65-11,378

SLAGLE, Robert Oakley, 1925- THE VON LOSSBERG REGIMENT: A CHRONICLE OF HESSIAN PARTICIPATION IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.

The American University, Ph. D ., 1965 History, modern

University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE VON LOSSBERG REGIMENT: A CHRONICLE OF HESSIAN PARTICIPATION IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

by

Robert Oakley Slagle

Submit ted to the

Faculty of the Graduate School

of The American University

in Partial Fulfillment of

the Requirements for the Degree

of

Doctor of Philosophy

in

History

Signatures of Committee:

Chairman:

Graduate Dean: 72), fa*

Date: '■? i/ . / ? 6 < r

The American University AMERICAN UNIVERSITY Washington, D. C. LIBRARY

MAY 2 1 1 9 6 5

WASHINGTON. D. C.

# 3 / 6 (■>

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. PREFACE

The historical treatment of German participation in the

American Revolution has not been either as accurate or exten­

sive as the available facts and the significance of the sub­

ject would appear to warrant. Early American accounts typed

the Hessians as plundering barbarians or as comic slaves to

be pitied. British military historians usually touched only

lightly on the German mercenaries, as if the authors were some­

what embarrassed by their existence. Many histories which are

otherwise sound are so distorted on the subject of the Hessians

as to be grossly inaccurate.

Americans of the last century who attempted to revise the

historical view of the Hessians, namely Lowell, Rosengarten,'

and Greene, probably carried their revision too far toward

glorifaction to be assessed as objective. Similarly, German

historians like Eelking and Kapp also overground their axes

during thi3 period.

Only since 1900, with the publication of many diaries

and journals of Hessian soldiers, has a significant amount of

factual material been made readily available. However, most

of these go to the other extreme of being completely lacking

ii

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. in interpretive analysis.

Despite the ample material available from these sources

and the great mass of original documents in the German archives,

scholarly unit histories remain largely unwritten, although

there has "been a revival of interest in this subject on the part

of some German scholars like Dr. Joachim Fischer of Frankfurt.

The von Lossberg Regiment took part in most of the significant

military engagements in the Middle Atlantic area of the American

Revolution, and its surrender at Trenton precipitated one of the

most prolonged and well-documented courts martial in military

history to that time. Therefore, the story of this regiment

provides an excellent vantage point from which to view the activi­

ties of the German forces serving the British during this period.

The principal single original source on which this work is

based is the journal of the von Lossberg Regiment written during

the period I776-I783 by its quartermaster, Georg Ludwig Heusser,

now kept in the archives at Marburg, Germany. Another original

journal, that of Jacob Piel, for a time the regimental adjutant,

was also helpful.

Next in order of importance is the work on the von Lossberg

Regiment done by Karl Vogt, late Schulrat of the town of Rinteln,

Germany, which includes four published articles and considerable

iii

with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. unpublished material which he and later his son personally made

available to the author.

Of the published works, Stryker's authoritative work on the

Battle of Trenton, Lowell's coverage of the Hessians in general,

and Eelking's German view of the subject were key sources without

which the writing of the von Lossberg history would have been

difficult.

In addition to Karl and Reinhard Vogt, I wish to acknowledge

my indebtedness to Dr. Otto Fink of Gutenberg University for his

assistance in locating and copying the Heusser manuscript; to

Dr. Walter Schuck of Heidelberg University for his help in de­

ciphering it; and to Professor Arthur A. Ekirch, Jr., Chairman,

and Professors Dorothy D. Gondos, William R. Hutchison and Albert

D. Mott, members of the dissertation committee for this work at

the American University, Washington, D. C.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION...... 1

CHAPTER

I. TO AMERICA...... 10

II. LONG ISLAND...... 27

III. WHITE PLAINS...... kb

IV. FORT WASHINGTON...... ,. .. 53

V. ACROSS THE JERSEYS...... 66

VI. THE TRENTON DISASTER...... 88

VII. THE PRISONERS...... 105

VIII. THE COMBINED BATTALION...... 126

IX. CALAMITY AT SEA...... 151

X. CANADA...... 165

XI. THE COURT MARTIAL...... l8 l

EPILOGUE...... 197

BIBLIOGRAPHY...... 203

APPENDIXES

A. The von Lossherg Battle Record 212

B. The von Lossherg Companies...... 213

C. Biographic Sketches of the Original Officers of the von Lossberg Regiment...... 21^

D. Consolidated Rolls of the von Lossberg Regiment, 1776-1783...... 218

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND TABLES

FIGURE PAGE

1. Map— Hesse-Cassel in 1775...... 12

2. Map— Areas of Origin of the Troops of the von Lossberg Regiment...... lU

3. Map— The Rinteln Enclave...... 15

L. Map— Two Recruiting Areas in Hanover... l6

5. The von Lossberg Regimental Flags 18

6. Map--March to the Sea of the von Lossberg Regiment, 1776...... 22

7. Map— Route of the von Lossberg Regiment on Long Island, August, 1776.. 32

8. Map— Action of October 28, 1776...... ^8

9. Map— The Attapk on Fort Washington November 16, 1776...... 59

10. Map— Movements of the von Lossberg Regiment, August-November, 1776...... 65

11. Map— The Route of the von Lossberg Regiment Across New Jersey, 1776...... 72

12. Map— Trenton, 1776 (December 2 5 )...... 76

13. Map— Trenton, 1776 (December 26)...... 97

ll+. Table— Prisoners Taken at Trenton 107

15 . Map— Movements of the Hessian Prisoners, 1776-rl778...... 125

16. Map— Position of the Units of the Knyphausen Corps, Sept. 11, 1777...... 137

17. Map— Movements of the Combined Battalion, July, 1777-July* 1778..... I 50

18. Map— The Canadian Theater...... 168

1

permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. INTRODUCTION

During the summer of 1775; the British Government began to

realize that it was faced with the prospect of a real war with

its American colonies. By this time it was already becoming

evident that England must strengthen its armies in America or

give up the contest there.

In 1775, over 3;000;000 Americans lived in an area extending

from New England to Georgia. To control this huge region, England

had less than 15,000 men under arms in all of North America. ^

Although the useful towns were situated on the coast, there were

few inland strongholds on which to base lines of communication

for command of large areas in the interior. To British military

men, the task of subduing the whole of the American colonies

appeared an impossible one. They calculated that the colonies

could raise and army of 150,000 men, which was not an extravagant 2/ estimate when calculated on the basis of total population.

However, the governors of the colonies reported the existence of

significant loyalist strength in America and Governor Martin was

convinced that he could regain North Carolina. Another optomistic

gentlemen, Governor Dunmore, although he had been driven from

1/ Henry Belcher, The First American Civil War (London: The MacMillan Company, 1911); I; p. 25 W.

Sir John Fortescue, A History of the British Army (London: The MacMillan Company, 1902), III, p. 167.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2

Virginia, also swore that he could recover his province with 300

me It was eventually concluded by the high command that the

presence of a greater number of British troops in Worth America

might be sufficient to rally the entire population to the royal

standard.

Thus, British military policy in the American colonies came

to rest largely on hopes for the cooperation of significant num­

bers of American loyalists. However, even this pol y demanded

troops that were not available at that time. In the summer of

1775* the total effective strength of the British Army was less

than 50,000 men.-V Regiments were scattered throughout the Empire

and the most significant single concentration of troops was be­

sieged in Boston. When, in August, 1775; it was finally resolved

to increase the strength of the army to 55;000, recruiting efforts

were unable to supply sufficient new men.— ^

The economic situation in Scotland made it the best recruit­

ing ground, but recruiting moved slowly in Ireland and almost

imperceptibly in England, where hardly any enthusiasm for the war

existed among the classes from which soldiers were drawn. The

King had agreed to transfer four Hanoverian battalions to Minorca

— ■I Ibid., p . 168.

k/ — ' Belcher, op. cit., p. 259-

'iJ Sir George 0. Trevelyan, The American Revolution (London: Longmans, 1903); Part II, Vol. I, pp. 37-38-

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. and Gibraltar in order to release a like number of British bat­

talions for service in America, but the British Cabinet had been

frustrated in its attempt to obtain 20,000 men from Russia.— /

Negotiations for the use of a so-called Scotch regiment in the

service of Holland also failed and England next looked to the 7/ other German States for t r o o p s '

In addition to the assistance which he drew from the regular

military establishment of his hereditary dominions in Germany,

George III took measures for collecting troops elsewhere in

Germany through voluntary enlistment. However, this produced

generally inferior men and the mercenary scum of Europe similar

to the "bounty jumpers" of the U. S. civil war almost a century

later. Moreover, methods of "recruiting" were becoming so in­

humane that the English King began to have certain qualms about

the entire operation. He then gave consideration to the possi­

bility of hiring ready-made units from some of the German princes.

Time was of the essence. If the campaign of 1776 was to begin

with vigor, it would be necessary to move considerable reinforce­

ments to North America as rapidly as possible.

Sir Joseph Yorke, an experienced diplomat, was sent to

Germany with instructions to ascertain on what terms and in what

numbers men could be obtained from that quarter. In September of

-/ Ibid., pp. kO-k} .

— / Ibid., pp. ^5-46.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1775 he reported that Hesse-Cassel, Hesse Darmstadt, Wurtemburg,

Saxe-Gotha, and Baden were ready to furnish any number of troops

for a fair price. He pointed out that the Landgrave of Hesse-

Cassel was particularly desirous of striking a bargain.— /

George III then sent Colonel William Faucitt to conduct the

actual negotiations with the German princes. The Colonel quickly

reached an agreement with the Duke of Brunswick and the Landgrave

of Hesse-Cassel during the first two weeks of January 1776.

Treaties with the smaller states of Hesse-Hanau, Waldeck, Anspach-

Bayreuth and Anhalt-Zerbst followed later.

The treaty with Hesse-Cassel, which supplied England with

more than half of its German troops, was the most favorable to

the Germans of all the treaties. In it, England was forced to

commit itself to a defensive alliance with Hesse-Cassel, the

Landgrave's troops were to be kept together under their own

general while given all privileges afforded English units, and

the Landgrave received more than twice as much per man sent to

America as the other German princes. In addition, the Landgrave

insisted on and received payment for an old claim against the

British Government of some 1^-1,820 which dated back to the Seven

Years War. Under the terms of the treaty the Landgrave was to

furnish the British with over 12,000 completely-equipped men.

Including replacements over the years, he ultimately provided

16,922.-/

George Washington Greene, The German Element in The War of American Independence (New York: Hurd and Houghton, 1 > p. 187.

Friedrich Kapp, Per Soldatenhandel Deutscher Fiirsten nach Amerika (Berlin: Springer, 1b74), p. 29$.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The deal was not, however, without extreme cost to and sacri­

fice by Hesse-Cassel. The Landgrave could not afford to draw too

heavily on his regular array for a contingent of such a size and he

was forced to resort to conscription. One out of every four of

the atle-bodied men of Hesse-Cassel were eventually pressed into

service and it has been estimated that a similar compulsory levy

in England and Wales would have yielded 400,000 men.— ^ To escape

this impressment many Hessians fled to Hanover, from which King

George was requested by the Landgrave to return all such fugitives.

Considerable critical judgement has been passed on the British

for their use of German mercenaries against the American colonists.

Similarly, the German Princes have been condemned for their sale

of human flesh. However, the entire matter must be examined in

all of its aspects and in light of the times to be fully understood.

It is difficult to accurately ascertain how the bargains between"

England and the German Princes were regarded by public opinion in

Germany at that time, although liberals most certainly spoke out

against it. The principles which were to bring about the French

Revolution were already at work in Europe and some of its foremost

figures were already on the scene. Mirabeau, then a fugitive in

Holland, published a pamphlet in 1778 addressed "to the Hessians / and other nations of Germany sold by their Princes to England."—11

20/ George Bancroft, History of the United States (Hew York: Harpers, 1887), III, P. 57-

— ■f Edward J. Lowell, The Hessians and the Other German Auxiliaries of Great Britain in The Revolutionary War (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1884), p.22.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. It was an eloquent protest against the rapacity of the princes

and a tribute to the patriotism of the Americans. Its effect

was such that the Landgrave of Hesse attempted to huy up the 12/ entire edition of the pamphlet.— ' Failing in this, he published

a pamphlet himself, supposedly written by his chief minister,

Schlieffen, in which he tried to defend his position. He

pointed out that various heads of state in Europe had been hiring

out troops for centuries and did quite well at it. In fact, he

claimed that Charles I, a former Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, had

made his domain a powerful state from the proceeds of the sale

of 1,000 men to the Venetians in their fight against the Turks

in a previous century. As head of a state containing 300,000

people and possessing no other resources but strong fighting

men, he emphasized that the hiring out of soldiers was his coun-

try's only means of bettering itself economically.—1 ^3/

Other attempts to justify the position of Landgrave Frederick

II have asserted that he took part in the American Revolution to

establish Hesse's position as a ranking state of Europe, and he

has since been compared to Count Cavour, who sent Sardinian

troops to Crimea in 1855 in order to achieve the status necessary b/ to begin the unification of Italy.—1 ' When he came to the throne,-

— / Ibid.

-ll/ Kapp, op. cit., pp. 123-12^.

lit/ Trevelyan, op. cit., p. 51*

with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Frederick's treasury owed an amount equal to atout $2,500,000

and when he died, it had assets of over $12,500,000. In the

interim he had also considerably improved the general economic

condition of his country and built roads, parks, museums, hos­

pitals, universities, libraries, churches, and many cultural

edifices, all from the British subsidy and the financial advan­

tages which had accrued from it. Another point that has often

been made is that the pay and general condition of the Hessian

soldiers was far superior in the service of the British in

North America than it would have been had they remained in

Europe.—

Frederick the Great reacted strongly against the sale of

Germans to the British and he went so far as to prohibit transit

across Prussian territory by Hessian units moving to the North

Sea ports. It is difficult, however, to determine whether

Frederick's opposition was political or humanitarian in its

origins. It could well have been both.~/

Even in England public sentiment was generally opposed to

the hiring of German mercenaries to suppress the liberties of

British subjects. Lord North's proposal to hire German troops

11/ Ibid., p. 52.

Ji/ Frederick The Great was at odds with the British because of their lack of support for his position in the Danzig contro­ versy, and he also did not want to see the Empire divested of troops in the event that a new war were to break out on the continent. However, Kapp suggests that Frederick could have stopped the sale of German troops to the British had he really desired to do so (pp. 147-152).

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 8

was denounced "by many prominent members of Parliament, including 17/ Edmund B urke' However, the arguments of Lord George Germaine

ultimately prevailed. He defended the measure on the grounds of

necessity and quoted a number of precedents to show that England

had hired foreigners to fight for it in nearly every war or rebel­

lion in its history. The treaty with the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel

was passed in Commons by a vote of 2k2 to 88. A later proposal in

the House of Lords to countermand the. treaty, which was introduced

and eloquently supported by the Duke of Richmond, was defeated by

a vote of T9 to 2 9*— ^

All things considered, it is easier to condemn the British

Government for hiring mercenaries to subjugate their own citizens

than it is to censure the Landgrave for selling them. Landgrave

Frederick II, who reigned from 1 j60 to 1785 , appears to have had

somewhat better motiviations than the British Government and made

a more advantageous bargain. Although far from being a noble

character, Frederick can be at least partially excused because of

the area and times in which he lived. Lowell sums up Frederick by

pointing out that, "He dealt in good wares, he showed some personal

dignity, and he was one of the least disreputable of the princes 19/ who sent mercenaries to America."— '

17/ — ' Trevelyan, op. cit., p. 52.

!§/ Lowell, op. cit., pp. 21-22.

12./ Ibid., p . 6.

with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission The spirit of enlightenment had not yet reached the

greater part of Germany, or the entire continent for that

matter, hut in England an entirely different situation pre­

vailed. Considering the status of human rights and the public

conscience there at that time, the part of the British Govern­

ment in the affair is much more reprehensible. Moreover, aside

from the moral issues involved, the decision was a poor one for

the British. The hiring of German mercenaries to fight against

them convinced the American colonists of the futility of attempts

at a reconciliation with the mother country. It also removed

any objections to requesting aid from foreign countries in their

struggle against Britain. In the words of Lowell,, "the answer

to the treaty with the Landgrave was the Declaration of Indepen­

dence . ^

20/ Ibid., p. 35.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER I

TO AMERICA

Among the units sent by the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel to

British service in North America was the Regiment von Lossberg,

later known as the Regiment alt-Lossberg, created in 1683 with

its headquarters in Rinteln, a small, walled town on the south

bank of the Weser River between Hameln and Minden.

From the 12th century until 16^0, Rinteln was the principal

town of the Earldom of Schaumburg, an independent political en­

tity ruled by the Earl of Holstein-Schaumburg. In 1640, however,

the ruling line died out with the Death of Otto V. Following a

long period of dispute as to the status of the territory, it was

divided into three parts after the Thirty Years War at the Peace

of Westphalia in 1648- One part went to the Duchy of Calenberg,

another became a fief of the Earl Phillip of Lippe-Alverdissen, and

the remainder went to Hesse-Cassel in a personal union between a 1/ new Earl of Schaumburg and the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel.

The first engagements of the von Lossberg Regiment, known

at that time as the Regiment Schaumburg, were against the troops

of Louis XIV in the Spanish Netherlands during the period 1693-1697;

— / Unpublished notes of Karl Vogt.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 11

when the regiment was committed by the Landgrave on the side of

the Protestants. During the War of the Spanish Succession it

was again employed against the French, and its battle record

reads like a chronology of the war itself. The regiment distin­

guished itself at Oudenarde in 1708, and at Malplaquet in 1709*

In 173^, during the War of the Polish Succession, the regiment

participated in battles along the Rhine and at Trier. Its re­

cord in the War of the Austrian Succession was highlighted by its

part in the defense of Bergin Op Zoom in the Netherlands in 17U8 .

During the Seven Years War, the regiment fought for the British

and Hanoverians at the battle of Hastenbeck, near Hameln, in

which its commander, Colonel von Haundring, was killed. It also

took part in numerous small battles in Hesse in 1758, and in 1759;

under Colonel von Toll, it fought with the British and Hanoverians

against the French in the battle of Minden.— /

At the time of its committment by the Landgrave of Hesse to

service with the British in North America, the Regiment von

Lossberg, so-called because of the practice of naming a unit

•3/ after its commander,—' was quartered in its garrison headquarters

2/ . . ~ Ibid (see Appendix A).

