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Home , Ansbach, Hessian (soldier)

MILITARY IMMIGRATION FROM GERMAN LANDS 1776-1783

s the last German emigrants were on by Colonel William Faucitt, the British officer their way to Philadelphia and in charge of inspecting foreign units.1 When A Baltimore in 1775, the transport of German princes later concluded treaties to another type of Germans was under discus- make entire regiments available, such sion in London. Once the British govern- private military business were no longer ment had resolved to use force against the needed. Besides some former officers, American rebels, it became clear to military looking desperately for income from such as well as political leaders that the British business, at times turned out to be less than army was too small to subdue the rebellious trustworthy. Ex-major Heinrich Emmanuel colonists. Various schemes were considered. Lutterloh, whose earlier plans to find settlers In view of the considerable number of for East Florida and had not German settlers in several of the colonies, materialized, reportedly had permission proposals were made to hire Russian troops. from Count Johann Ludwig of Wittgenstein Major General Henry Clinton endorsed this to recruit men for British service but he project: "We must be reinforced, not with suddenly vanished, leaving debts behind Germans (I fear they will desert)," but with amounting to 7,292 gulden.2 Russians whom he called "my friends" and Despite some apprehensions, the since they had "no language but their own: British had begun early in 1775 to look for they cannot desert." However, according to auxiliary troops from German principalities. the report of the British envoy in Berlin, Indeed, offers had come from the count of attempts to obtain 20,000 men from Hanau in August and from the duke of Empress Catherine failed, in part because Braunschweig-Luneburg in September 1775 Frederick II of Prussia intervened. before any official British move was made, As soon as the British interest in for- prompting Edmund Burke of the opposition eign soldiers became known, former offi- in parliament to remark that German princes cers who had been idle since the Seven had already "snuffed the cadaverous taint of Years' War offered their service to recruit lucrative war." Colonel Faucitt in Hannover individuals for British service. In the sum- was given the task of negotiating the treaty mer of 1775 the Hannoverian colonel with Braunschweig and then proceeding to Albrecht von Scheither obtained a business Kassel to find out if the Hessian government contract for signing up 2,000 men at £10 a could be persuaded to furnish troops for head. He hired fellow ex-officers as generous subsidies and a levy per man. recruiters but due to simultaneous solicita- Although the landgrave of Hessen-Kassel tions for other armies and the massive had not sought such a contract, the British recruiting from 1776 on by German princes conditions were enticing enough for the to fill the ranks of units needed for their Hessian negotiator, Martin Ernst von treaties with Britain, Scheither never Schlieffen, to offer 10-12,000 men, twice as reached his goal. By late September 1776 he many as Faucitt had been asked to secure. had gathered 1,738 men, who were accepted The treaty was concluded in February but Military Immigration______back-dated to January 15, 1776, to extend their own country and become settlers in the subsidy and cause the landgrave to America was so great, so very great, that the speed up the mobilization of about 12,500 German princes found it absolutely neces- soldiers. Three other German states, sary to make it death by their laws to carry Waldeck (750 men), Braunschweig (4,000) any more of them out, and the Palatine ships and Hessen-Hanau (900), signed similar that used so frequently to convey them have treaties. By early February the British were of late years ceased to arrive at the ports of assured of more than 18,000 officers and our colonies." His speech culminated in men. remarks expressing fears that were shared by many other Englishmen familiar with the Toward the end of the year an agree- scene: ment was reached with Margrave Alexander I think it an excellent opportunity for of - for a force of 1,160 our hired troops to desert, because men. Finally in September 1777 the duke of they will most likely be offered Anhalt-Zerbst also concluded a subsidy lands, and protection. These warlike treaty for a contingent of the same size. In transports we are to fit out may then be considered as good as the Palatine 1777 the number of soldiers in several ships for peopling America with treaties was revised upwards and as late as Germans.4 1781/82, 2,988 replacements were fur- A few days earlier, the Saxon envoy in nished by Ansbach-Bayreuth, Anhalt-Zerbst The Hague, J. P. I. Dubois, in a report to and Hessen-Kassel to make up for losses in Dresden voiced the same opinion about the 3 the forces. subsidy treaties "as a new emigration for the The subsidy treaties were no secret benefit of the colonies since you can assume undertakings. The English and German ver- ahead of time that these troops will be 5 sions of the ones involving Hessen-Kassel, lost." Hessen-Hanau and Braunschweig-Lune- In early January 1776 the Philadelphia burg were openly published in Frankfurt Staatsbote printed a letter which Henrich and Leipzig in 1776. As they were debated Miller, its editor and an ardent supporter of in Parliament in London, James Luttrell, a the revolutionary cause, had received from member of the opposition who had himself . The writer consoled his country- spent many years in America, rose on men in America about German soldiers to February 25, 1776, to remind his colleagues be sent over in the crown's service by of the presence of many Germans in the asserting that once in America they would colonies: "I apprehend that ministry now throw away their arms and take up the th apply to Parliament for seventeen thousand ploughs. It was not until the May 7 issue Germans to send to America. Good God, for that Miller informed his readers of the news what end? To enslave a hundred and fifty of the actual hiring of these troops to which he added the question: "Oh George! Are thousand of their own countrymen, many of 6 whom fled from tyrants to seek our protec- these your messengers of peace?" As soon as tion." Luttrell then gave a vivid description copies of the first subsidiary treaties had of the major German settlements and added reached Philadelphia in May, Congress began to debate whether to offer special to his account of the American Germans enticements to Germans willing to desert. "that the encouragement for them to quit —34—

