Hesse-Kassel Jaeger Korps Orderly Book do not discuss rifles in detail to highlight any differences. From the information presented above, we can draw the following conclusions 1) that the Ansbachers were equipped with an issued rifle (see Bailey, pg 66 & 202) and 2), taking into account the amount of recruits/augmentees in the Hesse-Kassel Jaeger Korps by 1779, coupled with Ewald’s comments on jaeger recruits, we can surmise that roughly half of the Hesse-Kassel jaegers carried the issued rifle. Based on the above information from the resources I’ve read so far, it appears that for the period we portray (late 1779 to 1781) we would have predominately been armed with well-used personal rifles (for those of us who arrived in ’76) or a Pistor (for those arriving after ’76).

Works Cited
Bailey, De Witt. British Military Flintlock Rifles 1740-1840. Lincoln: Mowbray, 2002

Burgoyne, Bruce E. Diaries of Two Ansbach Jaegers. Bowie: Heritage Books Inc, 1997

Selig, Robert A. & Skaggs, David Curtis. Treatise On Partisan Warfare. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1991

Tustin, Joseph P. Diary of the American War: A Hessian Journal. London: Yale, 1979

Brown, Bryan. 2007. Units of Hesse-Kassel, On-line, Available from Internet,
http://www.jaegerkorps.org/Treaty%20Units.html, accessed 17 Nov 07