Col. Friedrich Wilhelm von Lossberg never personally commanded his regiment in North America. He was detached for brigade command before departure from Germany and moved continually higher in the command structure, •ultimately becoming a Lieu­ tenant General and, in 1782, chief of all German forces serving the British in North America.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Bremen

: ; x HESSE-CASSEL! \ in 1775

Nienburg/® / HANOVER

r;Hanover - Minden ^if a

'(TO PRUSSIA-^* % I BRUNSWICK

^ ‘ \\-Hassenbeck cHa«:5Pnhpr- V LIPPE

PADERBORN

r/^ /;■ H

■ WALDECKj? ,i Cassel o/~^ '!■ ^ 3 HESSE-CASSEL I#/’

/ SAXONY

FIGURE 1 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. at Rinteln. Although the authorized strength of the regiment

was 633 men, a figure which included twenty-one commissioned of­

ficers, sixty non-commissioned officers, and twenty-two musicians,

its actual strength was much less. Carried on the regimental rolls W at the end of 1775 were only 43? men, including officers.— However,

a considerable proportion of these men were professional soldiers

and volunteers, a fact which probably had a great bearing on the

superior performance of the unit in North America. Many of its

officers were veterans of numerous campaigns on the continent, and

many were of the lesser nobility or younger sons of the landed gen­

try. In general, the troops were young, but sufficiently mature

and the officers not too old for efficient service -- a marked

contrast to the "grandfathers and boys" contingents from some of

the other areas of Germany.— ^ The unit did not reach full strength

prior to its departure for Bremerlehe, even though its forces were 6 / augmented by levies on nearby areas of Hanover,— which were under the

direct control of George III of England.

The troops of the von Lossberg Regiment were drawn from three

clearly-defined areas (see figs. 2, 3, and It). The principal area

]\./ . . — The official rolls of the von Lossberg Regiment (see Appendix B).

— ^ Sir George 0. Trevelyan, The American Revolution (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1903), Part II, Vbl. I, p. k'J.

6/ — Commonly spelled with one "n" until after World War II.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. I ! \To P.\jS5Ia ) STADT HAfHNJ kc. Cii-.vijfc'k'G /A / M 0 H /'J ©i

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FIGURE 2

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FIGURE 3

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FIGURE U

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. was that of the Rinteln enclave, owned outright hy the Landgrave

of Hesse-Cassel. The-other two areas were in Hanover, centered on

the villages of Ucht and, further to the north, Bassum, which were

relatively more important at that time than they are now. In the

Rinteln enclave, most of the towns are today little changed from

what they were in 1776 and family names of the von Lossherg sol­

diers are still in evidence in the area. The inhabitants can often

yet recount stories about their ancestors and the part they played

in the American Revolution. Relics from that conflict are prized

family possessions displayed in many homes in the area.—7/

The uniforms of the von Lossberg Regiment differed somewhat

from those worn by most of the other units in the Hessian contin­

gent. Like the others, they wore tri-cornered hats with pom-poms,

their coats were long with turned back skirts, the vests were belted,

and the breeches tight and fitted into boots. However, where the

color of the coats of most of the other Hessian regiments were blue

with varying colored lapels, cuffs, facing and trim, the coats of 8 / the Lossbergs were scarlet.—

Like the other German regiments, the Lossbergs had their own

distinctive colors, or flags, which they carried into battle. On

their banner were the words, "Pro Principe et Patria," a motto perhaps

7/ — Based on numerous personal visits to the area.

8/ — ' From a sketch in the Anne S. K. Brown military collection and paintings and uniform remnants preserved in Rinteln.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.

FIGUiiK FIGUiiK 5 Regimental flag The von Lossberg patria." was an eagle with an olive branch with the motto, "Pro principe et monogram E C T S A and the letters M L B 1775. On the other side and letters being worked in gold silk. On one side was a crown, a The flag was of white silk and about four feet square, the embroidery

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 19 9/ somewhat incongruous for the mission they were about to undertake.—

All five companies of the Lossberg Regiment which served as

a unit in North America carried fusils rather than muskets. How­

ever, in European service, a Hessian regiment usually consisted of

two battalions, one of fusiliers and one of musketeers, the desig­

nations indicating the type of firearms with which they were pro­

vided.— ^ Due to British insistence, the original Hessian contin­

gent of fifteen light infantry regiments that was sent to North

America was reorganized along company lines. Each regiment was

divided into five infantry companies and one grenadier company,

with no battalion organization. The grenadier companies from each

regiment were withdrawn prior to the departure from Germany and

consolidated into grenadier battalions.— ^

According to the rolls, the Regiment von Lossberg consisted

in 1775 of six companies, five of which were known by the names

of their respective commanders. They were: the Grenadier Company

Wilmowsky; the Leib Company, commanded by Captain Ries in the ab- 12 sence of Colonel von Lossberg;— 'and/ the Fusilier Companies Scheffer,

9/ — From paintings and banner fragments preserved in Rinteln.

— ^The fusil was lighter than the musket in use at that time.

— ^Bernard A. Uhlendorf, Revolution in America: Confidential Letters and Journals of Adjutant General Major Baurmeister of The Hessian Forces (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1957)/ P» 15- 12 —/ One company, the bodyguard unit, in each regiment was nominally commanded by the Regimental Commander.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 20

Fritsch, Lengerke, and Heeringen. Major von Lengerke was trans­

ferred to the Grenadier Company early in 1JJ6 and his company was

taken over by Major von Hanstein. Captain Fritsch also did not

accompany the regiment to America and his company was given to

Captain Altenbockum prior to the departure. Authorized twenty-

one officers, the regiment was actually overstrength in officers 13/ in March, 1776, with twenty-seven on the rolls.— '

At the morning muster, March 9> 1776, Col. von Heeringan,

the ranking officer, gave marching orders for the next day and

the regiment prepared itself for the 120-mile movement to the

port of embarkation at Lehe, located at the mouth of the Weser

River on the site of the present day city of Bremerhaven. On

the morning of the 10th, the regiment moved out of Rinteln amidst

the shouts of the populace and reached Stadt Hagen, then in the

county of Buckeburg, by evening. On the following day, the regi­

ment marched northward and that night the troops were billeted in

the towns of Wiedensahl, Munchhagen, and Lockum. On the 12th, Lt.

Col. Scheffer and Major von Hanstein, each company commanders, were

nearly killed when the ceiling of their billet in a monastery col­

lapsed upon them.— ^

Passing through Landesbergen and Estorf, the regiment reached

Nienburg on the evening of the 13th. In this town on the following

jo/ — ‘1 Official rolls of the regiment.

lb/ — Georg Ludwig Christian Heusser, Journal des Hochloblichen Fusilier"Regiment von alt-Lossberg...1776-1783 (original manu­ script), p. b.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 21

day orders were received permanently detaching the Grenadier Com- ■ ' pany Wilmowsky from the von Lossberg Regiment and assigning it to 15/ the newly-formed Grenadier Battalion Minnigerode.—

The regiment then marched through Homfeld, Leeste, Brinkum

and Wolffhof, reaching Bremen on the 17th, where it received an

enthusiastic reception from the citizens of the city while march­

ing through it "en parade." That evening, the troops were quar­

tered in the towns of Westereck, Buschenhausen, Osterholz, and

Scharenbeck, north of Bremen. On March 20th, the regiment went

into cantonment quarters at Damhagen, located about halfway be­

tween Bremen and the port of Lehe and remained here until April

6, drilling and conducting maneuvers. According to Heusser,

several recaptured deserters were court-martialled during this

period.—• * l6/

On April 7, the regiment marched northward to the staging

area for the port of Lehe, which extended from the town of Wolfdorf,

through Gestendorf, Schiffdorf, to Bremel. On April 12, the entire

regiment was reviewed in Gestendorf by Colonel Faucitt, who admini­

stered an oath of loyalty to the crown of England to the German

troops, a task which he had been performing almost daily since the

15/ — Ibid., p. 5- The Lossberg Grenadier Company did not rejoin tbe Regiment during the entire period of service in North America, participating with distinction in many campaigns.

— / Ibid.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. j/UMir.ier w VON LOSSBERG REGIMENT,! i I i • <*r:. *;/-o

MARCH 10—APRIL 7 v-... ,. „\N, MUHCh'EHAC-e* 177 6 , I! j W 1E " '• * "'l" l“ \

STADT HAvRf ) .4 ss /

v f ' ' '

'* •' '/ * . / y ■ FIGURE 6 to

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 21st of March.—- Present at this performance was Lt. General von

Heister, Commander-in-Chief designate of the German forces to serve

the British in North America.

On the 13th, the von Lossterg Regiment received orders for em­

barkation on the following day. However, due to the lack of trans­

port space for the Rail and Mirbach Regiments, the sailing was de­

layed. Finally, or< the 17th of April, fifty-four vessels under Com-

modore Parker set sail for Portsmouth. The Lossberg Regiment was

carried on four transport ships: The Union, The Charming Polly, The

Mary, and The Judith. Except for a grazing collision between the

Judith and another ship called The Bird, and an amusing panic caused

by language difficulties, the first leg of the journey was uneventful.

On the afternoon of April 22, the fleet passed over two shoals in the

North Sea called Mud Bank and Dogger Bank. The captain of the Judith

asked for a sounding and when a seaman called "four," meaning the

depth of the lead, the German soldiers on deck mistook it for the

German word for "fire." In the resulting panic and confusion, another 18/ grazing collision with a Dutch transport occurred.—

On April the 26th, the fleet weighed anchor at the roadstead

of Spithead off the Isle of Wight and on the following day the Hes­

sian officers were given a tour of the arsenal and dockyards in

— - Max von Eelking, Die deutschen Hiilfstruppen im nordamerikanischen Befrei un gskriege, 1776 bis 1783 (Hanover: Helwing, 1863), I, p.24. l8 / — Heusser, op. cit., pp. 9-1 0 .

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2k

Portsmouth. On May 6, the fleet with 150 sail under Admiral

Hotham got under way. On board were 12,500 troops, of which

7,1+00 were Germans

Of the actual voyage of the von Lossberg Regiment across

the Atlantic, Heusser is the best source, but other observers

have left records which furnish a description of some of the

general aspects of the trip as they applied to the entire con­

tingent. The poet Seume stated that the men were packed on

board like herring. A tall man could not stand upright between

decks, nor sit up straight in his berth. Moreover, there were

six men assigned to every berth although there was actually

only room for four at best. The food was also very poor. Pork

and beans were the principal fare and both were at least par­

tially spoiled. The ship's biscuit was full of maggots which

they ate "for a relish." The troops were apparently convinced

that this biscuit had been captured by the British from the

French during the Seven Years War and that it-had been sitting

in Portsmouth ever since. The water was also bad, smelling so

like "Styx, Phlegethon, and Cocytus all together" that it was 20/ necessary to hold one's nose while drinking it.— ' Occasional

rations of rum and beer were evidently the only gastronimical bright

spots on the trip as far as the troops were concerned.

19/ — Eelking, op. cit., p. 25.

20 —/ Edward J. Lowell, The Hessians and the Other German Auxiliaries of Great Britain in the Revolutionary War (New York: Harper and Brothers, 188 TJ, p.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Trevelyan remarks that the Germans complained during the

voyage of the "parsimonious diet and had accommodations, and es­

pecially of the 'light-and scanty blankets which were in painful

contrast to the featherbeds they had left behind them in the

Fatherland." However, he opined that, "they were in excellent

health and the food supplied by the contractors was no worse, and

more plentiful, than what they had been accustomed to in their 21 barracks."— '/ Baurmeister concurs with this, saying that, "owing

to the excellent preparations that had been made in England, we

could not find fault either with the adequacy of the ships or with 22 the quality and quantity of the provisions."— / Of course, as an

officer, and the adjutant to General Heister at that, he undoubt­

edly lived much better than the troops below deck.

The Grand Banks off Newfoundland were reached on the 20th of

June after an extremely rough crossing in which the ships of the 2 V fleet were completely scattered.— On the 7th of July, Halifax

was sighted. The troops were under the impression that this was

the destination of the fleet, but it was soon learned that it had

been changed to New York. Many days of rough weather and discom­

fort were yet ahead of them.

21 —'/ Trevelyan, op. cit., p. 105-

— ^ Uhlendorf, op. cit., p. 31*

— ^ A. Pfister, The Voyage of the First Hessian Army from Ports­ mouth to New York, 1776~[New York: Special Print, 1915)> p. 19.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 26

On August 6, the tip of Long Island was sighted from the

masts and an English transport came alongside bringing wine, beer,

and food. The ship's quartermaster, a Colonel Baumier, volunteered

the information that the Braunschweiger troops had relieved the 2k I seige of Quebec, news which greatly elated the Lossbergers.—

On August the 11th, Heusser reported sighting the hills of

p c / "Neversunk."— At 8 o ’clock on the morning of August 12, the fleet

passed Sandy Hook and entered New York Harbor, anchoring in the nar­

rows between Staten Island and Long Island. The long trip, which

had begun in Rinteln on March 9, had finally been completed.

I

2k/ —' Heusser, op. cit., p. 19•

25/ Navesink. The high ground between the North Shrewsbury River and Sandy Hook Bay in New Jersey, now more commonly known as the Atlantic Highlands.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER II

LONG ISLAND

General Howe had arrived in New York Bay on June 25• Four

days later, forty-five more ships entered the harbor and disem­

barked 9,300 soldiers on Staten Island. On July 12, his brother,

Admiral Lord Howe, arrived with a fleet of 150 ships. Several

days later, Admiral Sir Peter Parker brought in a fleet of thirty-

nine vessels carrying 2,500 men under''Clinton and Cornwallis from

the defeat at Charleston. This was the situation as the fleet

under Commodore Hotham arrived on August 12 with 10,600 troops,

a portion of which were the troops of the von Lossberg Regiment.

General Howe, upon the arrival of all of his forces was able

to begin implementing his plan to drive the enemy from Long Island

and New York. He now had at his disposal a force of 55,000 men, a

figure which included 28,000 sailors and 19,968 Germans.- ^

Although presumably somewhat uncertain as to what he might

expect in battle from the Hessian forces, Howe assigned them a

major role throughout the campaign.

The arrival of the Germans on Staten Island had caused great

alarm among the Americans. The Germans were greatly feared and

Georg Ludwig Christian Heusser, Journal des Hochloblichen Fiiselier Regiment von alt-Lossberg... 1776-1783 (original manuscript), p. 20.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 28

many of the inhabitants abandoned their homes and fled to New

York. However, strict orders about conduct were issued and,

when the inhabitants found that they were not to be abused, re- 2/ lations with the Germans improved considerably.

On August 1U, the troops from Admiral Hotham's fleet began

to disembark on Staten Island. Quartermaster Heusser of the

von Lossberg Regiment was ordered to establish a camp on the 3/ Island. On the 15th, the Lossberg Regiment was disembarked

and marched to a camp not far from the shore on the Heights of

Staten Island.

On the following day the Lossberg, Rail, and Knyphausen Regi­

ments which constituted the Stirn Brigade were sent to relieve

English regiments on the western side of Staten Island facing

the Americans deployed near Amboy. Congress had printed thou­

sands of leaflets aimed at the Hessians promising land and pro­

perty to any who would desert. Some of these turned up on Sta-

ten Island among the Brigade commanded by Colonel von Lossberg.-V

Heusser noted that fresh food was obtainable just in time as

scurvy and red dysentery had begun to spread among the troops.

2 / Max von Eelking, Die deutschen Hulfdtruppen im nordamerikanischen Befreiungskriege 1776 vis 1783- (Hanover: Helving, 1863), I, p. 28.

A'3/ Heusser, op. cit., p. 2 1 .

y Ibid.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2 9

On the 15th, the Lossberg, Knyphausen, and Rail Regiments were 5/ formed into a brigade under the command of Major General von Mirbach.

From August 16 to the 20th, Howe's army, including the Lossberg

Regiment, remained in the camp on Staten Island, drilling and

preparing for the coming action.

On August 21 , the light troops, including the Hessian Gren­

adiers and Jaegers, were transported in flat boats to Long Island

with the 33rd and ^2nd Regiments. The movement began at eight

o'clock in the morning under the cover of the guns of the frigate 6/ RAINBOW and by noon, 15,000 men had been landed without opposition.-

Cornwallis, in command of ten battalions of light infantry and

Donop's Hessian Grenadiers, moved with this force and six guns

toward Flatbush, with orders not to attack if the place were

strongly defended. He made his main camp at Gravesend and sent

Donop forward to force 300 American riflemen from the Flatbush T / < area. On the morning of the 23rd, the right wing of Cornwallis'

advance party was attacked as it advanced, but the enemy was re­

pulsed by artillery fire and the British force entered Flatbush.

Another American attack later in the afternoon, which gained the

5/ Ibid.

— f Thomas W. Field, The Battle of Long Island (New York: The Long Island Historical Society, 1869), p. 6 8 .

li Eelking, oj>. cit., p. 29.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 3 0

8 / edge of the village, was again repulsed by the artillery.

On August 25, the von Lossberg,Erb Prinz, Donop, Mir-

bach, Knyphausen, and Rail Regiments were transported to

Long Island and marched four miles from the place of disem-

barkment to a camp further inland .-9/

The Hessians were greatly impressed with the Long Island

countryside. Lt. Piel of the von Lossberg Regiment said that 10/ it appeared to him that every man was a nobleman,— and

Baurmeister wrote in a letter to Germany as follows:

The prosperity of the inhabitants, whose forebears were all Dutch, must have been great indeed. Everyone sees real quality and abun­ dance . One sees nothing useless or old and cer­ tainly nothing dilapidated. The inhabited re­ gions resemble the Westphalian farming districts where the people live on scattered farms. The houses are beautiful and are furnished in better taste than any we are accustomed to in Germany. At the same time, everything is so clean and neat that no description can do it justice. _U_/

On the far left of the British troop dispersements, fac­

ing Gowanus Bay and the Narrows, was General Grant with two

British brigades of 5>000 men. Thus, the British-German

-/ Ibid.

2.1 Heusser, op. cit., p. 22.

— /Jacob Piel, Geschichte des Hochloblichen Fusilier Regiments von Lossberg (original manuscript), p. 31•

li/Bernard A. Uhlendorf, Revolution in America: Confidential Letters and Journals of Adjutant General Major Baurmeister of the Hessian Forces (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1975), p. ^5. Hereinafter referred to as Baurmeister.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. force was confronted,across its entire front by the American

positions on the Heights of Guan, the southerly cliffs of which

presented a considerably obstacle to movement to the north. The

entire ridge was covered by dense woods that were passable only

■I p / to men on foot.— ' (See Figure 7).