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On June 1st the first soldiers from forces from the St. Lawrence and the initial Hanau and Braunschweig landed at Quebec success of the British and Hessian armies in where they witnessed the withdrawal of the New York area would have been dis- American troops who had besieged the city. couraging even if some soldiers might have Meanwhile crack units of the Hessian army wanted to get away once they were on had left Kassel on May 11th for Karlshafen American soil. The number of desertions where they were loaded on boats for the recorded by the Hessian command remained 8 journey down the Weser to Bremerlehe. low: 66 in 1776 and 109 in 1777. After inspection by Col. Faucitt, they were In order to fulfill their treaty obliga- taken to Gravesend and transferred unto tions, the principalities involved had to chartered vessels which sailed in convoys recruit many young men who were not their across the Atlantic. On August 17th they subjects. Hessen-Kassel was given permis- arrived at Sandy Hook on . sion by several neighboring states and imperial Within a few days the Hessians were cities to enlist within their jurisdictions. th involved in successful combat on Long Recruiting methods in the 18 century were Island, and a month later New York was in widely known for their complete disregard British hands, leaving the recently arrived for the person. There are contemporary German soldiers with rather negative sources describing tricks and bribery. Many impressions of the American rebels.7 were seduced with strong drinks to bring them into the recruiting station. One of the Immediate attempts were nonetheless victims, Johann Gottfried Seume, a nine- made to attract Hessians over to the teen-year-old university student, found himself American side. As soon as the debarkation surrounded by a "human medley," fellows of the Hessians was known, Congress had from such distant places as Jena, Vienna, passed a resolution to accept foreigners Hannover, Gotha, Wurzburg and from the royal armies and to grant them fifty Meiningen.9 After his return to Germany acres of land each if they wanted to become Seume became a well-known poet and the citizens of the new nation. German versions story of his service in America received of the offer, signed by John Hancock, were much attention. There were some men who dashed off to for distri- had volunteered to escape something in bution. Copies were soon found scattered on their lives. Others did so in order to give roads or as wrappers with tobacco inside— a themselves to the adventure of seeing the special lure suggested by Benjamin Franklin. New World. After the arrival of the new The Hessian commander in his report to units, the Hessian headquarters in America Kassel cited this as typical treachery and as sent an assessment of the additional, largely an example of the "upside-down" thinking non-Hessian recruits back to Kassel: "Many of the rebels. of them may have intended to take advan- The widely expected defection of tage of the chance of free passage to this German soldiers did not occur in 1776. The country, and finally to quit Europe. They first units shipped to America were largely would have had to work about four years to composed of professional soldiers, many of pay the cost of their crossing." While such whom had been in service for years. reports echoed the statements made in Parliament and in diplomatic circles at the Moreover, the hasty withdrawal of rebel —35—

Military Immigration______outset of the use of subsidiary troops, there Germans to abandon the British cause and is little proof that there were many soldiers "lead useful and peaceful lives among the who had obvious plans for settling in the free men of America."10 Among the auxiliary colonies. Nor is there any record of encounters units in the province of New York at that with relatives in the first year. time were regiments from Braunschweig The impetus for defection came which comprised numerous soldiers from from defeated units which found themselves other German lands. The official rolls list as prisoners of war in the hands of the rebel men from , Wurttemberg, army. For Hessian troops, of whom 868 Hessen-Darmstadt, the bishopric of Mainz, rank-and-file soldiers had been captured at Alsace, the Palatinate, Thuringia and Trenton on December 26, 1776, captivity Saxony and many other areas. Individual meant their first real contact with the desertions began in considerable numbers 11 American Germans. After they were late in 1777 after the battle of Saratoga. marched to Pennsylvania the Americans The British retreat from Philadelphia in decided to farm them out for work instead 1778 was accompanied by the defection of of keeping them in guarded camps. more than 235 Hessians from their units According to detailed lists which have been during the march. Reporting to the preserved, 397 Hessians were released Landgrave in July, General von Knyp- between September 10 and November 20, hausen referred to the heavy desertion: 1777, to work for farmers and craftsmen. The cause of this, so far as I can Most of their temporary employers were guess, is that printed leaflets were Germans in and around Lancaster, Reading, spread amongst the men in a secret manner, in which each man who York and Lebanon. A dozen men, most of would desert and settle here in the them from the artillery company, were sent country was promised a quantity of to the Cornwall Iron Works where they land, two horses, one cow, and similar became instrumental in improving the quality encouragements. Also those who were exchanged from captivity have of cannons produced for the American made such glowing descriptions of army. Later on thirty-nine prisoners of the the regions there, and how well they Hessian regiment von Knyphausen were have been received....12 sent to Mount Hope in to work In predominantly German communities for ironmaster Joh. Jacob Faesch. They had in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia evidently agreed to being hired as inden- individual soldiers found acceptance by tured servants to escape the awful treatment local people once the prejudice against they had experienced in Philadelphia jails. "Hessians" was overcome through personal Printed appeals to desert were increas- contact. In many places, particularly in the ingly effective among the still active units western parts, deserters were harbored by as they had more time to observe the obvi- their established countrymen. Although the ous prosperity of the local populations, both saying "Du verdammter Hess" (you damned in the rebellious colonies and in loyal Hessian) remained alive for a long time in Canada. The American general Israel German settlements, the common soldiers Putnam issued a proclamation at White often overcame the barriers. For the offi- Plains in November 1777, urging the —36—

