. During the wars of the French Revolution, a franc-tireur was a member of a corps of light infantry organized separately from the regular army. The Spanish word francotirador and the Portuguese word franco-atirador, meaning sharpshooter or sniper, are derived from the word franc-tireur. Franco-Prussian War Francs-tireurs were an outgrowth of rifle clubs or unofficial military societies formed in the east of France at the time of the Luxembourg crisis of 1867 (for which, see History of Luxembour… (More on Francs-tireurs)