General Howe spent four days reconnoitering the situation

and by the 26th of August had made his plan. There were only

three roads which would enable him to move his artillery across

the Heights of Guan to Brooklyn. The first of these, the-western­

most or Gowanus road, was defended by Lord Stirling and would be

difficult to force because it passed through a constriction in

the terrain caused by the Heights, the Bay, and the marshes be­

yond. The center road, running through the Flatbush Pass, would

also be difficult to penetrate. Far to the east, however, the

Jamaica Road, traversed the Heights through the Jamaica Pass 13/ beyond the easternmost position of Sullivan's forces.— Howe's

plan, then, was to use the forces of Grant and Heister in a

frontal diversion while he himself would flank the American

positions far to the east.

On the morning of the 26th, the von Lossberg camp was moved

to the vicinity of Flatbush where they relieved British troops

12/ —' Henry P. Johnston, The Campaign of 1 Jj6 Aren .nd New York and Brooklyn (Brooklyn: Long Island Historical Society Memoirs, 1878 ), III, p. ^9-

13/ Sir John W. Fortescue, A History of the British Army (London: MacMillan, 1902) III, p.

with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission UJ Q I- 7T & 7 U1 H r~ UJ Q 0 r - F> U1 —\ <3 1 \D Ui ir> Vfl "r> 0 N < O (V -j § ■2 r 2 n i <

U. < N

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Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. who were to participate in the flanking column. Later in the

day, General von Heister sent a picked force of 306 men of the von

Lossberg Regiment forward under Colonel von Heeringen to serve as

an advanced guard for the action planned for the 27th. They were

attacked by a force of American riflemen which was driven off by

the fire of a battery of Hessian artillery assigned to Colonel 14/ Heeringen s detachment.—

At nine o'clock in the evening of the 26th, a column of

10,000 men and 28 pieces of artillery, which included Generals

Howe, Clinton, Cornwallis, and Percy, moved out to the east to

begin the flanking maneuver.

On the morning of the 27th, General Grant, on the left, ad­

vanced with the 4th and 5th Brigades, the 42nd Regiment, two

companies of the Hew York Provincials and ten guns. He had

seized several American outposts during the night and, when

he heard gunfire far to his right, he began his assault.

At 10 o'clock on the same morning, General von Heister

deployed his troops for an attack on the Heights up the Flatbush

Pass Road. On the right were the Grenadier Battalions von Linsing

and von Minnigerode, supported by the Erb Prinz Regiment. The

center column was headed by the Grenadier Battalion Block sup­

ported by the von Lossberg Regiment. The extreme left unit was r'" then less than a mile from the right wing of General Grant's

\kj Eelking, 0£. cit., p. 30

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 15/ forces.—

Responding to signal cannon from Genera], Howe as part of

the plan to create a diversion, the Hessian Division began its

assault about 11 o ’clock. The troops moved up the wooded slopes

in good order, dragging their fieldpieces after them. The way

had been levelled and cleared for them as much as possible by 16/ the Jaegers and the Grenadiers.—

Approaching the American positions, the Hessians halted

and formed up as best they could, considering the terrain and

vegetation. Picked detachments then were sent to test the

American strongpoints. From the von Lossberg Regiment, Lt. Zoll,

with fifty volunteers, drove into the forest and routed an Ameri­

can unit with the bayonet. In this action, Lt. Zoll's group in­

flicted many casualties and took sixty-four prisoners, including

six officers.11/

As the effect of the flanking movement behind him began to

be felt by Sullivan on that hot morning, General Heister ordered

a direct assault. Sullivan's division had already begun to retire

from the Heights, but their movement was checked by Clinton's force 18/ approaching their rear.— The Hessians moved forward with colors

15/ Baurmeister, op. cit., p. 37*

16/ —' Eelking, op. cit., p. 31*

17/ Heusser, op. cit., p. 2k.

18/ Fortescue, op■ cit., p. 18U.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. flying and musicians playing as if they were "marching across in/ the Friedrichsplatz in Kassel on the Landgrave's birthday."—2/

Colonel von Heeringen, the Commander of the von Lossberg Regi­

ment, reported that, upon reaching the American position on the

Heights, he was surprised at the quality of their defenses. He

stated, however, that the American riflemen took a quarter of

an hour to load and,for that reason, the Hessians were able to over- 20/ whelm them by rapid firing and the use of the bayonet.

Pinched between Clinton and Heister, the American resis­

tance under Sullivan collapsed. They retreated in small groups

and in great confusion toward the fortified lines of Brooklyn

Heights. The Lossberg, Mirbach, and Rail Regiments swung through

the woods to their left and came to the rear of Stirling's force,

which was recoiling from the assault of the forces of General

Grant. Also appearing at Stirling's rear were the 2nd British

Grenadiers and the 33rd Foot and, encountering an American con­

tingent from Delaware wearing uniforms of blue faced with red

similar to those which many of the Hessians wore, some confusion 2l/ in identity followed. As a direct result, an English Colonel

and eighty men lost their lives. Colonel von Heeringen later

19/ Sir George 0. Trevelyan, The American Revolution (London: Longmans, 1903), Pt. II, I , p . 303•

12/ Eelking, l£c. cit.

ll/ Christopher War

with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. wrote that the Delaware men were tall, well-built, and well- 22/ equipped soldiers who had the appearance of Germans.—

Stirling's men had only one possible way of escape, and

that was across the Gowanus Swamp. Many of them did so, but

the bulk of his forces were hemmed in and forced to surrender.

Stirling sought out General Heister and surrendered to him

rather than to the British.— ^ Thus, both the American generals,

Sullivan and Stirling, were taken prisoner by the Hessians.

Sullivan was brought first to Colonel von Heeringen, who had

him searched and later wrote that he had found the original

orders from General Washington giving Sullivan the best troops

in his command and reminding him that everything depended on 2k/ his holding his position.— ' Of Stirling, Colonel von Heeringen

commented that, "He looks as rauchlile my Lord Granby as one does 25/ like another."— Of General Putnam, also captured in the action,

Heeringen wrote, "I imagine him to be like butcher Fischer in

Rinteln."— ^

^2/ Edward J. Lowell, The Hessians and the Other German Auxiliaries of Great Britain in the Revolutionary War (New York: Harper, T 8 8 k ), p . 67 •

23/ Johnston, op. cit., p. 138 .

— / Lowell, op. cit., p . 66.

25/ Ibid, p. 6 7. General John Granby was a British Army Master of Ordnance who led troops in Germany during the Seven Years War and eventually became commander-in-chief of the British Army. He was a hero to most German professional soldiers and his likeness was quite well-known. Therefore, it is likely that it was the elder Granby to which Heeringen referred and not to his son, at that time a member of Parliament who favored the colonial cause.

26/ Lowell, op. cit., p. 6 7.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 3 7

As the Americans withdrew into their strong fortifica­

tions in Brooklyn, Howe now contemplated a frontal assault,

and, in fact, General von Heister offered his Hessians for 27/ the task.— However, General Washington had just arrived

in Brooklyn with three fresh regiments, and Howe, still

smarting from his "victory" at Bunker Hill, decided to wait

and study the situation further.

On the morning of the 28th, the von Lossberg Regiment,

in a position facing a portion of the American breastworks

known as Fort Greene, began skirmishing with their outposts.

That evening a northeaster began and it rained continuously

for the better part of three days. This prevented Admiral

Howe from sending ships up the East River to cut off the

American positions at Brooklyn from Manhattan and permitted

the skillfully executed American withdrawal that followed.

On the evening of the 29th, a patrol led by Lt. Zoll

of the Lossberg Regiment detected preparations for the re­

treat and so reported to Colonel von Heeringen, who informed 28/ General Howe.

On the morning of August 3 0 , the Lossberg and Donop Regi­

ments occupied the fortifications at Brooklyn which the 29/ Americans had abandoned during the night. Eleven guns,

27/ — ' EeIking f oj>. cit., p. 3 7.

2§/ Ibid.

^2/ Heusser, op. cit., p. 27-

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. much ammunition and food were found there and the Hessians seized

over 100 horses and 300 head of cattle. Also reportedly found

was an American order stating that, against such an enemy as the

Hessians, resistance was impossible and that there was nothing to 30/ do but retreat. General Heister and the rest of his Hessian bri­

gades moved into Brooklyn and set up headquarters there. General

Howe established his headquarters in New Town.

General Howe claimed that the Americans lost 3>200 men in the

battle of Long Island, but the figure was actually closer to a

thousand. The British lost five officers and 56 men killed and

13 officers and 275 men wounded and missing. The Hessians lost

Captain von Donop, Major Pauly, a Lieutenant and twenty-three men.

The only casualties of the von Lossberg Regiment were 5 men wounded.

In the action General Heister's Hessians took 11 battle flags, five 31/ guns, and 520 prisoners.

Much criticism was levelled at Howe and Clinton for failing to

catch the entire American force in the trap that they had devised,

but no criticism of their part in that action has been directed at

the Hessians, who played their part well. In addition to insuf­

ficiently guarding their left flank, the American lines were too

long and not properly supported. The Hessians developed their

strength in heavy columns and drove through the thin lines by

the use of the bayonet. Colonel von Heeringen speculated that the

^ Eelking . op. cit., p. 3k.

Heusser, op. cit., p. 32.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 3 9

heavy British losses were due to their disorderly attack rather 32/ than the skill or bravery of the Americans.— ' Baurmeister agreed

with this operation, stating in a letter to Germany that, "If

the courageous Scottish Highlanders and Grenadiers had made their

attack as did the Hessian and other regiments, namely by sending

their artillery ahead and continually beating their drums, they 33/ would not have had 33^ killed and wounded."

Baurmeister and other Hessian officers tended in their ac­

counts of the Battle of Long Island to overstate the victory.

Trevelyan, on the other hand, commented that the Americans'

"chance would have been a poor one and, when contending in a pro- 3k/ portion of one to four, they had no chance whatsoever."— ' The

editor of a Frankfurt newspaper wrote soon after the battle that

"the Hessian officers ascribe a great part of the credit to them­

selves and, in view of the well-known valor of the Hessian sol­

diery, they undoubtedly deserve it, but some of them make too

little of the resistance and military knowledge of the Americans...

so that the honor of having gained a victory over an enemy number- 35 / ing only one-third as many as themselves almost suffers."—

On September 1, an artillery duel between the German batter­

ies in Brooklyn and the American batteries in New York took place

32/ EeIking, op. cit., p. 33.

.23/ Baurmeister, op. cit., p. 33<

3y Trevelyan, op. cit., p. 302.

31/ Lowell, op. cit., p . 6 5 •

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. with few results. During the following two weeks in which the

British Army remained inactive on Long Island in camps stretching

from Brooklyn to Flushing, the von Lossherg Regiment remained in

its camp in the Brooklyn fortifications. General Howe ordered

the fortifications demolished on the 7th of September. However,

when General von Heister pointed out that his troops could not be

expected to do this kind of work without remuneration, the order 2 6 / was revoked.

General Howe anticipated that Washington would be forced to

evacuate Hew York City and he formulated a plan which would trap

him on Manhattan Island by another flanking movement. While the

British fleet created a diversion by bombarding the city of New

York, Horeplanned to cross over to the Island to the north of the

city at Kip's Bay, turn the American left flank and force a surren­

der. This movement began on the 15th of September and was partici­

pated in by the Hessian Regiments Erb Prinz, Donop, and Mirbach.

Although Howe failed to act quickly enough to trap the bulk of the

American army, New York City was his on the following day. The

von Lossberg Regiment did not take any direct part in the action

against New York and Manhattan Island. On the 15"th, due to the 37/ illness of General Mirbach, Colonel Rail assumed command of the

brigade and appointed Lt. Piel of the Lossberg Regiment as his 38/ Brigade Major.

36/ Baurmeister, op. cit., p. b-6 .

31/ According to Baurmeister (p. 53); a paralytic stroke.

2®/ Heusser, op. cit., p. 33-

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1+1

On September the 1 7th the Rail Brigade moved from their

camp at Brooklyn to Hell Gate where a new camp was established

and during the night of 19-20 September the night watch of the

Lossberg Regiment observed the glow in the sky caused by the 19/ great fire in New York City.—

On the 23rd of September, Colonel Heinrich Anton von

Heeringen, the Commanding Officer of the von Lossberg Regiment,

died of red dysentery and was buried with honors in the church­

yard in Brooklyn. Lt . Col. Scheffer then became acting comman- 1+0 der of the von Lossberg Regiment.— /

After the Battle of Haarlem Heights on the 16th of Septem­

ber, General Howe remained motionless for nearly three weeks. On

October the 7th, he set in motion a plan which was apparently aimed

at severing Washington's communications to the east with Connecti­

cut, from which most of his supplies were being drawn. On that

date, General Heister and his entire force broke camp at Hell

Gate and marched to New Town.—W

On October 10, Heister's troops received six days provisions

and went to a new camp at Jamaica, where two English brigades were

Ibid. bo/ Ibid.

.M/ Portescue, op. cit., p. 188 .

with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission >42

already in position. The entire corps was placed under the com­

mand of General Heister. At six o'clock on the morning of the

12th, the corps, including the von Lossberg Regiment, broke camp,

marched through Flushing to Whitestone on the East River and em- k2 / barked on flat boats for Throgs Neck. A landing was effected

on the peninsula of Throgs Necks, but an American force under

Glover defended the causeway leading to the mainland, an action

which caused those forces landed to remain pinned-down for

several days. Howe then re-embarked his troops on the 18th and W landed them again a mile to the east at Pell s Point.—

On October 18 , Colonel von Lossberg's Brigade, which had

embarked from Staten Island on the 12th, joined General Howe's

army at its camp near Pell's Point. The entire force was with­

out tents until the 19th when the baggage arrived and the troops bk/ were able to pitch camp.—

On October 19, the Guard Regiment was posted on a hill near

New Rochelle on the road from New York to Boston, thus cutting

off the line of retreat for the Americans from New York to b'y/ Connecticut.—

bgj Baurmeister, 0£. cit., p. 57.

b3/ Fortescue, loc. cit.

bk/ Lowell, op. cit., p. 75-

b5/ Baurmeister, loc. cit.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. On the morning of the 20th, the English Light Infantry,

the Hessian Jaegers, Rail's Brigade, including the von Lossberg

Regiment, and the English Grenadiers probed the enemy's right

wing and drove a small American force back to their fortifica- U6/ tions. Then, the greater portion of the British-German army

marched toward East Chester. Only General von Heister, with the Lt / Lossberg and Mirbach Brigades, remained in camp.—

On the 21st, Howe's array advanced six miles to New Rochelle,

where it was joined by the Second Hessian Division under General

Knyphausen and the Waldeck Regiment which had arrived in New York

on the 18th after leaving Kassel early in May. The contingent

consisted of 3>997 men and brought the German corps under General k8/ von Heister to a strength of about 13>000.—'

—/ Eelking, o£. cit., p. Mt. h i ' s — Baurmeister, og. cit., p. 61.

Lowell, loc.- cit.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER III

WHITE PLAINS

Seeing that he was in danger of being flanked again, Washington

sent Stirling's Brigade on a hurried march ahead of the main force

to the north to seize and hold a posit:' )n at White Plains which

he considered the key to the area. At the same time, Glover's

Brigade began moving from its position north of New Rochelle toward

White Plains. Captain Ewald and his Second Hessian Jaeger Company

which had recently arrived with the Waldeck contingent made a recon­

naissance toward the north on the 23rd of October. He was met by a

superior force in good defensive positions and was forced to retreat,

taking five casualties ^ Had not the 42nd Highlanders come to his 2/ assistance, the action would have been even more costly.

Howe then advanced slowly with 13,000 men in two columns along

the east bank of the Bronx River toward White Plains. On the 25th

he encamped about four miles south of the village. On the 26th,

Max von Eelking, Die Deutschen Hulfstruppen im nordamerikanischen Befreiungskriege, 1 776 vis 1 763• (Hanover: Helwing, ltib3), p. 4o.

Edward J. Lowell, The Hessians and the Other German Auxiliaries of the Revolutionary War (New York: Harper, 1884), p. 75-76.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. General Erskine scouted the enemy's right wing with the Second

Hessian Jaeger Company, 100 dragoons, a light infantry battalion,

and Rail's Regiment. The enemy abandoned their forward positions

and left large stores of wine and rum. That which could not be

carried along was ordered destroyed, much to the consternation

of the men suffering from the cold. The Jaeger scouts brought

back the information that the Americans were in strong positions

at White Plains and another reconnaissance by General Erskine on 3/ the 27th positively confirmed this intelligence.

On the morning of the 28th, Howe advanced against the American

position at White Plains. As the British Army approached the

forward American positions at White Plains in front of the town,

Colonel Rail, commander of the Brigade on the left, which included

the von Lossberg Regiment, noted that a hill overlooking the left

flank across the Bronx River commanded the right flank of the

American lines. On his own initiative, he ordered his forces to

take the ground up to the base of the hill. y The American defen­

ders under Spencer, New England regiments from Lee's Division

about 1,500 strong, fought a delaying action, utilizing the many

stone walls in the area as strong points in a retrograde movement.

Finally, however, they were driven across the Bronx River and

— Bernard A. Uhlendorf, Revolution in America: Confidential Letters and Journals of Adjutant General Major Baurmeister of the Hessian Forces (Hew Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1957), pp. 62-63. Hereafter referred to as Baurmeister. k/ Sir John W. Fortescue, A History of the British Army (London: MacMillan, 1902), III, p. 18 9.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. both sides then regrouped. The von Lossberg Regiment took part

in this preliminary action, but apparently suffered no casualties

up to this point.

Howe paused in this position before White Plains and sur­

veyed the situation. After a conference with his general offi­

cers, a detachment of eight regiments of If, 000 men and a dozen

fieldpieces was assigned the task of assaulting the hill overlook­

ing their left flank. This hill, called Chatterton's Hill, was a

ridge about three-quarters of a mile long in a north-south direc­

tion rising 180 feet above the river which ran across its eastern

foot. The southeastern slope of the hill which the Hessians were

to assault was moderately steep and heavily wooded. The top, how­

ever, was cultivated and divided by stone walls

Observing the British movements, Washington first ordered

Colonel Haslet with his Delaware Regiment and then General Mac-

Dougall's Brigade posted on the hill, where these forces made a

belated effort to strengthen the fortifications. Smallwood's Mary­

landers and the North and South Carolina Regiments were posted in

advance positions down the slope toward the Bronx River where

they harried the Hessians as they prepared to cross.