______Wust cers, who almost to a man showed no incli- them directly to Riedesel on August 27th. nation to change sides, there remained the Two days later the general informed the impression of enmity, which was often Quebec Germans of having granted a par- mutual. Hessian lieutenant Andreas don "although he deserved death." In order Wiederholt found most of the American to impress the troops, though, the entire exe- Germans "of the lowest class." Even those cution ceremony was staged on September who offered hospitality "remain raw and 4th. Hasselmann's pardon was read only unrefined German peasants. They are moments before the firing. He was freed steeped in the American idea of Liberty but from arrest and served with his regiment know nothing of what liberty really is and until the end of the war, when he received a are therefore worse than all others and discharge in June 1783 to remain in Canada.14 almost unbearable." Army captain Johann In 1778 the Hessian command tried to Ewald described his experience in Maryland use executions as a deterrent for others. In with less bias: "This region is well cultivated, August a soldier was hanged for leaving an the inhabitants are mostly Germans but have a very bad opinion of us." Ewald then outpost and in October another one who had mentions his encounter with an old woman left his unit in Newport was executed. Later sitting in front of her home whom he asked some Hessian commanders commuted the for a glass of water. She answered in a true death sentences of other deserters to running Palatine dialect: the gauntlet, but in Canadian garrisons I shall give you water, but I must Indians were sent after deserters with orders also ask you, what have we done to to bring back their scalps the next day. In you? You Germans come here to March 1782, three Hessians caught beyond ruin us and to chase us from our the lines were shot dead. Although the homes. We have heard enough of your plundering, you will do the Margrave of Ansbach-Bayreuth had in- same here as you did in New York structed the commander August Valentin and New Jersey, but you will be pun- von Voit to replace the death penalty with 13 ished for it. imposing the gauntlet "since I want no sol- One spectacular example of solidarity dier to be sentenced to death," the deser- of local Germans with a soldier from tions became so frequent that in 1780 mem- Braunschweig in the early days of the war bers of the Ansbach troops were executed has been recorded in a diary and in letters by firing squads in order to set a warning preserved in the army archives. The muske- example.15 teer Andreas Hasselmann deserted from an Meanwhile the American endeavors to outpost of his regiment near Quebec in June lure Germans of the conventional army over 1776. After he was captured, the commander, to their side continued. Since many soldiers General von Riedesel, ordered his execution were afraid to join the rebel armies outright, by firing squad. The order was well special offers were made to exempt them publicized to set an example for others who from military service. On February 3, 1781, might have the same intention. Fourteen when the main theater of the war appeared German-born residents of Quebec inter- to be in Virginia, Governor Thomas vened on Hasselmann's behalf. They signed Jefferson issued a proclamation in Rich- an appeal which was delivered by one of —37—

