Johann von Ewald was a German military officer from Hesse-Kassel. After first serving in the Seven Years' War, he was the commander of the Jäger corps of the Hessian Leib Infantry Regiment attached to British forces in the American Revolutionary War. He arrived with his troops, first serving in the Battle of White Plains in October 1776. He saw regular action until his capture at Yorktown in 1781. In 1788, he joined the Danish Army, where he rose to the rank of lieutenant general; he also served as governor general of Holstein during the Napoleonic Wars. Following his American war experiences, he wrote an Essay on Partisan Warfare, a widely read treatise on guerrilla warfare. He also kept a journal during most of his time in North America that has since become a valuable resource for historians of the war.
Print of Ewald in his Danish general's uniform
Jäger is a German military term referring to specific light infantry units.
Hessian Jäger 1835–1843
Franz Rudolf Frisching in the uniform of an officer of the Bernese Jäger Corps with his Schweizerischer Niederlaufhund, painted by Jean Preudhomme in 1785
Jägerpatrouille, painting by Richard Knötel (1910)
Royal Bavarian Jäger Battalion No. 2 Aschaffenburg. Oberjäger, field marching order, around 1910