Christopher Ward, The War of the Revolution (New York: Mac­ Millan, 1952), I, p. 2 6 2. In Benson J. Lossing's The Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution (New York: Harper, 1852 ), II, p.823, a wood cut made about 185 O gives a panoramic view of Chatterton's Hill and the Bronx River from the general area where the von Lossberg Regiment launched its attack. The hill is now covered by the houses of suburban White Plains but, in I85 O, only some of the trees had been cut off.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. As the British-German force was getting into position to

begin its attack, Howe's artillery unleashed a furious cannon­

ade on Chatterton's Hill which continued until it began to en­

danger their forces ascending the slope. Just prior to the

beginning of the general assault, the attacking units were

formed up with the von Minnigerode Grenadier Battalion and

Birch's Dragoons on the left. To their right were the Rail,

Khyphausen, and Leib Regiments, supported by artillery which

they had carried across the river. On the far right, still

on the near side of the river, were the Lossberg, Dittfurth,

and Prinz Carl Regiments, supported by Leslie's Second British

Brigade, two English six-pounders and the von Lossberg Regimen- 6/ tal cannon.-

The first movement in the attack was made by Hessian Gren­

adiers who crossed the river to the south of the main force to

begin a wide •‘flanking movement. The Prinz Carl, Dittfurth, and

von Lossberg Regiments approached the river further upstream, but

the troops of the Prinz Carl Regiment, the first to arrive, re­

fused to cross because it was too deep to ford. General Leslie's

Second British Brigade then found a ford a short distance down­

stream, crossed it and began a bayonet charge up the steep,

heavily-wooded hill straight into the fire of the American defen­

ders . They were repulsed and thrown back almost to the river

Baurmeister, op . cit., p. 6^4-.

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FIGURE 8

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. after suffering heavy casualties and were overtaken by troops of

the von Lossberg Regiment who had found the ford and begun to

ascend the hill. The Lossbergers were followed by the Ditt- « furth and Prinz Carl Regiments, which moved up the hill to their

right.

The von Lossberg Regiment climbed halfway up the hill before

they were subjected to any significant fire from the Americans, who

had evidently withdrawn their forward units after the encounter

with Leslie's Brigade. However, the troops of the left wing of

the Lossberg Regiment had to pass through a field of high grass

which had been set afire, requiring them to carry their cartridge 7/ boxes on their heads to avoid having them set off.-

The von Lossberg Regiment reached the enemy positions first and

bore the brunt of the attack. They might not have succeeded in

taking the hill had it not been fbr the timely arrival of rein­

forcements on both their left and right. The von Minnigerode

Grenadier Battalion, which included the former von Lossberg Gren­

adier Company, under Major Lengerke, had attempted a flanking move­

ment far to the left, but became entangled in rough terrain and did

not arrive on the scene in time to play any decisive part in the 8/ action. It was Birch's British Light Dragoons which turned the

1/ Georg Ludwig Christian Heusser, Journal des Hochloblichen Fusilier Regiment von alt-Lossberg... 1776-1783. (Original manuscript), p.3^.

—/ Baurmeister, op. cit., p. 6 5 .

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. American right flank just as the Lossbergers were having diffi­

culties with the stubbornly defended positions on the crest of

the hill. The dragoons charged in, sabers flashing, and com­

pletely disrupted the American right wing. Colonel Rail's regi­

ment then reached the top of the hill just to the left of the

Lossberg Regiment and shortly thereafter the advance units of

the Knyphausen Regiment appeared on the right. This precipitated

a rout of the American forces, most of which escaped northward

into the woods down the slope of Chatterton's Hill. After secur­

ing the summit, the Hessians formed and dressed their lines in 9/ full view of Washington's troops below at White Plains.-

If it had not been for a portion of Haslet's Delaware con­

tingent regrouping behind a fence to fight a rear-guard action,

the dragoons would probably have cut many more of the retreating

Americans off from the river. Another development which facili­

tated the American retreat was the fact that the Hessian artillery,

which was short of horses, had considerable difficulty transiting

the fences and rough terrain of the south slope and were unable to 10/ reach the summit in time to fire upon the retreating Americans.

The Lossberg Regiment had forty-five casualties in this

action and its officers were commended by Generals Heister and

9/ Sir George 0. Trevelyan, The American Revolution (London: Longmans, 1903)> pt. II, I, pp. 341-3^2.

—/ Baurmeister, loc. cit.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 11/ Howe for their leadership in the assault on Chatterton's Hill.

The British losses in the battle were some 200 killed and 12/ wounded, about twice those of the Americans.— The entire oper­

ation taking place between October 9 and October 28 cost the Hessians

and Waldeckers thirteen killed, sixty-three wounded, and twenty-

three missing. The Lossberg casualties totaled fifty during this

time.—+ . 13/

According to the British historian, Henry Belcher, the Hessians

played practically no part in the taking of Chatterton's Hill, which

he called "Chesterton's Hill." He wrote:

Howe directed his second brigade (Leslie's), con­ sisting of the 5th, 28th, 35th and 49th Regiments, with a battalion of Hessians, and a few dragoons, to dislodge the American force. This order was executed at once, and within sight of Washington and his staff the British troops occupied the hill, while the Americans fled’to their own lines. J_V

This is typical of the treatment the Hessians received in British

military histories for more than a century. While not always dis­

torting facts to such a degree, the numerous errors of omission

preclude any assessment of historical objectivity on this subject

in literally dozens of otherwise dependable works.

The Hessians dug in on the hill, a position which seriously

— '' Heusser, loc. cit.

12/ Fortescue, loc. cit.

12/ EeIking } op. cit., p. 49.

— / Henry Belcher, The First American Civil War (London: Mac­ Millan, 1911) II, p. 170.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 5 2

threatened the American right flank, and for the next three days

the two armies faced each other, strengthening their fortifica­

tions . A general attack which had "been planned by Howe for the

31st was made impossible by a heavy rainstorm. On November 1,

Washington began his retreat to the north behind the Croton and to

positions-on Worth Castle Heights. The Rail Brigade, including

the von Lossberg Regiment,.was ordered to seize the American lines

behind White Plains before the evacuation was complete. However,

they were thrown back by Stirling's rear-guard troops and were not

able to enter until the positions had been abandoned. The Hessian

officers praised the skill shown in the construction of the defenses

and were surprised that they were so easily given u p . - ^

On November 3, General Howe ordered a probe of Washington's

position to the north of White Plains in which the Hessians made

the main effort. In this action, American artillery fire caused

considerable casualties among the Hessian forces and the attack 16 was repulsed.—/ The von Lossberg Regiment participated in this 17/ action and had several men killed.—

Considering bhe strong position of Washington's troops and

what, to the British,-- was an almost magical ability to construct

fortifications, Howe decided that further attack was inadvisable

and began to formulate new plans.

Ilf Eelking , Loc. cit.

16/ Baurmeister, op. cit., pp. 66-67*

ll/ Heusser, loc. cit.

with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER IV

FORT WASHINGTON

On the 29th of October, the day after the battle at White

Plains, General Howe had sent General von Knyphausen with six

Hessian regiments south to Kingsbridge and the Wissenbach and

Huyn Regiments to the vicinity of Yonkers. He also sent the

Waldeck Regiment back to New Rochelle, so he apparently even

at that time suspected that he would be unable to lure Washing­

ton into a decisive battle and that he would be compelled to

end the chase northward, particularly in view of the American

stronghold at Fort Washington which continued to threaten him

from the rear. Previously, on October 9, a British flotilla

had moved up the Huds. n, broken the obstruction which had blocked

the River between Fort Lee and Fort Washington, and secured

passage to the north.

On the night of November General Grant's Brigade and

the British artillery left the camp at White Plains and began a

movement to the southwest. On the 5th, General Howe and his

entire army set out for Dobbs Ferry on the Hudson River, arriv­

ing in the morning of the next day to set up a new camp.

When it became evident to General Washington that the British

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. were withdrawing from their position near White Plains, he be­

lieved that Howe's intent was to invade New Jersey. Therefore,

Washington also marched out of the White Plains area. He fer­

ried across the Hudson River below Stony Point the troops with

which he intended to oppose this invasion and left Heath at

Peekskill to guard the New York Highlands.

On November 10, the Rail Brigade, including the von Loss­

berg Regiment, marched to Kingsbridge and was assigned to

General von Knyphausen's corps, which had just captured Fort

Independence. Several regiments were ordered to send out de­

tachments toward Fort Washington on the following day to make

fascines. Ensign Grebe commanded a contingent from the von Loss- l/ berg Regiment to carry out this mission.

Washington's first inclination was to evacuate Fort Wash­

ington, inasmuch as it no longer served any useful purpose.

However, General Greene, in command of both Fort Lee and Fort

Washington, did not concur, and Washington left the decision to

his discretion. Colonel Robert Magaw, commandant of the fort,

believed that he could hold out until the end of December and

if forced to evacuate it he could do so.

As soon as it was certain that Howe meant to attack Fort

Washington, American reinforcements crossed the Hudson River,

Georg Ludwig Christian Heusser, Journal des Hochloblichen Fusilier Regiment von alt-Lossberg... 1 77^-1 7&3 (original manu- script). p. 3 6.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 55

"bringing Magav's total strength to nearly 2,900. General Howe,

who had supposed all along that the enemy would evacuate Fort

Washington, now realized that they were determined to defend

it•t .

Fort Washington, with its outworks, occupied an area of

oblong shape about three miles long by one and a half miles wide.

It was located on two parallel ridges running north and south

between the Hudson River and Harlem Creek and was bordered on

both sides by steep cliffs about a hundred feet high. The top

of the hill was about 230 feet above sea level.

According to Heusser, the attack on Fort Washington was

planned for the 12th, but was postponed until the 1 6th because

of. .heavy r a . m s .2/

Operations against the fort actually began on the night of

November 1^+, when thirty British flatboats were sent up the

Hudson into the Harlem River unobserved by the Americans. On

the 15th, Howe sent his Adjutant, General Patterson, to the

fort with a formal summons to surrender, threatening that, if

they did not do so, the entire garrison would be put to the

sword. The summons was immediately rejected.

— / Bernard A. Uhlendorf, Revolution in America: Confidential Letters and Journals of Adjutant General Major Baurmeister of the Hessian Forces (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1957), P • 6 9• Hereafter referred to as Baurmeister.

3/ Heusser, op. cit., p. 37-

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Howe planned to attack the summit on all of its land sides

simultaneously with a force of 8,000 men. Percy was to move

against the outerworks from the south, Matthews and Cornwallis

from the east, and Knyphausen was given the honor of commanding

the frontal assault from the north on Fort Washington itself.

Unknown to the Americans, the plan of the fort and its defenses

had been given to Howe by an American deserter.

On November 1o, the German regiments assembled at six in

the morning and the force which was to attack Fort Washington

was drawn up into four groups. The first consisted of a rifle

company with forty grenadiers under the command of Captain

Loreys; the second was made up to 100 picked men under Major

D e c h o w t h e third was the Grenadier Battalion Koehler; and the

fourth was the main element, in order, the Regiments Waldeck,

Lossberg, Rail, Wutgenau, Knyphausen, Huyn and Bunau. General

von Knyphausen commanded the main force, assisted by General

Schmidt and Colonels Huyn and Rail. The Stein and Wissenbach

Regiments were left to guard the camp.y

At seven o'clock, artillery fire on the fort from both land

and sea began and General von Knyphausen's force advanced from

Kingsbridge in two columns, the right unde r Rail and the left

Ibid.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. under Schmidt. The von Lossberg Regiment was the leading regular 6/ unit in the right column.- The troops first broke through an

abatis, waded through a marsh, and then began to climb a rocky

hill which was so steep in places that they had to pull them- 1/ selves up with the aid of bushes. At that point, an order was

received from General Howe halting the advance of Knyphausen's

force in order that the British columns would have more time to

get into position. The Germans were keyed up for the attack and

were reluctant to halt but, nevertheless, remained where they

were for nearly three hours.—8/

General Cornwallis' column, which included the Guards, Gre­

nadiers, Light Infantry and the 33rd Regiment, moved into posi­

tion east of the fort. The 42nd Highlanders (The Black Watch)

assembled further south in preparation for what was initially

planned as only a feint. The fourth column, under General Percy,

had been sent down Harlem Creek during the night and was forming

— •f Max von Eelking, Die Deutschen Huifstruppen im nordamerikani schen Befreiungskriege, 1775~vis V7B3 . (Hanover, Helving, 1863), I, p • 5^-*

§ J Heusser, loc. cit.

1 / Sir George 0. Trevelyan, The American Revolution (London: Longmans 1903), Pt. II, p. 8.

-I Eelking, loc. cit.

with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 58

up south of the fort. It consisted of nine British battalions 5 / and one Hessian grenadier battalion.

Finally, at ten-thirty, a twelve-round artillery volley sig­

nalled the beginning of the general attack. The von Lossberg

Regiment, close to the head of the right column,began the ascent

at the steepest point under a strong fire. Major von Dechow, the

commander of the right column avant guard, was wounded at the

outset and his position taken by Captain von Altenbockum of the

Lossberg Regiment.— ^ As the assault continued, Hessian casual­

ties were high from the American artillery and the fire of skilled

riflemen.

Trevelyan describes the progress of the attack of the

Hessians:

They were in heavy marching order and that in . ^ the case of German infantry was heavy indeed. But beneath these absurd trappings there was on this occasion no lack of martial ardour. The generals themselves led the way, pulling down fences with their own hands and the private men never turned back, but went onwards and upwards wherever they could find a chance. 1 §/

Artillery and small arms fire was heavy on both sides, and 13/ the Americans were forced to abandon one battery after another.—

E. F. Delaney, The Capture of Mount Washington (New York: Harper, l8TT)> P- 36.

— ^Heusser, loc. cit.

— ^Delaney, op. cit., p. 6 5 .

l^/Trevelyan, op. cit., p. 9*

12.'1 Heusser, op. cit., p. 37*

with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. QlZnd. ■ ON ' STIZUHQCTin isi.". v■ \ . / a PERcy - . \ \ Fur\ i V7 O ; \ NOV i\

\ K ./ \ '■j

\ s.

\

FIGURE 9- i / Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 60

Finally, the highest American battery could no longer be brought

to bear on the von Lossberg Regiment and the head of the right

column. The gunrers then abandoned it, setting fire to the pow- 1 hf der supply.— Reaching the crest of the hill, the right column

was joined by the left under General Knyphausen himself. Al­

though the left column was to have been commanded by General

Schmidt, Knyphausen went along and was in the thick of the fight­

ing. .. ,

At the top of the hill there was a level, cleared area be­

fore the outerworks, which deprived the Germans of cover. They

therefore paused and engaged in a fire fight which lasted nearly

two hours. Finally, the guns of the Americans began to foul from

the continued firing and they were unable to hold off the Germans,

who launched a bayonet charge and stormed the outerworks. The

Americans thereupon retreated in confusion into the main fort

just ahead of the pursuing Germans.

Colonel Rail assembled his officers behind a large store­

house and instructed Captain Hohenstein, who spoke English, to

go under a flag of truce to demand a surrender. Colonel Magaw

asked for four hours to consider the demand, but was informed by

Rail that he had only an hour and a half in which to make a

1L/ —' Baurmeister, op. cit., p. 70.

—1 5 ■/ Andreas Wiederhold, Tagebuch des Hauptmannes Wiederhold, 1776-1780 (official copy of original manuscript in Kassel).

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 6 l

decision.H

In the meantime, the attacks by the columns of Cornwallis,

Percy, and the ^2nd had taken the outerworks of the fort to the

south and east and they had been joined by another force under

Stirling which had crossed the Harlem River to support the High­

landers . After stubborn fighting south of the fort itself, in

which the ^2nd bore the brunt, American resistance was broken and

advance units of the British had already reached the south side

of the fort at the time of the German surrender demand.

The Americans crowded into the inner works of Fort Washing­

ton could not have long withstood the artillery bombardment that

the attackers would soon be able to mount, and all hope of evacu­

ation across the river was gone. Thus, in order to avoid a

slaughter, Colonel Magaw surrendered and offered his sword to

General von Knyphausen.

The American garrison then marched out of Fort Washington

through the ranks of the Rail and von Lossberg Regiments and

were escorted by the Mirbach Regiment to Harlem and then to New

York City where they were quartered in churches. The Koehler

Grenadier Battalion was assigned to occupy the fort, which was

by order of General Howe renamed Fort Knyphausen, and the von

Edward J. Lowell, The Hessians and the Other German Auxil­ iaries of Great Britain in the Revolutionary War (New York: Harper, 188 ^), pp. 80-82.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 62

Lossberg Regiment and the rest of the German units returned to

their camp near Kingsbridge.—17/

True to the British persistent historical treatment of

the Hessians, Fortescue summed up the action thusly:

the turning point of the action appears to have been the reinforcement of the 1+2nd by two more bat­ talions, and the conversion of their feint into a real attack. Colonel Stirling, who was in command at this point, made his way doggedly under a heavy fire to the shore, and thence over a wooded promon­ tory, at the summit of which he stormed the redoubt opposed to him after very hard fighting and captured two hundred prisoners. The British having thus broken into the lines, the Americans gave way at all points and crowded into Fort Washington, which pre­ sently surrendered. 1 °/

All eyewitness accounts of the action, however, American,

British, and German, provide sufficient facts to conclude that

the laurels of the day belonged to the Germans. Howe himself

later stated this quite candidly.12/ In other subsequent

writings, the Hessian officers, however, were universally

critical of Howe's delay of the assault of the Knyphausen column,

which they believed accounted for their heavy losses. ■

— Heusser, loc. cit.

18/ Sir John W. Fortescue, A History of the British Army (London MacMillan, 1902), III, p. 192.

19/ Troyer S. Anderson, The Command of the Howe Brothers During the American Revolution (New York:MacMillan, 1935)> p. 112.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. In the assault on Fort Washington the von Lossberg Regi­

ment had five men killed and twenty-eight men wounded, one of

■w horn was Lieutenant von Wurmb. The von Wutgenau Regiment suf­

fered most heavily, having two officers and fourteen men killed

and sixty-four wounded. The overall German losses were three

captains, three lieutenants, and fifty-one men killed and two

staff officers, one captain, six lieutenants and 257 men wounded 20/ for a total of 314 casualties.— The total loss of Howe's

army was I+58 killed and wounded, two-thirds of the casualties

being incurred by the Germans, while half of the fallen British 21 / belonged to the 1+2nd Highlanders.—

American casualties were light, but they lost 230 officers

and 2,607 men as prisoners. In addition, Howe's army captured

11+6 pieces of artillery, 12,000 shells, 1+00,000 cartridges and 22/ considerable military equipment.—

Reactions in Europe to the exploits of the Germans at Fort

Washington were curious indeed and have been succinctly summed

up by Trevelyan:

When the report of their exploits reached Waldeck and Hesse-Cassel, their respective sovereigns felt a

— / Heusser, loc. cit.