Military Immigration______mond which expressed the true feelings of al Wayne has disseminated in our garrison the American cause more than any other by slatternly women from Ebenezer."17 appeal to the subsidiary troops. While refer- Colonel Alured Clarke in Savannah ring to the earlier resolution of the wrote to his superior General Leslie that the Continental Congress, Jefferson stressed the Hessian regiment von Knoblauch had been willingness of the states "to extend the pro- stationed there too long and there were tection of the Laws to all those who should many deserters. Leslie, in a report to settle among them of whatsoever nation or General Henry Clinton, the chief of the religion they might be." He did not conceal royal armies, explained why he found it the feelings of the revolutionary movement necessary to withdraw the Hessian regi- about the disgraceful "Foreign Princes" and ment: "I am sorry to observe that when the their "habit of selling the blood of their people Hessian Troops are sent to out Posts for money. Besides promises made by Desertion takes place, they being so long Congress to those who decided to stay "in a here has been the means of their forming too Country where many of their Friends and relations were already happily settled," the many connections." The "connections" were governor pledged to those leaving the indeed responsible for most defections. enemy armies in Virginia "a further dona- One of them was with women, but it was tion of two Cows, and an exemption during most frequently not with the "slatternly" the present War." If they continued to live in ones. There are numerous stories of the state, they were exempted from all war- German soldiers, some while they were still related taxes, "and from all and prisoners of war, who became attached to Military Service.16 local girls and their families. The records The British surrender at Yorktown on kept by the Rev. G. C. Cöster, who served October 19, 1781, was for all involved the two Hessian regiments as chaplain, contain a clear signal that the Americans—with con- number of notations of marriages to siderable assistance from the French—were American women who were pregnant. prevailing in this war. For several months Cöster cites the responsibility some soldiers 18 afterwards there were skirmishes, but felt for mother and child. important places like Savannah, Georgia, The use of deserters from German sub- were still firmly in British hands. On sidiary units in the American forces was a February 20, 1782, the rebel governor of problem because many rebel officers con- Georgia, John Martin, with the consent of sidered them generally unreliable. George the Executive Council, issued a proclama- Washington even thought they might cause tion from his temporary seat at Ebenezer in his own soldiers to desert whenever the for- which the state offered a piece of land of tunes of war seemed to be in favor of the 200 acres free of any costs, a good cow and British. For him, men who readily changed two breeding hogs to every soldier leaving sides "have given proof of a treacherous dis- the English service. In March the Hessian position, and who are bound to us by no commander, Friedrich von Porbeck, sent a motives of attachment." Washington's view report to the ministry in Kassel with which of defectors changed when two young he enclosed a copy of the governor's procla- ensigns of Hessian regiments, Carle Fried- mation in German, "which the Rebel gener- rich Fuhrer and Carl Wilhelm Kleinschmidt —38—

______Wust convinced him of their enthusiasm for the Hessian, Braunschweig and Ansbach sol- American cause. He supported their plan to diers volunteered but not enough to make a organize a separate corps of deserters and separate corps a reality. Some, like Fuhrer prisoners of war in a letter to Congress on himself, were assigned to the Pulaski August 18, 1778. Eleven days later Legion, others to Armand's Legion. A for- Congress resolved, 'That a new corps of mer Prussian officer, Major Bartholimew troops be raised by the name of the German Van Heer, organized a band of light dra- volunteers, to consist of such deserters from goons as a provost guard which consisted the foreign troops as shall be disposed freely largely of Germans, including deserted to enlist therein." Both ensigns were to be Ansbachers and Hessians. It became given "for the present the pay of captains in Washington's mounted bodyguard and the service of the United States...."19 served as such until the end of the war. There were also German deserters in state Washington had been impressed by and local militia units. Fuhrer himself Fuhrer's attitude and he had received good returned to Virginia, where he was offered a reports about him from Virginia. The bright position with the state cavalry and promoted young man had been taken prisoner at to the rank of major. Kleinschmidt, his Trenton in December 1776, where he erstwhile companion, obviously had a received a personal parole. Fuhrer spent change of mind. In June 1780, he wrote to most of the time in Dumfries, a seaport in his former Hessian commander asking for Virginia, until a prisoners' exchange was forgiveness because-as he claimed- he had negotiated in 1778. When he and Klein- been duped by Fuhrer, who had also cheated schmidt were returned to their regiments in him of his money. He never received a New York, they applied immediately for reply and was last reported to have been permission to resign their commission, taken prisoner by the British at Yorktown.21 which was granted on condition that they When the war ended, all those who had should not enlist in American forces. been impressed by the obvious advantages Unwilling to submit to this restriction, they life in North America offered to the com- hired horses and crossed over to the mon man and who had not defected had to American lines at White Plains on August decide seriously whether they wanted to 7th. They expressed their motivation while stay or return home For those who had claiming that they had not deserted as pris- wives and children it was a question of oners but waited until they could resign whether they could find the means and their commissions in a public statement. In it receive the permission to return to America they also stated: with their families afterwards. A few stayed Whenever a Prince undertakes to sell anyway. Daniel Arnd of the Ansbach- his Subjects to a Foreign Power for Bayreuth troops took the oath of allegiance infamous and wicked purposes, in Winchester, Virginia, in June 1783, leaving without their knowledge or consent, we are of the opinion, such subjects his wife alone in Ansbach. The Ansbach army have a right to vacate the contract as surgeon Sigismund Friedrich Arnold settled soon as opportunity offers.20 in Nova Scotia, deserting his wife and his The recruiting efforts of the two offi- daughter, who was born after he had left for cers turned out to be a failure. A number of America. —39—

