The unit was officially founded in February 1813 as "Königlich Preußisches Freikorps von Lützow" (Royal Prussian Free Corps von Lützow). Lützow, who had been an officer under the ill-fated Ferdinand von Schill, obtained permission from the Prussian Chief-of-Staff Gerhard von Scharnhorst to organize a free corps consisting of infantry, cavalry, and Tyrolean "Jäger" (literally, “hunters” ― "i.e"., marksmen, snipers), for flank attacks and guerrilla warfare behind the French lines. Volunteers were to be drawn from all over Germany (including Austria) to fight against Napoleon I of France; it was hoped that this broadly national force would aid in rallying the smaller German governments into the ranks of the Allies.