The light infantry are usually made up from the class of men, or district of country, which furnishes the greatest number of riflemen and sharpshooters.

In France, the light infantry is best supplied by the hunters of the Ardennes, the Vosges, and the Jura districts; in Austria, by the Croates and Tyrolese; in Prussia, by the "foersters," or woodsmen; and in Russia, by the Cossacks.

Our own western hunters, with proper discipline, make the best tirailleurs in the world.
Light infantry is usually employed to protect the flanks of the main army, to secure outposts, to reconnoitre the ground, secure avenues of approach, deceive the enemy by demonstrations, and secure the repose of the other troops by patrolling parties.

They usually begin a battle, and afterwards take their places in the line, either on the flanks, or in the intervals between the larger bodies.

The battle of Jena furnishes a good example of the use of French light infantry; and at the battle of Waterloo, the Prussian tirailleurs were exceedingly effective in clearing the ground for the advance of Bluecher's heavy columns.