Military Immigration______

The commanders of the German sub- units in New York. The Hessian army sidiary troops now had to keep their units redeemed twenty-one men with cash. Only together and, above all, gather up all those six soldiers chose to remain at the iron who had been made prisoners and were works. By August 12, 1783, the embarka- scattered on work assignments over a wide tion date for the first contingents of the area. The Americans had renewed the Hessian army, no more efforts were made to inducements for those who wanted to stay. gather ex-prisoners. They were given the choice of joining the There was no provision under which or taking up farming on the Hessian command could have legally 200 acres of land with the gift of one cow released any Hessian subjects from enlist- and two hogs. When there was not the ment. Article 13 of the subsidy treaty expected response, the Americans began to expressly forbade any of them to settle in charge them for food and lodging as long as America without the landgrave's approval. they did not return to their units for repatri- As to subjects of other states in the Hessian ation. The Hessian high command made considerable efforts to contact all prisoners forces, soon after Yorktown Colonel and supplied those they located with clothing Ludwig von Wurmb suggested to the Kassel and money until their exchange could be authorities that they be allowed to stay in negotiated. America "if they so desire, otherwise they will desert and take their rifles with them." When the captive troops of Lord Wurmb saw good opportunities especially Cornwallis' army were released and for craftsmen. There is no record of any marched toward Staten Island for embarka- 22 tion, 240 men deserted along the way. A official reaction to his proposal. last, vain attempt was made to gather A letter dated February 8, 1783, from Hessians employed in New Jersey and Duke Carl Wilhelm Ferdinand of Braun- Pennsylvania, but soldiers who had been schweig to the commander of his corps in indentured by local people were no longer America reveals the rarely mentioned fact considered prisoners of war, and the that convicts had been included in the units. American War Council had no more juris- Major General von Riedesel, who had been diction over them. The release depended on given namelists of "delinquents and crimi- the contractors and on the intention of the nals" when the troops embarked for soldiers. If the latter wanted to return to America, now was reminded that they were Germany, a cash payment of thirty pounds to be "now and ever excluded" from the Pennsylvania currency per man was return to the fatherland.23 The duke also required. The negotiations with ironmaster made it easier for others who wanted to Joh. Jacob Faesch at Mount Hope in New remain in North America, mainly because Jersey, were particularly difficult. Faesch, he could not maintain so many troops at known as a hard taskmaster, refused to home in peacetime. All those unfit for release them at the end of the war because future service were simply to be left behind. he considered their indentures as civil con- Subjects of other states, both officers and tracts which had to be fulfilled. Two of the common soldiers were even to be encour- men had enough cash to pay Faesch and free aged and given a bounty to settle in the themselves, eight escaped and joined their colonies remaining under the British crown. —40—

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Close to 600 Braunschweig soldiers availed piness behind." Once back in Germany, he themselves of the opportunity in Canada.24 obtained his discharge and returned to New The regiment of Ansbach-Bayreuth York to marry his sweetheart and settle for left 680 men behind, many of whom had good in America. The field surgeon Fetzer, a quit their units while they were prisoners in native of Weingarten in Austria, was Winchester, Virginia, and in Frederick, already on board the transport vessel Maryland. Captain Philipp von Molithor, Isabella in August 1783 when he decided at who had married an American woman without the last minute to sneak back ashore and the required approval of the margrave, was remain in Quebec. placed under arrest but released once the Army surgeons were obviously much troops had embarked for Germany. He led a in demand in American and Canadian com- group of discharged soldiers from various munities. The regimental records of German regiments who were moving to Nova Ansbach-Bayreuth cite the desertion of Scotia together with loyalists. Molitor Friedrich Rapp and his servant in. received 700 acres, the common soldiers Philadelphia. Rapp settled in Germantown 100 acres each in Annapolis county.25 and married a local woman. The Hessian The troops from Hessen-Hanau also field surgeon Philipp Klipstein from provided more than 400 settlers to the Darmstadt opened a successful medical remaining British colonies in 1783 after practice in Winchester, Virginia. No fewer having lost numerous deserters in the rebel than thirty-six such surgeons made Canada states. Colonel Joh. Christoph Lentz of the their new home and several of them became Hanau Rangers wrote to his command in versatile physicians. A number of ex-sol- July that he felt "honour bounds" to dismiss diers with some education became school- all those who had joined under the promise masters like Wilhelm Heyden in the town of of settlement in North America before his Frederick, Maryland, or Philipp Goldeiss, unit embarked for Europe. Many Hanauers who conducted the Lutheran parochial stayed in Quebec, but others took part in the school on Mill Creek in the Virginia frontier westward movement into Upper Canada. country. Hessian ensign Spangenburg, one Several of these ex-soldiers eventually went of the Yorktown prisoners, settled down in south to areas in the United States where eastern Virginia with his American wife and they had established contacts earlier. soon was known for giving Latin lessons. Captain Sigmund Hugget, a Hanau officer Another Hessian officer, Philip Reinhold from Colmar in Alsace, obtained an official Pauly of Magdeburg, was hired as a French pass to move with his wife to the United and Latin teacher in Philadelphia at the new States.26 university before he entered the Reformed The decision was not easy for all men. ministry. Hessian Lieutenant Karl Philipp von Krafft Corporal Joh. Henrich Giese of the was full of regrets when he had to prepare Hessian Crown Prince regiment, a native of for the home voyage: "My whole heart is Lichtenau in Hessen educated at Hersfeld filled with sadness when I see fading from Latin School, was a student at Marburg my view the receding landmarks and house University when he joined the America- tops in whose midst I leave my whole hap- bound troops. In February 1782, he was per- —41 —