21 / — '' Fortescue, op. cit., p. 193*

—I Christopher Ward, The War of The Revolution (New York: Mac­ Millan, 1952) I, p. 27^

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. thrill of conscious honesty and the thought that their royal brother of England had already got some value for his money. But, however joyful might he the sen­ sations excited in the lesser capitals of western Germany by the news that Germans had defeated and cap­ tured Englishmen, pride and satisfaction were by no means universal in London. Edmund Burke said that the glory acquired by Colonel Rail had no charms for him. Nor had he learned to delight at finding a Fort , Knyphausen in the heart of the British dominions. — '

This glory was to be short-lived, however, as Fort Washington

was the high point of the activities of the German troops in the

American Revolution. Disaster was little more than a month away

- - a disaster in which the von Lossberg Regiment was to play a

major role.

2^/ — ' Trevelyan, op. cit., pp. 9-10.

with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. \0/frWW.TE PLAINS CHATTLF-'rcN'S'W^ 14 ILL A t p c t ^

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Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER V

ACROSS THE JERSEYS

After the capture of Fort Washington General Howe moved

with a speed that was unusual for him. On the morning of

November 20, General Cornwallis crossed the Hudson River with

A, 000 men and made his way to the top of the palisades above

Fort Lee. The American position in the Fort therefore became

untenable and they made a hasty retreat to the main army at

Hackensack, salvaging only their firearms and ammunition. The

next day, Washington, fearing that he might be trapped between

the Hackensack andPassaic Rivers, crossed the Passaic to Newark

where he paused to reorganize and send his sick to Morristown.

Upon learning that Howe was planning to land forces behind

him at South Amboy, Washington abandoned Newark on November 28.

One column marched by way of Elizabethtown and other via Quibble-

town to Brunswick, arriving there on the 29th. At this point,

Washington ordered all the boats on the Delaware to be secured

on the left bank at Trenton, an act of foresight which turned

out to be one of the most significant moves of the wax.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 67

On November 25, the Rail Brigade crossed the Hudson River

near Fort Knyphausen and camped near Fort Lee with units under

the command of General Leslie. The following day, the brigade

marched to Hackensack by way of Acquackinack, where the tents

and baggage were sent back to New York City by boat. On Decem­

ber 2, the Rail Brigade began what was, according to Heusser, a

return to New York City.^ However, when they reached Elizabeth­

town on the 5th, the Knyphausen and Rail Regiments wer<= ordered

on to Brunswick while the von Lossberg Regiment remained in the

town along with the Waldeck Regiment.

The von Lossberg Regiment went into what was believed to

be winter quarters in Elizabethtown, while Cornwallis was pur­

suing the retreating Americans across New Jersey. Colonel Rail

and his other two regiments followed close behind the British,

reaching Maidenhead on the evening of the 7th after a forced 2/ march of twenty-six miles that day.—

-J George Ludwig Christian Heusser, Journal des Hochlbblichen Fusilier Regiment von alt-Lossberg...1776-1783 (original manuscript), p. 38 .

^ Bernard A. Uhlendorf, Revolution in America: Confidential Letters and Journals of Adjutant General Major Baurmeister of the Hessian Forces~~[New Brunswick: Rutgers Uni vers ity Press, <957), p. lb. Hereafter referred to as Baurmeister.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 68

At this juncture, General Howe ordered a number of canton­

ments to be established across New Jersey, believing that,

unless the Delaware froze solidly, the fighting was over until

Spring. Although a solution probably could have been found to

Washington's control of the boats on the Delaware, Howe did not

seem inclined to push the issue. ^ It was decided to locate the

posts at Elizabethtown, Brunswick, Princeton, Trenton, and

Bordentown, a deployment that, in retrospect, obviously placed

them too far apart to effectively support one another in case

of attack.

There are several reported explanations as to why the

Hessians drew the assignment to the most extended and exposed

posts at Trenton and Bordentown. One is that the Hessians

were the left column on the march and would have felt slighted

if they were not assigned there. To avoid any jealousy develop­

ing between his British and Hessian forces, Howe reportedly V let things stand as they naturally developed.-' It has also been

reported that Colonel Rail demanded the post at Trenton as a

reward for his services at White Plains and Fort Washington,

^ Sir George 0. Trevelyan, The American Revolution (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1903)> Part II, Vol. II, p. 2k.

William S. Stryker, The Battles of Trenton and Princeton (Cambridge: Houghton, Mifflin and Co., I898), p. 39*

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. but there is no evidence for this in either British or German

correspondence on the subject.-^ Actually, it appears likely

that Howe would have withdrawn from these forward positions for

the winter if it had not been for the large numbers of New

Jersey citizens who responded to his pardon proclamation and

demanded the protection of British troops for the area.^

Howe acknowledged that his posts were overextended and his

only reference to the positioning of the Hessians was in a

letter written to Lord George Germaine on December 20 in which he 7/ states that it was "pursuant to etiquette."-'

The Rail and Knyphausen Regiments entered Trenton on

December 12. According to Trevelyan, the citizens were "deeply

impressed by the style in which the Hessian Brigade entered

their town, played through the streets by a band of music super­

ior to anything that the whole of the armies commanded by

Washington and Gates could produce between them."^/

5/ Ibid., p . 9h.

§ / Baurmeister, op. cit., p. 75■

Sir John W. Fortescue, A History of the British Army (London: The MacMillan Company, 1902), III, p. 199*

8/ Trevelyan, op. cit., p. 2 3 .

with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TO

On the following day, General Howe assigned Colonel von Donop

to winter quarters at Bordentown, giving him overall command

of the forces at both posts. In addition., he assigned the

l*2nd Highlanders and the Hessian Grenadier Battalions von

Linsingen, von Block, and von Minnegerode to his command,

the latter of which still included the Grenadier Company of

the von Lossberg Regiment.

On December 9, the von Lossberg Regiment learned, much

to the chagrin of both officers and men, that they would not

winter in Elizabethtown as they had believed. They were or­

dered to join the rest of the Rail Brigade in Trenton and

marched out on short notice to Brunswick, arriving late in

the evening. Heusser lamented that, "this town was very

famous in peacetime for its beautiful women and good Madiera

wines. Wow, however, most of the beautiful women have fled

with the rest of the inhabitants, and the wine cannot be bought for . ,,9/ any price. —

On the 10th of December the von Lossberg Regiment marched

through Kingston to Princeton, arriving at noon. Heusser

writes of confusion about where they were to spend the night

Heusser, op. cit., p. 39*

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 7 1

which caused him to he sent to Maidenhead seeking clarification.

In that town he was met by a very surprised Colonel Rail, who

informed Heusser that orders had already been sent to Princeton

providing billets for the regiment there. On his return,

Heusser noted the "beautiful school which the English have taken

as quarters for several of their regiments."— / This was Nassau

Hall, now on the campus of Princeton University.

The von Lossberg Regiment remained in Princeton until the

l^th when orders assigning the regiment to Trenton were received.

Upon entering the town that morning, Colonel Rail welcomed the

officers of the regiment and was asked by Major von Hanstein if

these were the "good quarters" which he had promised them. Rail

acknowledged that the town was crowded and that the billets were

less than satisfactory, but assured the Major that he would soon

get the quarters he wished for in Philadelphia.— /

In 17 7 6 Trenton was a small village, important because it

was at the head of sloop navigation on the Delaware and near the

ferries where the main postal and stage routes between New York

and Philadelphia crossed the river. It contained about 130 houses,

some 100 of which were in the main part of the town, and the

Stryker, oj3, cit., p. h2.

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unUuitan THE ROUTE OF THE C r o a m n d a VON LOSSBERG REGIMENT ACROSS NEW JERSEY

Bristol* NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 1776 f :

A f < v

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. remainder were across the Assunpink Creek which flowed into the

Delaware southwest of the village. Most of the larger houses

were on the two main streets, then called King and Queen, which

ran nearly parallel in a north-south direction and united at

the junction of the Pennington and Maidenhead roads north of

the village.

When the Hessians entered, they found that many of the

houses had been deserted by their owners and they were immedi­

ately seized for quarters. Colonel Rail took for himself a

large frame house on the west side of King Street nearly oppo­

site the Anglican Church. His regiment was quartered close by

near the corner of King and Second Streets. The von Knyphausen

Regiment was stationed in the southern portion of the main vil­

lage in the vicinity of the lower end of Queen Street and in the 12/ house across the Assunpink.— '

The von Lossberg Regiment, upon arriving in Trenton, was

quartered north of the Rail Regiment on King Street. However,

although the Lossberg Headquarters remained there, many of the

men were subsequently scattered about the town. Captain von

Max von Eelking, Die Deutschen Hulfstruppen im Hordamerikan- ischen Befreiungskriege, 1 7 7 & bis 1783- (Hanover: Helving, 1863) I, p. 6l.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Altenbockum's company was moved northwest of the town to a

house and store owned by one Alexander Calhoun on the Pennington

Road. Major von Hanstein's company was moved to Jonathan Rich­

mond's Inn just south of the Assunpink Bridge. The Leib, von

Loos, and von Scheffer companies were lodged in the Anglican

Church and the house of Micajah How on the east side of King

Street and the houses of Isaac Smith, Thomas Barnes, and Rebecca 13/ Coxe on the West side.— <

Fifty jaegers occupied the barracks which had been built

during the French and Indian War in the southwest corner of the

town. The artillejydetachments were quartered in the Methodist

Church on Queen Street. Each of the regiments had two brass

three-pounders which, until the 19th, were parked in the grave­

yard of the Anglican Church. Later they were placed in front of

the guard house at King and Front Streets. The brigade hospital

was established in the parsonage of the Presbyterian Church on

Second Street.

Colonel Rail established six picket outposts for his bri­

gade, the principal one of which was stationed at the Fox Chase

Tavern on the Maidenhead Road. A captain was always on duty

^ Stryker, op. cit., p. 95-

ihl Ibid., pp. 96-98.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. at this post as officer of the da.y in charge of all the picket

and individual sentinel posts in the town. Stationed here were

three non-commissioned officers and seventy men.i^

The Pennington Road picket post was located at the house

of Richard and Arthur Howell northwest of the town and was

manned by a corporal and fifteen men. The post on the River

Road was billeted in the home of the American general, Phile­

mon Dickinson, and was under the direct control of the jaegers.

It was manned by one officer and thirty men. Another post

at the Assunpink Bridge consisted of a sergeant and fifteen

men. The picket at the old tavern on the ferry road was manned

by one commissioned officer and twenty-two men who were forbidden

to expose themselves during daylight hours because they drew fire

from the American battery on the Pennsylvania side of the Dela- 16 ware.—/ '

The picket at the drawbridge over Crosswick Creek four miles

southeast of Trenton was the least desirable post because it was

so far from Trenton. The troops of Colonel von Donop at Boraen-

town were only two miles from the Crosswick Creek post and logi­

cally should have been assigned the duty there. However, Donop

was in command and, in this case, rank seemed to have had its

15/ Ibid., pp. 102-103.

16 / Ibid., p. 10U.

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privileges. Accordingly, on December lU, Colonel Rail sent

Captains Baum and Schimmelpfennig of the Knyphausen Regiment

with 100 men and all their baggage to the drawbridge with

orders to quarter themselves permenently in the several houses

there. While they complained, as it turned out, this unpleasant 17/ assignment saved them from almost two years in captivity.— '

The standing orders of the brigade at Trenton called for

relief of the guards and sentinels at nine in the morning and

the pickets at four in the afternoon, when the password and

countersign for the next twenty-four hours were given out.

According to the Brigade Adjutant, Lt. Piel of the von Lossberg

Regiment, a. parade took place every morning at eleven.It

was not the custom of Colonel Ra.ll to visit the picket stations,

although he did apparently attend the morning parade.

The duties of the officers and men at Trenton were severe.

During the first week of the occupation of the town, all of the

men not on guard duty were required to fall out at four in the

afternoon at the changing of the pickets, stack their arms, place

a sentinel on duty over them, and return to their quarters to

remain completely dressed until daylight. Even the artillery

horses were required to remain in harness around the clock.

Many of the companies, including Captain von Altenbockum's

11/ Ibid., pp. 101-102.

Jacob Piel, Geschichte des Hochloblichen Fusilier Regiments von Lossberg (original manuscript), p. 6 2.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. of the von Lossberg Regiment, were under arms for three succes­

sive days and nights without a break. For over a week no man

in the brigade passed two consecutive nights without a call for

some special duty. However, the strain of this was so great that

many of the men, as well as officers, became hospitalized and

the procedure was changed so that only one regiment at a time

was on ready alert for a twenty-four period.^/

Rail's efforts to fortify the town were unsatisfactory

throughout the episode at Trenton. While inspecting the town

on December lk, Colonel von Donop instructed him to erect for­

tifications on the Pennington Road and at the ferry immediately

to the south. Donop even left Captain Georg Heinrich Pauli, his

engineer officer, to help Rail select the exact site for redoubts.

On the following day, Colonel Rail, Lt. Colonel Scheffer of the

von Lossberg Regiment, Captain Pauli, and several other officers

inspected the area along the Pennington Road and picked a. site

for a redoubt to be constructed with flanking angles for cannon.

The party then rode down to the ferry and selected for another

small fortification an elevated spot near the bridge over a little

stream. Rail approved of the sites picked for both fortifications

19/ — ' Stryker, op. cit.. pp. 100-101

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 79

but gave no specific instructions for the work to begin.

On the following day, Major von Dechow, in the presence

of Lt. Piel -and. Lt. Wiederhold, asked Rail for permission to

begin the construction of the redoubts immediately, but the

Colonel denied his request, saying, "We want no trenches, we 21 will have at them with the bayonet I"—' / Captain Reinhard

Jacob Martin of the Hessian engineers later stopped at Trenton

on his way to Bordentown and called on Lt. Colonel Scheffer in

his^ .quarters. While he was there, Major von Dechow and Major

von Hanstein came in and complained about the lack of fortifi­

cations, predicting disaster for the brigade and expressing

their desire to be relieved of any responsibility for it. As

a result, Captain Ma.rtin wrote a letter to General von Heister

which he did not mail until Christmas Day.^/

Lt. Colonel Scheffer and Major von Dechow also a.sked for

more clothing for their regiments, as they both considered that

their men did not have sufficient clothing, particularly under­

wear, with which to withstand the rigors of winter in that locale.

Rail casually replied that he would soon run barefoot over the

-2/ Ibid., p. 106.

21 — i/ Eelking, loc. cit.

Stryker, op. cit., pp. 99-100.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ice of the Delaware and take the city of Philadelphia. Scheffer

and Dechow were much depressed with the situation, Scheffer so

much so that he is reported to have "worried himself into sick

bay over his commander's reckless conduct."^/ Major von Dechow

also called Rail's attention to the baggage and supplies of

brigade and urged that they be placed in a. safe position for the

event of a surprise attack. The Colonel answered indignantly

that, "the rebels will not come, but if they do and can take me

they can have all the baggage and stores to my very last wagon."

He added, "If they come, all they can hope for is a good retreat.

All of this information was meticulously examined later by

one of the most thorough courts martial proceedings in history

with the result, as we shall see later,extremely unfavorable to

Colonel Rail. However, an examination of the correspondence and

events of that fateful eleven days in December 1776, provides

more than a suspicion that Rail was not quite the bumbling oaf

that history has made him and that he was well aware of the

ticklish situation he was in, many of his actions being aimed

at keeping his fears from his officers and men.

For more than a week preceding Christmas, elements of the

New Jersey militia harassed the posts of Trenton and Princeton

23/ Ibid., p . 108.

2kJ Ibid.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 81

and the road between the two villages was at no time during

this period a secure march for British and Hessian troops.

On December 20, Rail wrote to Donop, informing him that,

"Yesterday, the rebels captured three men of the von Lossberg

Regiment who went out to procure forage on the road to Maiden- 25/ head."— ' On the following day he wrote Donop several messages

stating that, "Yesterday I sent two dragoons to Princeton with

letters. They were not gone more than an hour when one of them

came bank and reported that the other had been killed and his

own horse shot by a concealed enemy. "^ / Apparently in response

to a request for reinforcements of which .there is no record,

Rail also wrote Donop on that date that, "It is impossible to

spare a battalion of my brigade as the enemy is all around me...

I have not constructed any redoubts or fortifications because

I have the enemy in all directions."^-/

Colonel von Donop pa.ssed on Rail's apprehensions with a.

request for more troops to his superior, General Grant, who

replied, "Tell the Colonel he is safe. I will undertake to keep

the peace in Jersey with a corporal's guard. "^ / Grant also

^ Ibid., p . 329.

^ Ibid., p . 3 3 1 .

Ibid., p. 332.

^ Ibid., p. 108.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 82

wrote directly to Rail, informing him that, "The rebel army in

Pennsylvania...does not exceed 8 , 0 0 0 men and has neither shoes

nor stockings and are in fact almost naked, dying of cold,

without blankets, and ill supplied with provisions."^/ Another

message received by Rail from Captain Loreys, commander of the

security detachment patrolling the area between Trenton and

Princeton, stated that, "I have placed a guard at the large

bridge and have also guarded all the roads to the rear of your

command. You may therefore feel that, if the army does not

attack you from the front, nothing can hurt you. "-22/ Colonel

von Donop also expressed the opinion that, "I can hardly believe that

Washington would venture at thi s season of the year to pass the

Delaware...as the repassing of it may on account of the ice become

difficult."^i/

Considering some of this evidence and Rail's apparently un­

shakable conviction that he would soon be able to cross the Delaware

on the ice, it can be speculated that he determined not to waste

the strength of his men constructing fortifications, particularly

in view of the fact that they were already worn down by constant

security duties. This was a calculated risk, but Rail's neglect

22/ ibid., p. 334-335.

22/ ibid., p . 339.

2 i/ ibid., p . 51 .

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. in taking steps to learn more about the enemy was probably the

one completely inexcusable aspect of his command at Trenton.

