Germans in the American Revolution

People of German ancestry fought on both sides in the American Revolution. Many of the small German states in Europe supported the British. King George III of Britain was simultaneously the ruler of the German state of Hanover. Around 30,000 Germans fought for the British during the war, around 25% of British land forces.[1] In particular, 12,000 Hessian soldiers served as mercenaries on the side of British. However some Germans who were supporters of Congress as individuals crossed the Atlantic to help the Patriots.

Inside America, German Americans were largely concentrated in Pennsylvania and upstate New York. The majority supported Congress and the patriot cause. However many of the religious sects (such as the Amish) were neutral. Very few German Americans were Loyalists or supported King George. It is estimated that nearly 5,000 of the German auxiliaries permanently settled in the United States.

European allies of Britain

Germans in Europe lived in numerous separate states. Some of these states had been in alliance with Britain during the Seven Years' War, and were eager to assist Great Britain. Britain had used auxiliary forces in every one of its 18th century wars, their use in suppressing rebellion seemed consistent with previous policy.^[2] Their use against British subjects was controversial, however. Despite British Whig opposition to using German soldiers to subjugate the "sons of Englishmen," Parliament overwhelmingly approved the measure in order to quickly raise the forces need to suppress the rebellion.^[3]

The

The sudden demand to rent thousands of auxiliaries placed a burden on recruiters. Base standards had to be met, including a minimum height and number of teeth required to operate flintlock muskets.^[9] Recruiters could be forced to pay losses due to desertion or loss of equipment.^[10] As many as 40,000 German auxiliaries were sent to North America, Gibraltar, Minorca and Mysore, and South Africa. In North America, German units accounted for more than a third of British forces.^[11]

Americans were alarmed at the arrival of hired German fighters. Several American representatives to Continental bodies declared they would be willing to declare independence if King George used such soldiers against them.^[12] The hired German troops were referred to as mercenaries by the patriots.^[13] Patriot outrage was also reflected in the Declaration of Independence:

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

— United States Declaration of Independence

Colonial-era jurists drawing a distinction between

The financial basis of some smaller continental states was the regular rental of their regiments to fight for various larger nations during the 18th century.^[19] The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, in particular, was economically depressed,^[20] and had "rented" out professional armies since the 17th century,^[21] with general support from both upper and lower classes.^[20] This allowed Hesse-Kassel to maintain a larger standing army, which in turn gave it the ability to play a larger role in European power politics.^[22] Hesse-Kassel pressed eligible men into service for up to 20 years, and by mid-18th century, about 7% of the population was in military service.^[21] The Hessian army was very well trained and equipped; its troops fought well for whoever was paying their prince.^[23]

The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel was under Frederick II, a Roman Catholic and an uncle of King George III. He initially provided over 12,000 soldiers to fight in the Americas.^[24] Like their British allies, the Hessians had some difficulty acclimatizing to North America; the first troops to arrive suffered from widespread illness, which forced a delay in the attack on Long Island.^[25] From 1776 on, Hessian soldiers were incorporated into the British Army serving in North America, and they fought in most of the major battles, including those of New York and New Jersey campaign, the Battle of Germantown, the Siege of Charleston, and the final Siege of Yorktown, where about 1,300 Germans were taken prisoner,^[26] although various reports indicate that the Germans were in better spirits than their British counterparts.^[27]

Because the majority of the German-speaking troops came from Hesse, modern Americans sometimes refer to all such troops of this war generically as "

Perhaps the best-known officer from Hesse-Kassel is General Wilhelm von Knyphausen, who commanded his troops in several major battles. Other notable officers include Colonel Carl von Donop (mortally wounded at the Battle of Red Bank in 1777) and Colonel Johann Rall, who was fatally wounded at the Battle of Trenton in 1776. Rall's regiment was captured, and many of the soldiers were sent to Pennsylvania to work on farms.^[37]

