Founded in late 1856 and – according to the newspaper Prague German-language newspaper Der Tagesbote aus Böhmen 3/1/1857 – performing for the first time in public on 3/1/1857 on the Žofín Island under the direction of its Kapellmeister Karel Komzák. According to Lumír 5/11/1857, p.1074 the ‘Harmonie [wind band]’ of the Prague Sharpshooters comprised 12 people. The principal conductor was noted to be Karel Komzák, the second conductor Pergler.

By the early 1860s the ensemble had substantially increased in personnel. Prager Wochenblatt 9/9/1863 reported that the ensemble comprised 30 members together with its Kapellmeister and a leader. In 1857 when Komzák became Kapellmeister of this ensemble the group was sometimes simply noted in daily almanac listings published by local newspaper sources to be ‘Komzák’s Orchestra’, thus rendering the ensemble sometimes indistinguishable in identification from Komzák’s own private ensembles. The Sharpshooters Corps was a civilian regiment. Membership of the musical ensemble might not necessarily have involved being an active, serving member of this militia.