Wot only was he duped by American spies, but he failed to recon-

noiter properly and even neglected to evaluate good intelligence

that was literally dumped in his lap.

Through the aid of trusted officers and the militia of New

Jersey, as well as from the efforts of patriots such as John

Honeyman, General Washington soon became well-informed

about the situation at Trenton. Rail, however, according to 32/ Piel, never attempted to employ spies in the American camp.—

Moreover, his scouting operations were poorly executed for the

situation and the terrain that he found himself. On one occa­

sion, when he felt compelled to send a dispatch to Princeton

with over a hundred men, much to the amusement of the British,

he ordered the contingent to return immediately. They did so

by a forced march which deprived the unit of the opportunity of

obtaining anything in the way of intelligence and caused many

men to fall out by the wayside.^/

On December 2k, Colonel Rail ordered a large-scale recon-

naisance to be made in the direction of Pennington. One detach­

ment of 100 men under Major Johann Matthaus of the Rail Regiment

marched directly to Pennington. Another detachment of 100 men

^ Piel, op. cit., p. 6 8 .

Eelking, o£. cit., p. 63.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 84

under Captain Christoph Steding of the von Lossberg Regiment

travelled along the River Road to Johnson's Ferry and then to

Pennington. Colonel Rail followed Major Matthaus' column with

twenty dragoons and led the entire force back to Trenton with-

out seeing any significant force of Americans.^ This sortie

was probably a result of reports received by Rail the day before.

A German farmer from Buck's County, Pennsylvania, named Mahl,

gained an audience with the Colonel and in the presence of Lt.

Piel informed him that he was about to be attacked by the Ameri­

cans.- Rail replied, "Let them come." Early the next day two

American deserters informed him that the Pennsylvania militia

was gathering and that the American army had been given orders

to prepare four days rations.—35/ ' Also on the 23rd, Lt. Ernst

Schwabe of the von Lossberg Regiment wa.s informed by an American

doctor residing in Trenton that his negro servant had just re­

turned from Trenton and had learned that the Americans had drawn

rations and were about to attack Trenton.-^/

At about half past seven in the evening of the 25 th,

Colonel Rail was playing checkers in his quarters. He had just

^ Stryker, op. cit., p. 109.

35/ — Eelkingf o£. cit., pp. 64-65.

^ Stryker, op. cit., p. 110.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. finished an inspection tour around the outskirts of the town

which he made after receiving a message from General Grant warn­

ing him that an American detachment under General Sterling was

in the area. Suddenly, firing was heard from the northwest,

first a single volley and then a scattering of shots. The alarm

was sounded and the town was quickly in an uproar.

The outermost picket on the Pennington, commanded by

Corporal William Hartung of the von Lossberg Regiment, had been 37/ attacked by about fifty Americans.— ' Six of Hartung's men were

wounded in the first volley and, seeing that he was being attacked

by a. superior force, the corporal and his nine remaining men fell

back, carrying their wounded, toward Captain von Altenbockum's

company.

As soon as Captain von Altenbockum heard the firing he assem­

bled his company and sent half of it in the direction of the attack

under the command of Lt. Georg Kimm. Another detachment with six

jaegers under Ensign Friedrick Graebe was sent out on a flanking

patrol, but found no sign of the attacking American force. The

remainder of the von Lossberg gathered under arms at the company-

headquarters on King Street, except for Major-von Hanstein's

Company which formed with the Knyphausen Regiment south of the

bridge. Hanstein hurried up King Street to take command of the

37/ Corporal Hartung was out of the Leib Company of the von Lossberg Regiment. He was born in Elbingerode in the Harz Mountains and was 26 years old at this time. His military experience consisted of a year's service in the Hanoverian cavalry and three years with the von Lossberg Regiment. He had the reputation of being a good and reliable soldier.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 86

Lossberg Regiment because Lt. Colonel Scheffer was in the hos-

Colonel Rail, Lt. Colonel Brethauer, Major von Dechow and

Captain von Altenbockum met at the head of King Street and dis­

cussed the situation. The other officers urged Rail to send

out strong patrols to all the ferries and out the Pennington

and Maidenhead Roads, but the Colonel insisted that he would

wait until morning. He was apparently convinced that this was

the attack that he had been warned about and that he had nothing

further to fear for the time being.—39/ ' However, the younger

officers were very worried about the situation. They posted sen­

tinels in front of every house and ordered the men to remain on

a ready alert all night.

After the troops had been dismissed and the town had quieted

down, Colonel Rail did not return to his quarters, but dropped

in, "flushed with his fancied success," to a party at Abraham

Hunt's house at the northwest corner of King and Second Streets.

During the course of this Christmas night a tory fanmer from Bucks

County, Pennsylvania, possibly the same Mahl previously mentioned,

came to see Rail, but was refused admittance by his servant.

However, the servant did transmit a message to the Colonel which

•2^/ Stryker op. cit., pp. 118-119.

■22/ Eelking, o£. cit., p. 6 5 .

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 8 7

he merely stuffed into his vest pocket while playing cards.—h o /1

Thus, the stage was set for what, to the American cause,

would rank possibly only with Saratoga and Yorktown as a key

to the outcome of the Revolution.

to/ Stryker, op. cit., pp. 122-125-

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER VI

THE TRENTON DISASTER

On the morning of December 26, 1776, the main picket post

at the Fox Chase Tavern on the Brunswick Road was commanded by

Ensign Franz Friedrich Graebe of the von Lossberg Regiment.

Other Lossbergers on duty at that time were Fusiliers Curt

Auhagen, Christoph Becker, Johannes Goebber, Johannes Mohme,

and Philipp Matthias. The fore.- at the Ferry Picket post under

the command of Ensign Heinrich Zimmerman of tlv von Knyphausen

Regiment included Corporal Johann-s Wagener and Fusiliers

Heinrich Brath, Hendrick Holst.? and Friedrich Tegetmeyer of

the von Lossberg Reg'ment. It is also known that Corporal

Friedrich Eberth and Fusilier Christoph Rohrkasten of the von

Lossberg Regiment were on duty at the headquarters guard house

on th>- corner of Church Alley and King Street nearly opposite

Colonel Rail's quarters. At the Crosswick Creek picket post

was Lt. Heinrich Hille of the von Lossberg Regiment and Fusi­

liers Wilhelm Bartels, Christoph Grundmeyer, Friedrich Holste,

Heinrich Holste. Anton Lemkul, Friedrich Lucke, Herman Matthias,

Conrad Raabe, Christoph Schmoe, Philipp Schwacke, and drummer

Christoph Hattendorf. On duty with the picket force at the

Assunpink Bridge were Fusiliers Frederich Bodensieg and

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 8 9

Heinrich Budde of the von Lossberg Regiment.^

Absent from Trenton at this time was Quartermaster Heusser

who had been ordered on December 21 to return to Hew York City

with the other quartermasters of the Donop Brigade to procure

supplies and pay. Thus, we a.re deprived of the first-hand ob­

servations of Heusser during this critical time. The quarter­

master contingent proceeded under an escort of eighty men, most

of them from the von Lossberg Regiment, to Brunswick. There

they met Lt. von Winzingenrode with eight royal wagons filled

with field equipment bound for Trenton. He was persuaded by

the quartermasters to return to Hew York with them because of

the poor security on the road to Trenton. Heusser notes that

many times the group entered a village where as many as 300

rebels had been quartered the night before and that they felt

very fortunate to arrive in Hew York with their wagons, supplies,

and men intact. Instead of taking the normal route to Fort Lee,

they marched to Perth Amboy, crossed the Raritan River, and 2/ then crossed to Hew York.-'

At four in the morning of December 26, preparations were

made for the customary dawn patrol around the town of Trenton

William S. Stryker, The Battles of Trenton and Princeton (Cambridge: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1898), pp. 379-383.

2 / Georg Ludwig Christian Heusser, Journal des Hochlbblichen Fusilier Regiment von alt Lossberg...1776-1783 (original manu s c r ip

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. "by the two horse-drawn brass guns of the Knyphausen Regiment kept

in front of the quarters of the watch guard on King Street. How­

ever, Major von Dechow reportedly gave the order that this chore

would not.be undertaken on this particular morning. It has

never been established whether the major acted on his own or

under orders from Colonel Rail. Stryker points out that had

this patrol been carried out it might have noticed the activity

involved in Ewing's attempt to cross the Delaware, which would

have given the Germans in Trenton some warning of the impending

attack. Another patrol which usually took place with twenty to

thirty men and several dragoons from the Jaeger post on the •

River Road was on this morning carried out by only three men

who went up the river as far as the house of Captain John Mott

of the New Jersey Continental Line. If the usual force had

travelled their normal distance to Johnson's Ferry they would

also have probably been able to wa.rn Rail of the approaching

Americans 3/

At about a quarter to eight, Lt. Wiederhold stepped out of

the house of Richard Howell which was serving as the advance

picket station on the Pennington Road. He had strengthened

this post with nine additional men after the attack the night

s ' before and had sent out several patrols during the night. Just

Stryker, op. cit., pp. llj-5-1^6.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. at this moment, however, his night posts had teen withdrawn and

the day patrol had reported all quiet. Suddenly he spotted the

advance party of the American attacking force emerging toward

him from the woods atout 200 yards to his west. He sounded the

alarm as the Americans began firing. His group was able to assem­

ble and fire one volley and then immediately began to retire across

the field toward Colonel Rail's headquarters. They then saw ele­

ments of General Mercer's brigade coming in on their right on a

course that would cut them off and they changed their direction

toward the Calhoun house in which Captain von Altenbockum's com­

pany was quartered. They joined the right wing of Altenbockum's

already-formed company and prepared to make a stand. However,

after firing only one volley they found themselves nearly sur­

rounded and were forced to retreat rapidly toward the town. The

men of the main picket on the Brunswick Road commanded by Ensign

Graebe of the von Lossberg Regiment hurried toward the sound of

the firing and rah into the rapidly retreating force. In the

course of this withdrawal Lt. Georg Christian Kimm of the von

Lossberg Regiment was mortally wounded and a sergeant and several

men were killed by the rifle fire of the Americans.

When they reached the head of King Street Captain von

Altenbockum led his company down Queen Street, but some of the

others under Wiederhold went down King Street toward Colonel

Ralls' headquarters.-'h i

y Ibid.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Simultaneously, the Jaegers at the picket post on the river

road fell hack before Sullivan's approaching brigade toward the

Assunpink Bridge. In the meantime, Lt. Piel had called to Lt.

Zoll, adjutant of the von Lossberg Regiment who was quartered I with him in the Coxe house. Piel awakened Rail and Zoll awa­

kened Lt. Colonel Scheffer from his sick bed. Rail made his

appearance quickly and told Zoll to have the von Lossberg Regi­

ment form on Church Alley back of a. stand of poplar trees in the

graveyard of the Anglican Church. Here they formed, facing toward

the north and the approaching enemy. Rail then roused his own

regiment which was dressed in quarters a.s the Regiment of the

Day. They formed on King Street and immediately started up the

street into the fire of the American batteries which had been

brought into position at the head of the street.^/ They received

a withering fire on their left from the advance units of General

Mercer's brigade and broke for cover. Many of the. Rail men fled

down King Street toward the bridge. The town then filled rapidly

with American marksmen from Mercer's brigade from the west and

Sterling's brigade from the east.

By this time the Knyphausen Regiment had formed on the lower

part of Queen Street and was awaiting orders. The von Hanstein

Jacob Piel, Geschichte des Hochloblichen Fusilier Regiments von Lossberg (original manuscript), p. 6 8 .

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Company of the von Lossberg Regiment, quartered on the south side

of the Assunpink, received orders from Captain Benning to join

their Regiment in the northern part of the town. They did so

and took a position on the left wing next to the Loss Company.

Rail then ordered the von Lossberg Regiment to advance up King

Street. They had barely gotten under way when the Leib Company

on the right wing received a heavy fire from Alexander Hamilton's

battery of artillery positioned at the head of the street. Many

men were wounded and the regiment fell back to a. position at the 6/ eastern edge of the town.

The Leib Company of the Rail Regiment which, with several

cannon, had been firing at the Americans from positions along

King Street then fell back in great disorder throwing the left

wing of the von Lossbergs into confusion. At this time the flags

of the Rail Regiment came into the possession of the von Hanstein

Company. Lt. Colonel Scheffer then ordered the Lossberg Regiment

to wheel to their right, thus bringing their front obliquely toward

the woods and their back toward the town. Captain Steding, with

the Scheffer Company and half of the Hanstein Company and part of

the Leib Company attempted to dislodge a group of Americans fron

a position they had taken behind the fences on Queen Street. How­

ever, they were pinned down by the American rifle fire. Captain von

Stryker, op. cit., pp. l60-l6l.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Altenbockum's company also engaged the enemy on Queen Street

and found themselves under the guns of the artillery battery

of Captain Forrest. In this action Captain von Altenbockum

was wounded in the head and many of his men including sergeant

Christian Eyssel and Fusilier Heinrich Budde were killed. En­

sign Graebe, second in command, took over and led the company

to a point on the left wing of the Lossberg Regiment as it was

moving away from the town in a northeasterly direction toward

the low ground east of Queen Street and the head of Dark Lane.

They were joined by what was left of the Rail Regiment under the

command of Ensign Kleinschmidt. Major von Hanstein asked Colonel

Rail for orders when he joined them, but the Colonel seemed con­

fused and could not come to a decision. Hanstein said, "If

you will not let us press forward up the street, we must retreat

to the bridge, otherwise the whole affair will end disastrously."-^

Rail then ordered Colonel Scheffer to bring the two regiments

into a line facing the town, the von Lossberg Regiment on the right.

From his horse. Colonel Rail organized a counterattack on the town

which began in good order. However, the sharp firing from the

American riflemen in the houses and from Captain Forrest's ar­

tillery played havoc with the advancing Hessians. There appeared

to be Americans firing from every window. Colonel Rail at this

time received his first wound, although it was not serious.^/

Ibid, . pp. l6l-l66.

y ibid., p. 166.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The men of the Knyphausen Regiment finally engaged the enemy

in the vicinity of Queen and Second Street after waiting fifteen

minutes for orders. They also came under a devastating fire from

both rifles and artillery and began to retire down Queen Street

but found themselves cut off from the bridge by Sullivan's

brigade ^

Rail’s force gained the edge of the town but was unable to

engage the enemy with bayonets. Inasmuch as their powder and pans

were now wet, the troops could not fire their guns and were, in

effect, helpless. Crouching behind buildings and fences they

continued to receive casualties from the American rifle fire. At

this time, Captain Friedrich Johann von Riess of the von Lossberg

Regiment was instantly killed by a rifle shot. Shortly thereafter,

Lt. Ernst Schwabe' was wounded in the thigh and was carried out of

the line of fire by Ensign Zengen, who took command of the Leib

Company of the von Lossberg Regiment Captain Friedrich von Benning was then instantly killed at the

side of Colonel Rail. Captain Steding and Ensign Hobe of the von

Lossberg Regiment gathered the remaining men together in Church

Alley and made a stand. Here Ensign von Hobe was wounded in the

■2/ Edward J. Lowell, The Hessians and the Other German Auxiliaries of Great Britain in the Revolutionary War (Hew York: Harper and Brothers, l88 ¥J, p. 95.

10 / Stryker, op. cit., pp. 171-172.

with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. leg and Lt. Zoll received a wound in the spine. At this point Lt.

Pj el told Colonel Rail that they should retreat to the Assunpink

bridge and Rail sent him to see if they could get through. He

returned with the information that the Americans held the bridge.

Rail gave an order to retreat out Third and Fourth Streets toward

the apple orchard and immediately thereafter he fell from his horse

with two severe wounds in his side. With some aid he was able to

walk into the Methodist Church on Queen and Fourth Streets.—^

Lt. Colonel Si-heffer of the von Lossberg Regiment took command

and attempted to break through to the northeast but ran into the

brigades of Stephen and de Fermoy standing ready. The Hessians

saw themselves virtually surrounded "by a semicircle of field guns;

while a thousand fresh and untouched troops of the Continental line

were bearing down on them within a distance of sixty paces."i£/

The American riflemen and artillery hesitated to begin what would

have been a slaughter and the .American officers called out for the

Germans to throw down their arms and surrender to avoid further

bloodshed. After a short parley between themselves and subsequently

an American officer, Lt. Colonel Scheffer and Major von Hanstein 13/ agreed to surrender.— 1 Their standards were lowered, their arms

Ibid, 12 / — ' Sir George 0. Trevelyan, The American Revolution (London: Long­ mans, Greene, and Co., 19031, Part II, Vol. II, p. 117.

Max von Eelking, Die deutschen Hiilfstruppen im nordamerikanischen Befreiungskriege, 1776 bis 17&3 (Hanover: Helwing, 1863) . I. -p. 68

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. . > R E N T O N w - i 7 7 6 ~ D F C F M F £ ft if,1*

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To CCcOSWic CREEK PICK ■••■,:• I’vf Ai -\ P , C , a 'r P^ T P o s t \ •;,.; \ PEA Ay f) OUSe,..--^^^ . FIGURE 13 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. grounded, and the officers placed their hats on the points of their

swords in token of submission. Many of the men, however, broke

the stocks of their guns, cut the straps of their cartridge pouches, lb/ and others even threw their guns into the woods.— '

The remainder of the Knyphausen Regiment under Captain von

Biesenrodt, who took over when von Dechow was wounded, had been

forced into the low swampy ground southeast of the town along the

Assunpink. Biesenrodt refused to surrender when asked and attempted

to ford the Assunpink. Many of his men succeeded, but many drowned

and, finally, hearing the shouts of the victorious Americans further

to the north, the remainder of the regiment surrendered.

Throughout the action the Rail Brigade was unable to effec­

tively employ its artillery against the Americans. "For all the

damage that they wrought, the German fieldpieces might, have re­

mained in the arsenal at Cassel."-^/ Lt. Friedrich Fischer did

manage to fire several volleys from the Knyphausen cannon near

Rail's headquarters using artillery men from the von Lossberg Regi­

ment, but the men were picked off by rifle fire and, when he tried

to move the guns toward the bridge, the horses were cut down by the

American artillery. Lt. Johannes Engelhardt abandoned the Rail

Regiment cannon early in the battle and the von Lossberg. cannon

became mixed in the mud northeast of the Assunpink bridge when 16/ Major von Dechow tried to move them.— ' Major von Dechow's

Stryker, oj). cit., pp. l8l-l82.

Trevelyan, op. cit., p. llU.