The war proved longer and more difficult than either Great Britain or Hesse-Kassel had anticipated, and the mounting casualties and extended supply lines took a political and economic toll. Following the American Revolution, Hesse-Kassel would end the practice of raising and leasing armies.^[38]

Hesse-Hanau

Hesse-Hanau was a semi-independent appendage of Hesse-Kassel, governed by the Protestant Hereditary Landgrave William, eldest son of the Roman Catholic Frederick II of Hesse-Kassel. When William received news of the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775, he unconditionally offered a regiment to King George III.^[39] During the course of the war, Hanau provided 2,422 troops; only 1,441 returned in 1783.^[29] A significant number of Hessian soldiers were volunteers from Hanau, who had enlisted with the intention of staying in the Americas when the war was over.^[30]

Colonel Wilhelm von Gall is one well-known officer from Hesse-Hanau;^[40] he commanded a regiment from Hanau under General John Burgoyne.^[41] Among the units sent to North America were one battalion of infantry, a battalion of jägers, a battalion of irregular infantry known as a Frei-Corps, and a company of artillery.

Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

In 1775, Charles William Ferdinand ("Prince Carl") told King George III that Brunswick had soldiers who could be used to help put down the rebellion in the Americas.^[43] In December 1775, General Friedrich Adolf Riedesel began recruiting in anticipation of the finalized treaty.^[44] Brunswick was the first German-speaking state to sign a treaty supporting Great Britain, on 9 January 1776. It agreed to send 4,000 soldiers: four infantry regiments, one grenadier battalion, one dragoon regiment and one light infantry battalion.^[32] The Brunswick treaty provided that all troops would be paid in Imperial Thalers – including two months' advance pay, but required that all troops take an oath of service to King George III.^[45] A controversial clause in the agreement stipulated that Duke Charles I would be paid £7 and 4s to replace each Brunswick soldier killed in battle- with three wounded men equal to one dead man; Charles, however, would pay to replace any deserters or any soldier who fell sick with anything other than an "uncommon contagious malady."^[46]

General Riedesel reorganized the existing Braunschweig regiments into Corps to allow for the additional recruits required by the new treaty. Experienced soldiers were spread among the new companies in the Regiment von Riedesel, Regiment von Rhetz, Regiment Prinz Friedrich, and Regiment von Specht, as well as the Battalion von Barner and dragoons.[47] Braunschweig-Luneburg, along with Waldeck and Anhalt-Zerbst, was one of the three British auxiliary that avoided impressment,^[47] and Karl I vowed not to send Landeskinder (sons of the land) to North America, so land owners were permitted to transfer to units that would remain in Braunschweig. Officers and non-commissioned officers went throughout the Holy Roman Empire recruiting to fill their ranks, offering financial incentives, travel to North America with the potential for economic opportunities in the New World, reduced sentences, and adventure.^[48]

These soldiers were the majority of the German-speaking regulars under General John Burgoyne in the Saratoga campaign of 1777, and were generally referred to as "Brunswickers."^[41] The combined forces from Brunswick and Hesse-Hanau accounted for nearly half of Burgoyne's army,^[49] and the Brunswickers were known for being especially well-trained.^[50] One of the ships used to cross Lake Champlain flew a flag of Braunschweig to recognize their significance to the army.^[51] Riedesel's Brunswick troops made a notable entry into the Battle of Hubbardton, singing a Lutheran hymn while making a bayonet charge against the American right flank, which may have saved the collapsing British line.^[52] Riedesel's wife, Friederike, traveled with her husband and kept a journal which remains an important primary account of the Saratoga campaign. After Burgoyne's surrender, 2,431 Brunswickers were detained as part of the Convention Army until the end of the war.^[53]