Military Immigration______suaded by Reformed communicants in member of the Continental Congress in Frederick, Maryland, to go into the ministry March 1780 called, Melsheimer "a true since many churches were without pastors. Friend of American Liberty." This was the Giese began preaching to four Reformed beginning of a long career as a Lutheran congregations in nearby Loudoun county in minister in Pennsylvania coupled with a Virginia and remained in America after the systematic study of minerals plants and war. Another Hessian corporal, Theophil insects, earning him, the designation as "the Emanuel Frantz of Stettin in Pommerania, father of American entomology."28 was licensed by the Lutheran Ministerium Among the participants in this unique in October 1778, but he was unable to get a chapter of German emigration were men congregation because "the people consider trained in many crafts for which there was a him to be crazy and non compos mentis." need in American communities. A large Joh. Georg Hoehl, a private of the Ansbach number came from rural backgrounds, troops from near Nordlingen in , began preaching on his own for pastorless which gave them an appreciation for the Lutheran congregations in western land that was offered to them. Certainly Maryland and Virginia. The Pennsylvania there were some charlatans and crooks Ministerium turned him down after the among them. Many a peacetime emigrant results of his examination were considered transport brought such people along with all "too poor for a common country schoolmas- the good ones. Almost every state of the ter."27 new United States became the borne of ex- There were also real ministers who chose soldiers. Compared with the conditions in to remain in America. Chaplain Joh. Germany, the free atmosphere of the still Christoph Wagner of the Bayreuth regiment British colonies to the north likewise proved was promised a position as pastor in attractive enough to many hundreds of Maryland, where he had been in captivity. them. When his unit was freed and ready to return Joh. Henrich Reuter of Hasselbach in to Europe, Wagner stayed behind in Wittgenstein sent his first letter home from Frederick, but by July 1783 he decided to Halifax, Nova Scotia, on October 30, 1783: join the loyalists and moved to Nova Scotia, "I am now a free man, free from soldier's where he was assigned 400 acres of land. life after eight years, and I am resolved to Friedrich Valentin Melsheimer, a graduate remain in this country because as a sergeant I of Helmstedt University, came in 1776 as have been promised two hundred morgens of the chaplain of the Braunschweig Dragoon land." While he mentions other assistance regiment. He was taken prisoner in August the colony was offering, he expresses the 1777 and exchanged for a captured wish "to have you, dear sisters and brothers American chaplain in May 1779. In his own or some of my friends here with me because I words he explained that he did not return to would be able to feed them here on my the regiment "on account of some difficulties land." In a letter from Savannah, Georgia, I had with brother officers, I resigned my the Hessian veteran Justus Hartmann commission as chaplain and assumed Scheuber wrote to his former chief, charge of several congregations in Friedrich von der Malsburg: "How happy I Lancaster county." Frederick Muhlenberg, a and others are who have left the —42—