^ EeIking} op. cit., p. 69.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 9 9

lengthy efforts to extricate them undoubtedly contributed to the

failure of his regiment to retreat over the bridge before it was

taken by the Americans. It has never been satisfactorily explained

why the Lossberg guns were with the Knyphausen Regiment and vice

versa.

Of the 1,408 men listed as present for duty in the Rail Brigade

on the morning of December 26, kGj were of the von Lossberg Regi­

ment. As far as casualties go, the brigade lost five officers and

seventeen men killed, six officers and seventy eight men wounded.

Of these, three officers and four men of the Lossberg Regiment

were killed and four officers and fifty-five men of .the regiment

were wounded.-^/

.British army records noted that, "The Lossbergs, who of all

of the Hessians on that day did well, or even respectably,"

suffered the bulk of the casualties.-^/ Baurmeister, in a letter

to the Landgrave, was most solicitous of the fate of the "gallant

Regiment von Lossberg, which has suffered more than any other

through the whole campaign."-^/ British historians have always placed full blame for the

disaster at Trenton on Rail and the conduct of the Hessian troops

where undoubtedly some of it belongs.

17/ Stryker, op. cit., p. 195-

•^/ Trevelyan, op. cit., p. 118. 19/ Bernard A. Uhlendorf, Revolution in America: Confidential Letters and Journals of Adjutant General Major Baurmeister of the Hessian Forces^New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1957)5 p. 7&. Hereafter referred to as Baurmeister.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 100

If redoubts had been dug Rail might have been able to hold

the town until help could arrive from Bordentown. If he had had

the roads leading from the Delaware properly patrolled, he also

could have probably led his brigade and all his artillery and

baggage to Bordentown. However, but for a few other "ifs", the

British High Command would have received most of the blame for

the debacle. If Ewing had crossed the Delaware as ordered, and

had been in position to cut off Rail's retreat to the south

while Cadwalader was following his orders to contain Donop at

Bordentown, the result would have been the same, regardless of

Rail's conduct.

In attempting to explain the defeat at Trenton many German

historians have pointed to the fact that the Rail Brigade was

outnumbered and that their weapons were wet. However, even

though Washington's total force of 2,U00 did exceed that of the

Germans by at least 800, the odds of those actually engaged at

any one point more often gave numerical superiority to the Hes­

sians. Moreover, the weapons of the Rail Brigade came from

warm quarters while the Americans had carried theirs through

a snowstorm.

Trevelyan took another tack, noting that,

The Germans who made such a poor affair of

with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. street fighting in Trenton were not horn less brave than their countrymen who attacked the villages of Lutzen in 1813 and who in 1815 defended Ligny and St. Amand with extreme heroism. But Blucher's in­ fantry were contending for their fatherland, whereas the dullest fusilier in Rail's brigade, beneath all the pipeclay of his crossbelts felt an uneasy con­ sciousness that he was enlisted on what likely enough was the wrong side of a dispute that did not in any way concern himself or his nation. ,?2/

While there may be some merit in this idea, such thoughts are

usually not foremost among soldiers during the heat of a surprise

attack. German discipline was too strongly instilled in the troops

of the Rail Brigade and the instinct of self-preservation too keen

for them to he swayed by such thoughts of right or wrong in their

battle conduct. They were strategically poorly deployed, tactic­

ally without adequate defense, thoroughly surprised through faulty

attention to intelligence and, most important, they were completely'

outgunned by a body of skilled marksmen.

This latter point has not been well understood by historians

of the affair at Trenton. Belcher wrote, "The American assault

was for the most part an affair of spikes, spontoons, and bayonets,

for wind and wet prevented priming of firelocks. Consequently the

action proceeded in comparative silence."-^i/ Ward, usually accurate,

wrote, "One outstanding feature of the fight was the comparative

lack of musketry fire...it was mostly an affair of artillery, bayonet,

Trevelyan, op. cit., pp. 12^-125.

^ Henry Belcher, The First American Civil War (London: MacMillan, 1911) Vol. II, p. 199.

with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 22/ sword and spontoon.”—

Granted that it was the American artillery which cleared

King and Queen Streets, it was, however, American marksmen fir­

ing from advantageous positions which kept the Rail Brigade

from rallying in the side streets where the artillery could

not reach them. Stryker refers to the "deadly shots" being 23/ fired "from houses and cellars and behind fences and trees."—

Most of the wounds described were also of a nature which could

only be attributed to small arms fire. Trevelyan describes

"The riflemen, a privileged class, who went their own way in

the battle, ensconced themselves under cover from the rain in

cellars or in upper chambers, wiped their priming pans dry and

took deliberate shots at every German uniform which showed it­

self around a corner."^/ Eelking also wrote, "Deadly bullets

came from the riflemen behind walls and trees, out of windows

and doors under cover. It literally rained balls and cartridges

The reaction to the affair at Trenton on the part of the

British and Germans was one of astonishment. General Grant

Christopher Ward, The War of The Revolution (New York: MacMillan, 1952) Vol. I, p. 301.

Stryker, op. cit., p. 166.

Trevelyan, op. cit., p.115.

^ Eelking, op. cit., p. 68.

with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. wrote Donop that, "I did not think that all the rebels in America

would have taken that brigade prisoners."^/.

The Landgrave Frederick II reacted violently to the news of

the capture of the Hall Brigade and threatened those responsible

with extreme punishment. He charged that the disaster could

only have occurred if discipline had been allowed to lapse com­

pletely and was appalled at the fact that "his troops had laid

down their arms after losing only six per cent of their strength

in battle."— ^ He immediately recalled General von Heister, who

died in Cassel on April 7, 1777, "of sorrow and disappointment."^/

Frederick then admonished General Knyphausen, Heister's successor,

not to rest until "the spot on his honor" was removed, declaring

that he would not restore colors to the regiments until they had

captured as many from the enemy as they had lost at Trenton.

The disaster at Trenton ended the reputation of invincibil­

ity held by the Hessians. After this it became apparent to both

the British and the Americans that "the secret of being formidable

in battle depends not on looking ferocious, but on aiming correctly.

Although they still had a healthy respect for German bayonets, the

^ / Stryker, op. cit., p. U00.

Trevelyan, op. cit. , p. 133•

^ / Ibid.

_Tbid) p . 132.

with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 104

Americais had become aware that "they ran no great danger to

life or limb even within a few score yards of Hessian muzzles."-^/

The British suddenly realized the significance of the fact that

"at Fort Washington, where they had behaved very well, the

Hessians had killed very few Americans, and at Trenton where

they behaved ill, they had killed no Americans at all."-^/ It

is amazing, but true, that at Trenton not an American was killed

in action and only four were wounded.

Except for the jaegers, who had rifles and knew how to

use them and the American terrain very well, the tactics and

skills of the German grenadier, fusilier, and musketeer regi­

ments were ill-suited to the methods of war being employed by

the Americans. In massed European-style conflicts or storming

a stronghold where the bayonet and discipline decided the out­

come, the Rail Brigade would probably have been more than a

match for most of even the British units serving in North Amer­

ica. However, against skilled riflemen who refused to engage

them at close quarters they were little more than resplendent

targets. Henceforth, the Germans were mostly employed by the

British in secure defensive positions and in occupation duties.

30/ Ibid., pp. 132-133.

31/ Ibid., p. 132.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER VII

THE PRISONERS

After assembling in the open area in the northern part of

the town between King and Queen Streets, the Hessian prisoners

were counted and permitted to .minister to their wounded.

According to Trevelyan,

The Hessians in their hour of humiliation made a resplendent show. The soldiers were described as hearty-looking and well-clad, with large knapsacks and with spatterdashes on their legs. The Rail Regi­ ment in dark blue, the von Lossbergs in scarlet, the Knyphausens in neat and seemly black and the artil­ lerymen in blue coats with crimson lapels and white borders, were all in singular contrast to the dingy, threadbare summer clothing and naked feet of their captors, l/

There are variations in the figures available on Hessian

prisoners, but the consensus is that 918 officers, soldiers,

and servants were present at the first counting, of which 2jk

were of the von Lossberg Regiment. A later, more official

count showed 2b7 men taken prisoner from just the line com­

panies of the Lossberg Regiment.-^ During the surrender many

^ Sir George 0. Trevelyan, The American Revolution (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1903), Part II, Vol. II, p. 129. 7 ^ William S. Stryker, The Battles of Trenton and Princeton (Cambridge: Houghton, Mifflin and Co., 1898)9 pp. 3B6-387.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 106

of the Hessians hid in the houses of their tory friends, hut * most of them were finally captured and carried off as prisoners

of war and this increased the total. On December 29, General

Washington reported a few more prisoners, among them a Lt.

Colonel and a deputy adjutant general, and stated that the

prisoners at that time numbered about 1000.—73/

General Howe's return to the British government of the

personnel losses at Trenton put the figure at 918? including

those killed and wounded. Twenty-eight of the wounded were

left on parole in Trenton and of those taken prisoner, fifty-

six were in some way wounded. The list of prisoners made out

by the commanding officers of the Hessian regiments in Phila­

delphia on January 5> 1777, showed a total of 868 officers and

men.—'

In addition to capturing some of the best troops of the

Hessian mercenaries, The American troops took six brass three-

pound guns, three ammunition wagons, four wagons full of baggage,

forty horses, about a thousand arms and acoutrements, twelve

drums, and fifteen flags. Two of the cannon were later aban­

doned to the British at the Battle of Brandywine on September

11, 1777 ^

^ Ibid., p. 201.

y Ibid., p . 196.

Ibl d., p, 201.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. HESSIAN PRISONERS TAKEN AT TRENTON

-4 -> w c 0 d cn 5! 05-4 ■—<0 1 « « a 2 s » ^ Regiment | | g||®§|g|j.S J O « 'S" , n& . 3.2 mc MS ^ o aJ W5 a ’c 5 OH UJS o JM mc o Q S O K H

LOSSBERG 0 1 1 1 3 4 0 38 6 5 9 206 274 KNYPHAUSEN 0 0 1 2 2 3 0 25 6 0 6 258 303 RALL 1 1 1 1 2 5 2 25 8 4 9 244 303 A rtillery 1 1 4 1 32 38 1 2 3 4 8 12 2 92 20 9 25 740 918

VON LOSSBERG REGIMENT PRISONERS TAKEN AT TRENTON 73 CD £S O 73 *5) 0 Cfl § S £ w w 2 55 w 0 rn S w C G Company S s 3 5-1 O fficers O fficers TOTAL P rivates

Surgeons Q Non-C om i C om m issi

Leib 1 7 0 3 46 57 Scheffer .1 7 1 1 38 48 Altenbockum 1 5 1 1 29 37 Hanstein 3 6 0 0 39 48 t Loos 3 6 0 1 47 57

9 31 2 6 199 247*

* Does not include regimental staff and artillery personnel and musicians and officer's servants

FIGURE Ik

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 108

In the affair at Trenton, the officers of the von Lossberg

Regiment fared as follows:

Lt. Colonel Scheffer, prisoner Major von Hanstein, prisoner Captain Ries, killed Capatin von Altenbockum, wounded and paroled Captain Steding, prisoner Captain Benning, killed Lt. Hilie, escaped Lt. Kimm, killed tt. Schwabe, wounded and paroled Lt. Killer, wounded, prisoner Lt. Zoll, wounded and paroled Lt. Moeller, prisoner Lt. Piel, prisoner Ensign von Hobe, wounded, prisoner Ensign Graebe, prisoner Ensign von Zenger, prisoner Ensign Hendorff, prisoner Quartermaster Heusser, escaped

Before departing Trenton, General Washington called on the

mortally wounded Colonel Rail and promised him that the Hessian

prisoners would be treated humanely and considerately. Going

even beyond this promise, Washington ordered that the portmanteaus

of the Hessian officers and the knapsacks of the soldiers should

be made over to them unsearched and unopened. As soon as a dinner

could be cooked he entertained the field officers in his quarters,

while the' company officers were turned over to the care of Lord 6/ Stirling.—'

On the evening of the battle Washington's army returned to

Pennsylvania across the Delaware via the three Trenton Ferries.

Trevelyan, loc. cit.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 109

Colonel Stirling's brigade was ordered to escort the prisoners

and assure their safety. The disagreeable weather continued and,

when the column arrived at the landing, it was decided to take

the prisoners over first. The crossing was extremely hazardous and

one boatload of Hessian officers came near to being swamped by

the current. After drifting downstream nearly two miles, the

officers jumped into the river and waded about 200 feet to the

shore ^

During the night of the 26th the Hessian officers were con­

fined in the ferry house at the landing of Johnson's Ferry, but

the enlisted men were immediately marched to Newtown. The offi­

cers said that they spent the night "very miserably without any­

thing to eat or drink." The next day they were taken to the brick

tavern at Newtown. There they learned that their men had been con­

fined in the Presbyterian Church and in the Bucks County jail in

that village.^

On December 28, General Stirling took Lt. Colonels Scheffer

and Brethauer and Majors Matthaus and von Hanstein to again call

on General Washington, who received them warmly and invited them

Stryker, op. cit., p. 207.

^ Jacob Piel, Geschichte des Hochloblichen Fusilier Regiments von Lossberg (original manuscript), p. 7 8 .

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 110

to dine with him. The rest of the officers dined at General

Stirling's headquarters. General Stirling was also described as

extremely cordial in response to the courtesy shown him by General

von Heister when he was a prisoner after the Battle of Long Island.

Piel relates the presence of a tall, sour man, the German Lutheran

pastor of the village, who denounced George the Third and harangued

them in German about how they should not be involved in the war. 9/ Stirling reportedly curtailed this unpleasant incident.—'

Lt. Wiederhold, who was present with the field officers at

the meeting with Washington because the general wanted to con­

gratulate him for his conduct at the picket post on the 26th, was

apparently not much impressed by the American Commander-in-Chief.

Wiederhold was highly critical of Rail's defense of the town of

Trenton in a conversation with Washington; but the General was

magnanimous toward the dead Colonel. The Hessian lieutenant re­

quested permission to return to Trenton to secure his personal

possessions and was told he was free to do so

The Hessian officers at Newtown signed a parole of honor as

follows:

& Ibid.

10 / Andreas Wiederhold, Tagebuch des Hauptmannes Wiederhold, 1776-1780 (copy of original manuscript), p. 5 2 .

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. I l l

We the Subscribers, Hessian Officers, made prisoners of War by the American Army of his Excellency, General Washington, at Trenton, on the 26th inst., being allowed Our Liberty, under such Restrictions as to place as may be from time to time appointed, do give Our Parole of Honour, that we will remain at the place and within the limits appointed for us by his Excellency, the General, the Honourable Congress, Council of Safety, or Commissary of Prisoners of War, Peaceably behav­ ing ourselves and by no way Send or give Intelligence to the British or Hessian Army or speak or do any­ thing disrespectful or Injurious to the American States while we remain Prisoners of War. We will also restrain our Servants and Attendants who are allowed to remain with us, as far as in our power, to the same conditions. Newtown, December 30> 1776.

Ui-7/tzfrn / T * / 0

c y / D w n , n ~

% i d w ,

% S]\JLAejUfr9{

/ B. J. Lossing, Field Book of the Revolution (New York: Harper, 1851 ), Vol. II, p. , 2 2 ~

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. SIGNERS OF THE OFFICER'S PAROLE, DEC. 30, 177

1 . Lt. Col. Scheffer, LOSSBERG 1 2 . Ensign Schroeder, RALL 2 . Major von Hanstein, LOSSBERG 13. Lt. Col. Brethauer, RALL 3- Captain Steding, LOSSBERG lU. Lt. Moller, LOSSBERG if. Lt. Keller, LOSSBERG 15. Ensign Graebe, LOSSBERG 5. Lt. Piel, LOSSBERG 1 6. Ensign Drach, KNYPHAUSEN 6 . Captain Brubach, RALL 17. Lt. Sobbe, KNYPHAUSEN 7. Ensign Fuhrer, KNYPHAUSEN 1 8 . Ensign von Hobe, LOSSBERG 8 . Captain Loewenstein, KNYPHAUSEN 19- Lt. Fischer, ARTILLERY 9. Lt. Kinen, RALL 2 0 . Captain von Biesenrodt, KNYPHAUSEN 1 0 . Ensign Fleck, RALL 2 1 . Ensign von Zengen, LOSSBERG 1 1 . Ensign Kleinschmidt, RALL 2 2 . Major Matthaus, RALL

Washington allowed the prisoners to retain all of their per-

sonal baggage without examination. After the parole was signed

they started for Philadelphia in five canvasTcovered wagons driven

by Pennsylvania farmers, reaching the city at eleven o'clock on

the morning of the 31st. They were all taken to the inn known as the

Indian Queen and in the evening were furnished with "a grand supper 13/ with plenty of wine and punch" at the expense of Congress-;— '

The enlisted men also marched from Newtown at an early hour

on December 30 under a heavy guard commanded by Colonel George

Weedon of the Third Virginia Continental Regiment. They spent

the night in the village of Four Lands End, later called Attle­

borough. The next morning they passed through Frankfurt (now

Frankford) and Kensington, reaching Philadelphia in the evening.

The prisoners, followed by the captured arms and banners, were

paraded through the streets of the city and the entire populace

turned out to see them. This exhibition of triumph was no doubt

Ibid, p, 230.

13/ Piel, op. cit., p. 72,

with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission 113

for the purpose of encouraging the people by proving to them

that the feared Hessians could be vanquished by American troops.

Many of the women screamed at the prisoners and made threaten­

ing gestures. Others, however, provided them with liquor and

bread. The rank and file were confined in the city barracks lk / which had been prepared for them by order of General Putnam.— '

On New Years Day the German officers were taken as a group

to call on General Putnam. On the 6th of January they left for

Baltimore where Congress was then in session. All of the cap­

tured commissioned officers of the Rail Brigade were in this

party, as were some of the non-commissioned officers, in all

about fifty men. Under the command of a Captain Farmer they

marched through Wilmington to Baltimore where they were quar­

tered on the evening of January lU. The next morning Farmer

turned them over to the custody of the Board of War. Congress

then ordered them taken to Dumfries in Prince William County,

Virginia. They left Baltimore on January 18 in the charge of

Lt. John Lindenburger of the Pennsylvania State Regiment of

Artillery. When they reached the Potomac it was found to be

frozen so solidly that even the horses and wagons could cross

it. According to Eelking, the Germans described the country

as "wild and woody" and the journey as very severe due to the

Stryker, op. cit., p. 211;.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 114

bad weather and poor roads They arrived in Dumfries, then a

village of about forty wooden houses, on January 24, 1777.

