Who were the Hessians who fought in the American Revolutionary War

Like I stated in my last Research Rabbit Hole post, which you may read by clicking HERE, there was some details about the Hessians who fought on the side of the British I do not recall ever learning in school. If they ever taught it in any of my United States history classes, I must have been absent that day, and those pages must have been missing from my history textbooks.

Who were the Hessians who fought in the American Revolutionary War?

Hessian Soldiers from the von Bose Regiment

If you guessed Germans, you would be only partially correct. Many of the people in what was then still known as the Holy Roman Empire spoke German. However, they did not consider themselves Germans, but citizens of whichever duchy, principality, independent city, or other political unit where they lived, or from which they were descended. Those who lived in Bavaria considered themselves Bavarians. Those who lived in Prussia considered themselves Prussian. Those who lived in Austria considered themselves Austrian. Those are just some of the larger political units in the former Holy Roman Empire, which did not dissolve until 1815 at the end of the Napoleonic Wars.

If you guessed the citizens of Hesse, you also would only be partially correct. Soldiers conscripted by several entities within the German Holy Roman Empire participated in the American Revolutionary War. However, the majority of the German auxiliaries were from the principality of Hesse-Kassel, whose army was among the best-trained and largest in continental Europe.  Of the almost 38,000 German troops who fought for the British in North America, about 26,000 were from Hesse-Kassel. Together with another 2,000 or so from Hesse-Hanau. This probably contributed to the reason why all the German auxiliary soldiers were thought of as “Hessians.”

 

Although the American patriots fighting to break away from Britain referred to these soldiers as mercenaries, they were actually auxiliary troops. Many were allies of Britain by virtual of family relationships. The contracts were with Britain and the leaders of the various German states, not with individual soldiers. The soldiers recruited or conscripted by these entities fought under their own officers. This was a common practice in Europe at this time.

A few definitions:

Landgrave (Landgraf)- A man in Germany who had jurisdiction over a particular territory; a title for such a person.  It is in the same class as Herzog (duke) but higher than a count.

Margrave (Markgraf)- Originally, a military commander assigned to maintain the defense of border provinces, later became hereditary. Evolved to be a non-military rank of earl or count.  

 Between 1776 and 1783, Britain employed at least 30,000-38,000 German soldiers in its campaign to put down the American rebellion. The rulers of six German entities allowed Britain to hire troops in exchange for subsidy payments. By 1781, more than one-third of the British army’s strength in North American consisted of these soldiers who soon became known as “Hessians,” no matter their place of origin.

Here are the German political entities who fought for Britain in the American Revolutionary War:

Hesse-Kassel

During the 18th century the financial basis of some smaller continental states was the regular rental of their regiments to fight for various nations. The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, in particular, was economically depressed. He regularly "rented" out professional armies since the 17th century. This policy enjoyed the general support from both upper and lower classes, since it allowed Hesse-Kassel to maintain a larger standing army. In turn, it gave Hesse-Kassel greater influence and power in European politics. 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. The Hessian army was very well trained and equipped; its troops fought well for whoever was paying their prince. Most who made the army their career took pride in their position.

As for the willingness of the Hesse-Kassel Landgraviate to participate in a colonial rebellion taking place across the Atlantic Ocean, the position was held by Frederick II, a Roman Catholic and an uncle of King George III. He initially provided over 12,000 soldiers. Before the end of the war, they provided a total of 16,000 soldiers.

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 in Pennsylvania, and the Siege of Charleston. In the final large battle of the war, the siege of Yorktown, about 1,300 Germans were taken prisoner. Although the majority of soldiers returned to Hesse-Kassel at the end of the war, many chose to stay in America.

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, therefore, also related to King George III of Britain. When William received news of the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775, he unconditionally offered a regiment to King George III. During the course of the war, Hanau provided 2,422 troops; only 1,441 returned in 1783. 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.

 

Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

Brunswick-Lüneburg was a duchy that had been divided into several territories, one of which was ruled by George III as the Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg (Hanover). The neighboring Duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (Brunswick) was ruled by Duke Charles I of Brunswick-Bevern. The son and heir of Duke Charles I, Charles William Ferdinand, was married to Princess Augusta of Great Britain, the sister of George III. A lot of family connection to the King of England, George III, made it a given that this duchy would provide men to fight in the colonies.

Brunswick was the first German-speaking state to sign a treaty supporting Great Britain, on 9 January 1776. In 1775 Charles William Ferdinand ("Prince Carl") informed King George III that Brunswick had soldiers available to help put down the rebellion in the Americas.

Ansbach-Bayreuth

The dual Margraviates of Brandenburg-Ansbach and Brandenburg-Bayreuth, under Margrave Charles Alexander, initially supplied 1,644 men to the British in two infantry battalions, one company of jägers and one of artillery. A total of 2,353 soldiers were sent from Ansbach-Bayreuth. Since this particular group of “Hessians,” who, in truth, were not Hessian, play a role in my recent novel, Elise, I plan on a separate post featuring this group of auxiliary soldiers.

 

Waldeck

Waldeck made a treaty to rent troops to Britain on 20 April 1776. Prince Friedrich Karl August of Waldeck kept three regiments ready for paid foreign service. Waldeck contributed 1,225 men to the war, and lost 720.

 

Anhalt-Zerbst

In 1777, the Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, Frederick Augustus signed a treaty to provide Great Britain with 1,160 men. The Regiment of two battalions was raised in five months, and consisted of 900 new recruits. One battalion of 600–700 men arrived in the Canadas in May 1778 to guard Quebec City.

 

If you did not know before, you now know there was more to the Hessians who fought in the American Revolutionary War than soldiers from Hesse.

 

The research that led to this post was prompted by my novel, Elise. She is from the Schwalm region of Hesse. However, Kurt, my hero, is a third-generation American. He has three ancestors who fought during the American Revolution. One was a patriot of English origins. The other two were from Hesse and Ansbach.

To find the book description and purchase options, please CLICK HERE. 

 

Here are my other two books that include characters who immigrated from Germany:

The Bavarian Jeweler – To find the book description and purchase options, please CLICK HERE. 

 

 

BeeSting Cake by Brunhilde – To find the book description and purchase options, please CLICK HERE.

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Sources:

http://www.lovettsvillehistoricalsociety.org/index.php/hessian-soldiers-in-lovettsville/

https://pbpfinc.org/hessian-prisoners-in-pennsylvania/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germans_in_the_American_Revolution