Brunswick sent 5,723 troops to North America, of whom 3,015 did not return home in the autumn of 1783.^[29][54] Some losses were to death or desertion, but many Brunswickers became familiar with America during their time with the Convention Army, and when the war ended, they were granted permission to stay by both Congress and their officers.^[30] Many had taken the opportunity to desert as the Convention Army was twice marched through Pennsylvania German settlements in eastern Pennsylvania.^[55] As the Duke of Brunswick received compensation from the British for every one of his soldiers killed in America, it was in his best interest to report the deserters as dead, whenever possible.^[54] The Duke even offered six months' pay to soldiers who remained or returned to America.^[56] However, Brunswick's decision to send troops to North America was ultimately financially unprofitable, and the new Prince Karl was nearly brought to financial ruin.^[8]

Ansbach-Bayreuth

The dual

After the initial mobilization of troops, Ansbach-Beyreuth sent several other transports with new recruits. By the end of the war, 2,361 Soldiers had deployed to the Americas, but fewer than half, 1,041, returned had returned by the end of 1783.[59] The Margrave of Ansbach-Bayreuth was deeply in debt when the war broke out, and received more than £100,000 for the use of his soldiers.^[57] In 1791 he sold Ansbach and Bayreuth to Prussia and lived the rest of his life in England on a Prussian pension.^[63]

Waldeck

Waldeck contributed 1,225 men to the war, and lost 720 as casualties or deserters.[29] In the course of the war, 358 Waldeck soldiers died from sickness, and 37 died from combat.^[70]

Hanover

Five battalions of troops of the

German Americans

Prior to the Revolutionary War, a significant number of German settlers in the Southern Colonies were Loyalists, and most colonists of German descent in the Thirteen Colonies did not share the same hostile reaction to British policies such as the Intolerable Acts.^[79] Although many German colonists chose to remain neutral during the American Revolution, a significant portion became supporters of either the Patriot and Loyalist causes. They fought in both local militias and regular military units, and a small minority returned to Germany in exile after the war.^[80][81]

Several new states formed German regiments, or filled the ranks of local militias with German Americans. German colonists in Charleston, South Carolina, formed a fusilier company in 1775, and some Germans in Georgia enlisted under General Anthony Wayne.^[82]

German patriots were most numerous where they stood in contrast to the large, pacifist

Pennsylvania Dutch were recruited for the American Provost corps under Captain Bartholomew von Heer,^{[85][Note 3]} a Prussian who had served in a similar unit in Europe^[86] before immigrating to Reading, Pennsylvania, prior to the war.^[87]

During the Revolutionary War, the

German Regiment

On 25 May 1776,[89] the Second Continental Congress authorized the 8th Maryland Regiment, also known as the German Battalion or German Regiment, to be formed of colonial ethnic Germans as part of the Continental Army. Unlike most continental line units, it drew from multiple states,^[89] initially comprising eight companies: four from Maryland and four (later five) from Pennsylvania. Nicholas Haussegger, a major under General Anthony Wayne, was commissioned as the colonel. The regiment saw service at the Battle of Trenton and the Battle of Princeton, and took part in campaigns against American Indians. The regiment was disbanded 1 January 1781.^[90]

European supporters of Congress

Estonia who became an officer in the Continental Army. He returned to Estonia after the war, but other German soldiers, such as David Ziegler

, chose to stay and become citizens in the nation they had helped found.

In addition, France had eight

Lauzun's Legion included both French and German soldiers, and was commanded in German.^[93] There were also German soldiers and officers in the French Royal Deux-Ponts Regiment.^[35]

The most famous German to support the Patriot cause was Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben from Prussia, who came to America independently, through France, and served as Washington's inspector general. General von Steuben is credited with training the Continental Army at Valley Forge, and he later wrote the first drill manual for the United States Army. In June 1780 he was given command of the advance guard in the defense of Morristown, New Jersey.^[94] Von Steuben was granted citizenship and remained in United States until his death in 1794.