______Wust slavish spirit for republican and democratic searching for a military position befitting angels."29 his prior experience, Steuben's attention Another group of people associated was directed toward the American cause. with the troops was described in a letter He arrived during the first week of Rebecca Samuel, the wife of a Jewish December 1777 at Portsmouth, New watchmaker in Petersburg, Virginia, sent to Hampshire, on a clandestine French arma- her parents in Hamburg: "you cannot imagine ment transport and was subsequently what kind of Jews they have here. They were appointed Inspector General of the American army with the rank of major gen- all German itinerants who made a living by eral. Steuben made the new republic his hawking in Germany. They came to America home after the war.31 Among the very few during the war, as soldiers and now they other German officers who stayed on and wouldn't recognize themselves." Indeed, it became citizens was Heinrich Emanuel took not very long for many of them to Lutterloh whose application to serve in the prosper. Joseph Darmstadt, a sutler with the continental army had been approved by the Hessian troops became a very successful American commissioners in Paris in 1777. merchant in Richmond and was soon elected Lutterloh's services turned out to be erratic. to the city council. Philipp Mark, a native of He resigned as assistant quartermaster in Waldeck who converted to Protestantism, 1778 but seems to have later been used in came to America as quartermaster of the the supply corps, Third Waldeck regiment. In 1783 he opened After France concluded a treaty of his own export-import business in New York alliance with the United States on March 20, and soon became active in the local German 1778, American hopes for the active partic- Society which had been founded after the 30 ipation of French troops against the British war to assist newly arrived emigrants. were high. It was, however, not until July The exact number of German soldiers 1780 that the first units of the expeditionary and their camp followers who remained in forces under Count Rochambeau landed at North America cannot be ascertained. Newport, Rhode Island, after successfully Estimates based on official records in the crossing an Atlantic swarming with British six principalities which furnished troops warships. Among Rochambeau's army was range from, 5,500 to 6,500 persons. the regiment Royal Deux-Ponts, a unit On the American side of the war there which the ruler of the Duchy of Zwei- were a few unemployed officers from brucken had placed at the disposal of the Germany who were accepted by the King of France as far back as 1756. There Continental Congress from among a consid- were some Germans in other regiments. erable number of military professionals who Together with German-speaking soldiers were seeking jobs. Foremost among them from Lorraine, Alsace and Switzerland, the German element of the entire French expe- was Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben who ditionary force in America represented at had left the Prussian service in 1763 and least one-third of the total. In contrast to the taken on a position as chamberlain for the German auxiliary troops of the British, prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen which these soldiers did not come as enemies. he gave up in 1774. After much futile While their reception was friendly every- —43—

Military Immigration______where, the appearance of a regiment from away in order to look for familiar the Palatinate in areas settled by Germans, faces which they found aplenty. many of whom from the Duchy of Flohr continues his description of this Zweibrucken, caused much excitement and "homecoming" with a mention of the need of delight both among the soldiers and among the local Germans for information from their the local population. Private Georg Flohr, a native land from which communications had native of Sarnstall near Annweiler in the been interrupted for several years by the war. Palatinate, vividly described in his diary the They wanted to know if friends and relatives encounter when the troops reached were still alive. Any Zweibrücken soldier Pennsylvania early in September 1781. who ventured into Philadelphia was taken by Near the Delaware, at Grandfort, "here we his countrymen to the nearest inn and treated met German people for the first time who generously as long as he was willing to talk. welcomed us on the road as fellow-country- Such contacts with the local population worried the officers. For the first months after men." Closer to Philadelphia, arrival, the French had tried very hard to keep there we were met by a crowd of German inhabitants from the city the soldiers away from civilians but, after all, who were looking for compatriots they had come as allies and had to accept the and for acquaintances because they kindness and enthusiasm of the Americans. had heard that the Zweibrucken reg- Most of the soldiers under French command iment was to be there. In our ranks had signed up for eight years of service there really was no lack of such countrymen since it is no exaggera- before there was any hint of their being used tion to state that one third of the reg- overseas. Of 316 deserters from Rocham- iment met people here from home; beau's corps, the Zweibrucken regiment among them there were very many accounted for 104, almost one-third of the brothers and sisters who met and total. Thirty-three of them left their units who had not seen one another for many years since they left in their during the five months prior to the embarkation youth to go to this New Land. which took place from Providence, Rhode In this manner many a soldier also Island, for the West Indies in December 1782. met his father etc. Some had left Private Flohr noted that some Americans had their children behind in Europe promised to hide defectors "until the French when they fled to this country were gone." The French had sentenced five because they had gone into bank- recaptured deserters to immediate execution in ruptcy. order to set an example. Those who left the When the regiment set up its camp near troops before their enrolment contract had the city, expired were also punished by the confiscation within half an hour so many people of all their property and inheritance at gathered that it looked tike the 32 home. Among those of Rochambeau's corps largest country fair in front of the camp but all tents were also crowded, who remained in America was the army one had his brother there, another one doctor Franz Joseph Mettauer, a native of his sister, a third one his friends etc. Sulzbach in Alsace. Others returned with their On the 4th there was even a larger regiment and as soon as they obtained a dis- throng than before because country folk came from up to 10-12 hours

______Wust charge headed for America. In September decided to go to the Robinson valley in 1784, Father Paul Rignatz, a native of Virginia, where several Germans lived who Wurzburg and Catholic chaplain of the reg- had fought alongside the French corps. He iment Deux-Ponts, arrived in Baltimore on taught school there and studied for the his own and reported immediately to the Lutheran ministry under Pastor Wilhelm Prefect Apostolic, John Carrol. Zimmermann. For thirty years afterwards Georg Flohr, whose journal of the Flohr was the leading Lutheran clergyman American experiences described the in southwest Virginia. impressions of a young man raised in a re- The effect on so many Germans on mote Palatine village, did not return to both sides of the conflict having seen the America until more than ten years later. well-being and personal freedom of their After he witnessed the violent turn of events countrymen was to be felt in most areas to of the French Revolution in Paris, Flohr which veterans returned.