Von Steuben's native Prussia joined the

Frederick II of Prussia was well appreciated in the United States for his support early in the war. Frederick II maintained a grudge against George III since the British monarch had withdrawn military subsidies during the Seven Years' War.^[96] He expressed interest in opening trade with the United States and bypassing English ports, and allowed an American agent to buy arms in Prussia.^[97] Frederick predicted American success,^[98] and promised to recognize the United States and American diplomats once France did the same.^[99] Prussia also interfered in the recruiting efforts of Russia and neighboring German states when they raised armies to send to the Americas, and Frederick II forbade enlistment for the American war within Prussia.^[100] All Prussian roads were denied to troops from Anhalt-Zerbst,^[101] which delayed reinforcements that Howe had hoped to receive during the winter of 1777–1778.^[102]

When the War of the Bavarian Succession erupted, however, Frederick II became much more cautious with Prussian relations with Britain. U.S. ships were denied access to Prussian ports, and Frederick refused to officially recognize the United States until they had signed the Treaty of Paris. After the war, Frederick II wrongly predicted that the United States was too large to operate as a republic, and that it would soon rejoin the British Empire with representatives in Parliament.^[103]

Notes and references

Notes

1. ^ Jägers were offered a signing bonus of one Louis d'or coin, which was increased to four Louis d'or as Hesse tried to fill its companies with expert riflemen and woodsmen.
2. ^ The heavy dragoons from Brunswick did not have horses and performed as foot soldiers. They were expected to acquire horses during the campaign, which led to the Battle of Bennington.
3. ^ "It is interesting to note that nearly all men recruited into the Provost Corps were Pennsylvania German." -David L. Valuska

See also

• List of British units in the American Revolutionary War

References

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3. ^ Bennett, J. Brett (29 Sep 2015). "Review. Hessians: Mercenaries, Rebels, and the War for British North America". Journal of the American Revolution. Retrieved 29 Aug 2019.
4. ^ Lowell (1884), p. 22.
5. ^ Eelking (1893), p. 263.
6. ^ "Deserter a Day 4 (of 5)". Journal of the American Revolution. 14 April 2016. Retrieved 29 Aug 2019.
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• Baer, Friederike. Hessians: German Soldiers in the American Revolutionary War (Oxford University Press, 2022). Website
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• Christhilf, Nicholas Dorsey (2018). An Early Philadelphia Musician (PDF). Annapolis.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)^{[permanent dead link]}
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• Doehla, Johann Conrad (1990). A Hessian Diary of the American Revolution. Translated, Edited, and with an Introduction by Bruce E. Burgoyne from the 1913 Bayreuth edition by W. Baron von Waldenfels. Norman and London:
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• Ingrao, Charles. "" Barbarous Strangers": Hessian State and Society during the American Revolution." American Historical Review 87.4 (1982): 954-976 online.
• Ingrao, Charles W. The Hessian mercenary state: ideas, institutions, and reform under Frederick II, 1760-1785 Cambridge University Press, 2003.
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External links

• Bibliography of the German Participation in the American Revolution, compiled by the United States Army Center of Military History
• The Ansbach-Bayreuth Army in America
• German Auxiliaries Muster Rolls, 1776-1786 Seventy muster rolls and 15 additional letters and documents of the German regiments employed by the British to fight in the American Revolutionary War digitized by the William L. Clements Library
• German Auxiliary Units at Yorktown at the U.S. National Park Service
• Haldimand Collection – Numerous documents and letters concerning the participation of Hessians soldiers to the American Revolutionary War
• The Marechausee: von Heer’s Provost Corps, corps history
• Recreated Regiment Von Riedesel with Regiment history
• "Hessians:" German Soldiers in the American Revolutionary War. Academic blog with original German sources, English translations, and commentary.

Treaties between King George III and German states

• "Treaty with the Duke of Brunswick, signed January 9, 1776". University of Illinois. 9 January 1776. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
• "Treaty with the Landgrave of Hesse Cassel, signed January 15, 1776". University of Illinois. 15 January 1776. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
• "Treaty with the Hereditary Prince of Hesse Cassel, signed February 5, 1776". University of Illinois. 5 February 1776. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
• "Treaty with the Prince of Waldeck". University of Illinois. 2 May 1776. Retrieved 19 April 2022.