— Klaus Wust New York City —45—

—46— Notes

1 Rodney Atwood, The Hessians: from l9(Worthington C. Ford, ed.) The Writings of George Hessen-Kassel in the Washington (New York: 1889-1903), XI, 81, (Cambridge, 1980), 10, 24-25. 98-99. 2Ulrich Weiss, "Ein Wittgensteiner Regiment?," 20Pennsylvania Packet, 24 December 1778. Wittgenstein 47 (1983), 126-128. 21Atwood, 202. 3 Atwood, 25-26. 22Stadtler, 152; Atwood, 10-11, 189; Kipping, 36. 4 Proceedings and Debates of the British Parliaments 23Gunter Moltmann, "Die Transportation von 1754-1783 Respecting North America, ed. R. Straflingen," Deutsche Amerikaauswanderung C. Simmons & P. D. G. Thomas, 6 (White des 19. Jahrhunderts (Stuttgart: 1976), 171. Plains, NY: 1987), 409-410. 24 5 Virginia DeMarce, German Military Settlers in Horst Dippel, Germany and the American Canada after the American Revolution (Sparta, Revolution, 1770-1800 (Chapel Hill, NC: WA: 1984), 3. 1977), 128. 25Stadtler, 26, 71-73, 151. 6Staatsbote (Philadelphia) Jan. 5 & May 7, 1776. 26Pages 89-91 in H.W. Debor, "German Soldiers of the 7Lyman H. Butterfield, "Psychological Warfare in American War of Independence as Settlers in 1776: The Jefferson-Franklin Plan to Cause Canada," German-Canadian Yearbook 111 Hessian Desertions," Proceedings of the (1976), 71-93. American Philosophical Society, XCIV (1950), 27 No,2, 233-241; Atwood, 186-187. DeMarce, 8, 11, 19; Atwood, 198, 204; Stadtler, 8Ernst Kipping, The Hessian View of America, 1776- 73, 151, 160, 166; HETRINA—Hessische /7&?(Monmouth Beach, NJ: 1971), 9. Truppen im amerikanischen Unabhangigkeits- krieg (Inge Auerbach & Otto Frolich, eds.) III 9Johann Gottfried Seume, Mein Leben (Bremen, (1976), #5984, #10951; IV (1976), #2371. 1969), 51-52. 28Charles H. Glatfelter, Pastors and People 10Kipping, 10, 24, 40-45; Atwood, 191, 199-201. (Breiningsville, PA, 1980) I, 55, 87-88. "Clifford Neil Smith, Brunswick Deserters— 29 Immigrants of the American Revolution Wittgenstein 47 (1983), 122-123; Dippel, 341. 30 (Thomson, IL: 1973); Atwood, 193-194. Dated 12 January 1791 in Jacob Rader Marcus, 12Knyphausen's letter dated 6 July 1778. Staats- American Jewish. Documents—Eighteenth archiv Marburg 41, 410, No. 2, fol. 386 Century (Cincinnati, OH: 1959), 51-54; Klaus 13Kipping, 24. Wust, The Virginia Germans (Charlottesville, VA: 1969), 104; Albert W. Haarman, "The Third 14Library of Congress (photostat) PreuBisches Waldeck Regiment in British Service," Journal Geheimes Staatsarchiv—Heeresarchiv Rep. of the Society for Army History Research 48 15A Ms. 382. (1970), 182-185. l5Atwood, 192-193; Erhard Stadtler, Die Ansbach- 31Edith von Zemensky & Morgan H. Pritchett, Bayreuther Truppen im Amerikanischen "Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben: Soldier of Unabhaengigkeitskrieg, 1777-1783 (Nurnberg, 1956), 66-67. Fortune or Military Professional?," The Report 16 36(1975), 8-25. Calendar of Virginia State Papers I (Richmond, 32 1875), 482-483. Ernst Drumm, Das Regiment Royal-Deuxponts (Zweibrucken, 1936); Rudolph Karl Tross, "Zu l7George F. Jones, "Georgia's German Language Wasser und zu Land: Die Erlebnisse des Georg Proclamation: An Appeal to the Hessians to Flohr im Hochloblichen Regiment von Desert," The Report 39 (1984), 21 -22. Zweybrucken," Pfalzischer Merkur, 1 & 2 18Leslie to Clinton, dated 2 March 1782, The Report September 1976; Robert A. Selig, "A German 39 (1984), 26-27; August Woringer, "Protocol Soldier in America, 1780-1783: The Journal of der Amtshandlungen, die der Feldprediger G. Georg Daniel Flohr," The William and Mary C. Coster verrichtet," Deutsch-Amerikanische Quarterly, 3rd Series, vol. L, no. 3 (1993), 575- Geschichts-Blatter 20-21 (1920-1), 281, 286- 590. 287, 289, 292. Military Immigration, Notes______

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