According to Vogt, two taverns in this village served as billets

for the officers

Congress planned to send the officers further south to Staun­

ton, Virginia. However, this town had a reputation for being very

primitive at this time and, when the prisoners learned of the plan,

they petitioned Congress to send them to Fredericksburg instead.

At Dumfries the German officers became involved in the quarrel

over the exchange of General Lee. Washington believed that Lee

was being poorly treated by having a sentry posted before his door.

Moreover, Howe would not accept Washington's terms of exchange nor

yield to the threat of reprisal. Therefore, in March, 1777, the

six staff officers of the Hessian prisoners at Dumfries were also

put under sentries. This lasted until August when the British

General Prescott was captured in Rhode Island. As he was of equal

rank with Lee the treatment was improved and on the 27th of August

they were released from close confinement.—17/ '

15/ —' Max von Eelking, Die deutschen Hulfstruppen im Nordamerikanischen Befreiungskriege, 177b bis 1783. (Hanover: Helving, 1863), I, p. 81 .

Karl Vogt, "Der Uberfall in Trenton, 1776: Das Rintelner Regi­ ment von Lossberg, 1776-83," Schaumburger Heimatblatter, (1956) p. 5^.

17/ — ' Eelking, o£. cit., p. 8l.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. On September k, 1777> the officers were sent to Winchester,

Virginia because of the threat posed by British naval movements

in the Chesapeake. In this area were some 300 of their enlisted

men. This town they found very disagreeable and, much to their

relief, on December 13 they were ordered to Fredericksburg. Here,

they found things much to their liking and wrote of the "beauty,

elegance and joyous unembarrassed bearing of the Virginia ladies."

Some of them noted with satisfaction that their own musical talents,

which were not rated highly in Germany, procured them considerable 18/ social consideration m Fredericksburg.—

On one occasion at Fredericksburg, sixteen ladies organized a

surprise party and visited the Hessian officers at their quarters.

They stayed from half past three until ten o ’clock in the evening.

The Germans regaled their guests, which included Washington's niece

and sister, with coffee, chocolate, cakes, claret, and tea, and

entertained them with vocal and instrumental music. "In Europe,"

said Wiederhold, "we should have not got much honor, but here we 1°/ passed for masters. ^ Wiederhold bemoaned the fact that they had to leave Fredericks­

burg as he did not like the idea of parting from his friends there.

He said that the prisoners had been much favored by the ladies of

the neighborhood who "are beautiful, courteous, kindly, modest, and

18 / Trevelyan, op. cit., p. 130.

19/ Wiederhold, og. cit., p. 53.

with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 116

withal very natural and easy." At Dumfries nine months before

Wiederhold wrote that he would rather have a small farm in Hesse

than the greatest plantation in Virginia. This is in contrast

to his outlook at Fredericksburg. He also wrote upon leaving

Fredericksburg of a rich and fair woman who was "very favorably

inclined to me and whom I shall always respect and honor." She 20/ apparently attempted to dissuade him from leaving.— '

The enlisted men, however, did not fare as well. On January

2, 1777, they were marched to Frankfurt and then to Lancaster

from which they were scattered in different places throughout

the western counties of Pennsylvania and in some parts of Vir­

ginia. The band of nine musicians which had charmed Colonel Rail

was kept in Ph.i ladelphia and reportedly took part in the Fourth 21. of July celebration there in the year 1777-— " An American ser­

geant's return of the prisoners at Lancaster lists thirty-nine

men of the artillery, 266 men of the Rail Regiment, 23^- men of

the von Lossberg Regiment, and 291 men of the Knyphausen Regi-*

ment, in all, 830 men and a few women and children.

Another list prepared in Lancaster, Pa. on January 10, 1777, con­

tains the occupation of 315 of the 830 soldiers in the city on

Wiederhold, op. cit., p. 5k.

Trevelyan, oj>. cit., p. 131.

22/ — Stryker, oj>. cit.. p. 215.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 117

that date. Among them were eighty-two weavers, forty-nine tailors,

thirty-eight shoemakers, sixteen smiths, fifteen carpenters, fif­

teen wagonmakers, twelve masons, ten joiners, nine butchers, seven 23/ stocking weavers, six bakers, and six millers.— '

In March, 1777> thirty prisoners were sent to Mount Hope in

Morris County in New Jersey to work for a John Faesch who owned a

forge and foundry. He was a native of Hesse-Cassel engaged in mak­

ing cannon and shot for the American Army under contract with Con­

gress, which furnished him with guards for the Hessians. He used

the prisoners in the casting of cannon balls.—2 k f '

The rank and file of Rail's Brigade acquired the good will of

their captors because of their

docility, their mild and even tempers, and their freedom from political bitterness, a virtue which was based on the solid foundation of absolute and entire political" ignorance. They had been poor soldiers at Trenton, but they made most excellent prisoners. £5/

When some of them were passed southwards across the Pennsylvania

border, a difficulty arose concerning their escort and the officer

in command trusted the Hessians to find their own way up the Shenan­

doah Valley by themselves. They all arrived at their destination

and answered the roll, for which they were rewarded with a glass

^ .Ibid, p. 196.

^ Ibid, p . 216.

25/ — a Trevelyan, op., cit., p. 130.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 118

of brandy.-^/ They were scattered in detachments among the town­

ships of either bank of the Potomac where according to Trevelyan,

they lived peaceably and contentedly with no desire whatever to go back to the war, and not even impatient to return to Germany. Their minds were at ease, for their pay was running up on the books at the British War Office and, as far as they were concerned, that was the one and only object for which they had come to America. They were on friendly and familiar terms with the inhabitants of the country, assisting them in their industries, sharing their festivities, and most certainly abstaining from all obtrusive manifes­ tations of tory sentiment. ^7/

This is a British view that is certainly not substantiated in the

various personal diaries of the Hessian soldiers. However, it is

a fact that some of the Hessian prisoners never again took up

arms against the Americans. Some escaped and settled on the

farms of Pennsylvania and Virginia. British historians have al­

ways been nettled by the circumstance that these men had to be

paid for as "missing" by the British government. Many of the

Hessians, pleased with America, returned after the war was over

and joined the numerous German settlements in Virginia and Penn­

sylvania Most of the Germans, however, did not like Winchester, Vir­

ginia in particular. They felt that the people were unfriendly

Eelking, 0£. cit., p. 84.

Trevelyan, op. cit., pp. 130-131.

Stryker, oj>. cit., p. 216.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 119

and reported it a place where "religion and Law seemed to sleep,"

even though there is known to have been a sizeable community of

German Lutherans in the town at that time

In the Lancaster area the Hessians did quite well for them­

selves. Congress paid them the value of their rations in cash

and the local farmers paid them for their labor and fed them as

well. A daily ration was accepted to consist of a pound of meat

with bread and vegetables. Any farmer permitting a Hessian prison­

er to escape was subject toa a fine of 200 paper dollars.-^/ How­

ever, this law was not enforced and the value of the paper dollar

declined to the point where the fine was meaningless.

On June 4, 1777, the King's birthday, the British troops im­

prisoned in the barracks at Lancaster celebrated the occasion so

exuberantly that they got out of hand. The fifteen American guards

fled for help and, when a regiment with a fieldpiece appeared,

several of the British prisoners were killed before the distur­

bance was quelled. The Hessians quartered nearby remained quiet

throughout the affair and, as a result, received even more favor­

able treatment from the Americans thereafter. However, they were 31/ greatly abused by the British prisoners from then on.— '

Vogt, op. cit., p. 56.

^ Eelking , op. cit., p. 83 .

ibid., pp. 83-84.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 120

According to Trevelyan, the "behavior of the Germans was

only part of the reason why the Americans treated them so well.

He maintained that,

Americans were the less vindictive in their feelings toward the Hessians "because they had ceased to be afraid of them. The Seven Years War had exalted to a very high point the military reputation of those who had been engaged in it and it was cur­ rently believed that German strategists and tacticians possessed certain tricks of the trade which lay beyond the reach of citizen soldiers. 32/

General Washington himself did much to make things easier for

the Hessians by publicly calling for all Americans to be kind

to them because they had been brought to fight for the British

against their will.-^/

There are very few"evidences of deliberate mistreatment of

the prisoners prior to 1779• Karl Vogt in 1956 referred to a

New York Times article of November 10, 1889, written by Edward

J. Lowell, which described a Hessian prison camp near Reading,

Pennsylvania as a virtual concentration camp. Lowell spoke of

the prisoners as being under the constant threat of Indian at- 3U/ tack, many of them dying of starvation and beatings.— ' Inas­

much as the reference to Indian attacks in that location in 1777

is preposterous, the other charges cannot be taken too seriously.

32/ — Trevelyan, o£. cit., p. 131.

Matthew H. Volm, The Hessian Prisoners in the American War of Independence and their Life in Captivity. (Charlottes- ville, Va., Univ. of Virginia Press, 1937), p. 2U.

3kj Vogt, op. cit., p. 56 .

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1 2 1

However, as a result of the mistreatment of American prisoners

by the British and the worsening economic situation, the handl­

ing of prisoners did get worse toward the end of the war.

During the period in which the prisoners of the Rail Brigade

were held in captivity, the British and Hessian commands were

not well-informed as to their whereabouts and condition. On

February l6 , 1777, the Hessian Adjutant General Major^Baurmeister

wrote to his superiors in Cassel,

It is said that the captured officers have been sent to Baltimore and the non-commissioned officers and privates to Virginia. However, this is not credi­ ted by his Excellency General Howe, who is "hoping for an exchange of prisoners in the near future ^2/

On June 2, 1777, he wrote,

The Regimental Quartermaster has again departed to take money to the prisoners. On the 2hth of March, Lt. Colonel Brethauer sent an unsealed letter from Dumfries to His Excellency General von Heister which however conveyed no information save that Captain Bru- bach of the Rail Regiment had died...The non-commis­ sioned officers and soldiers are still at Lancaster while the officers are at Dumfries. There is no men­ tion of any exchange of prisoners. 36/

The following year on January 20, Baurmeister wrote the Landgave

that,

35/ Bernard A. Uhlendorf, Revolution in America; Confidential Letters and Journals of Adjutant General Baurmeister of the Hessian Forces (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1957), p . BL. Hereafter referred to as Baurmeister.

& Ibid., p. 8 8 .

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1 2 2

On-the l6th, Regimental Quartermaster Kitz of the Woellworth Regiment was sent to the prisoners at Win­ chester to deliver money and equipment to the officers. Wow and then, one or more soldiers return from captivi­ ty. They have no complaints about their treatment and even less about the lack of food. There seems to be some ” ' ‘thin the near future the officers will be

Actually, however, Kitz was detained for eight days somewhere en

route and was finally forced to turn back without accomplishing .. . . 38/ his mission.— '

On January 28, 1778, some officers of the old Rail Brigade

were sent to Philadelphia on parole. Among them were von Lossberg

officers Lts. Schwabe, Moeller, and von Hobe and Ensigns von Zenge, 39/ Graebe, and Hendorff.—

On February 20, the remainder of the officers taken prisoner

at Trenton arrived in Philadelphia on parole. The group included

Lt. Colonel Scheffer, Major von Hanstein, Captain von Altenbockum,

Captain Steding, Lt. Piel, and Lt. Zoll of the von Lossberg Regi­

ment. At this time it was confirmed that Lt. Keller had died the ho/ previous year while a prisoner in Virginia.— it was also at

Georg Ludwig Christian Heusser, Journal des Hochloblichen Fusilier Regiment von alt-Lossberg...1778-1783 (original manuscript), p. 60.

-22/ Ibid.

— / Ib'id., p. 6l

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 123

this time that the German authorities learned that Ensign

Kleinschmidt of the Rail Regiment and Ensign Fuhrer of the

Knyphausen Regiment had deserted to the American cause, bl/ both accepting commissions in the Continental Army.—

Many of the enlisted men were exchanged in New York

on July 19, 1778. On this occasion the von Lossberg Regi­

ment received nineteen corporals, three field surgeons and

k2/ 109 men.— ' Baurmeister reported in a letter dated the 20th

that 500 prisoners were returned via Elizabethtown and that

they all looked well. He opined that the three regiments of ^3/ the old Rail Brigade would soon be at full strength.—

On August 26, 1778, another group of prisoners left the

Winchester area and arrived in Philadelphia on October lU.

They passed through Trenton on the 22nd and reached the

British outpost at Brunswick on the 28th, from where they bb/ were sent to the Hessian camp on Long Island.— From this

detachment the von Lossberg Regiment received five corporals,

iti/ Stryker, op. cit., p. 215 •

b2/ Heusser, op. cit., p. 6 7*

b^/ Baurmeister, op. cit., pp. 191-192*

/ —' EeIkingf op. cit., p. 8 5 .

. s''

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 12U

one drummer and eighty-seven men.— Of this group Baurmeister

wrote on November 9, 1778,

On the 27th of October 279 of the Trenton prisoners finally returned. 132 have not yet come back. About forty men have been retained in Philadelphia as tailors for the army, while some twenty others remain there on account of sickness. But of the rest, probably not many will return. zH/

After this, men returned singly and in small groups through­

out the war. The last man known to return to the von Lossberg

Regiment was Sergeant Major Karl Wolf, who caught up with his unit W / in Canada on June 23, 1783*—

hi/ Heusser, op. cit., p. 69.

— ■/ Baurmeister, o£. cit., p. 228.

— / Heusser, op. cit., p. 104.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. New York}. •

<9 Reading XT Trenton--^)! Newtown Lititz Lancaster- ^ —^ r^ ^ P P h ilad elp h ia j

___ ' / /Wilmington f .

Baltim ore W inchester v <

umfnes

Falhmi; ^ FredericksBui^-'s

' ..... MOVEMENTS OF THE HESSIAN PRISONERS 1776 - 1778 O fficers

*•. iff-* ** Enlisted Men

FIGURE 15

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER VIII

THE COMBINED BATTALION

In addition to the men of the Rail Brigade who escaped

individually at Trenton on December 26, IJlS, large contin­

gents also escaped as a group. Fifty men at the jaeger picket

post on the River Road escaped over the Assunpink Bridge early

in the battle along with the nineteen men on guard at the I bridge. The twenty British dragoons stationed in the area

also did not tarry long in the town. In addition, twenty-

eight men at the Trenton Ferry picket post and the entire

force of eighty-six officers end men at the drawbridge over

Crosswick Creek took no part in the action. The men at the

ferry post were shelled from the Pennsylvania shore during

the battle and withdrew toward Bordentown just before twelve

boat-loads of Americans reached the Jersey shore.— ^

The Rail Brigade had about 1,^50 men in the Trenton area

on the day of the attack. Colonel Donop, in a letter written

to General Knyphausen on December 27, said that,"I have orga­

nized all the escaped men from the Rail Brigade and made up

— ^ William S. Stryker, The Battles of Trenton and Princeton (Cambridge: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1898), PP • 189-190.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2/ a force of 292 men."— If the 106 known casualties and the

some 950 prisoners are subtracted from the 1,^50 figure, it

can be seen that the number of escapees should have been higher.

The difference was probably due to the fact thr-t some of the

prisoners fled in other directions than down the Bordentown

road and were not collected and counted until later. General

Leslie wrote to Colonel Donop on December 27 that he had three

officers and about fifty men of the Rail Brigade with him in

Princeton on that date.—3/ The missing men were apparently quite

awhile apart from the rest of the survivors as General von

Heister wrote a letter to the Landgrave on January 5 numbering

the escapees at 292. However, he may have been merely quoting

an early communication from Donop, inasmuch as the figures cor­

respond exactly.

The most reasonable calculation of the proportion of von

Lossberg men who escaped in some way appears to be about 1^0.

Captain von Altenbockum, Lt. Schwabe, and Lt. Zoll were wounded,

paroled, and left at Trenton. These men, along with Lt. Hille,

who escaped, formed the officer nucleus of the von Lossberg Com­

pany of the Combined Battalion, as the survivors of the Rail

Brigade were known for nearly two years.

2 / Ibid, , p. 200.

-/ Ibid., p. k2k.

with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 128

The first group of escapees inarched on December 27 to

Allenstown under the command of Heinrich Ludwig Boeking, the

ranking officer of the Rail Brigade at that time. When they

arrived in Princeton they were placed under the command of

Captain Alexander von Wilmowsky, who led them to Amboy.—V

On January 1, 1777, General Howe issued the following

order from his headquarters in New York:

The remains of Colonel Rail's brigade being under orders for New York the deputy quartermaster general will provide quarters to receive them at Amboy where they are to embark and the barracks- master of New York will prepare barracks to receive them. '2J

The Combined Battalion remained in Amboy only a short

time, however, as it was ordered to Brunswick where it joined

Lord Cornwallis and General Grant returning to the Trenton

area. It was part of the force which faced Washington's r>rmy

across the Assunpink on the evening of January 2, 1777- Heusser

records the forced march on the following morning toward Prince­

ton to catch up with the Americans, who had slipped away during

the night. He wrote,

We heard the cannonade and rifle fire to our rear and, surmising what was taking place, moved

\J M l > P- 235.

^ Ibid.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 129

toward the action at great haste. However, the dis­ tance was too great and we could not reach them in time to help. Near Maidenhead we met part of the unfortunate 17th Regiment and a part of the 55th Regiment and a part of the 55th Regiment. At twelve o'clock we passed the battlefield where nearly half of .the brave 17th Regiment lay dead and wounded. £/

On the H h, the Combined Battalion marched with Cornwallis’

force to Brunswick where, on the following day,

One hour before daybreak our force was de­ ployed on a hill in front of the settlement and remained there until one hour after sunset. On , several occasions we sighted hostile patrols. —'

Lt. Colonel von Schieck of the Mirbach Regiment was given

command of the Combined Battalion on January 6 and marched it

to Amboy on the following day. On the 8th the unit embarked

for New York on three vessels. The von Lossberg Company, with

Lt. von Wurmb, Ensign Hille, and Quartermaster Heusserwere

aboard the Bristol, which struck a rock near New York. A damage

survey revealed nothing serious amiss but, later, while the

crew and troops were eating the noon meal, the vessel began

to leak badly. Despite pumping efforts, it began to list

and did not reach the wharf at New York until eleven o'clock

that night. An hour after the troops disembarked, the vessel

sank.— ^

— / Georg Ludwig Christian Heusser, Journal des Hochloblichen Fusilier Regiment von alt-Lossberg...1776-17&3 (original manuscript77~p"^T-2.

1/ Ibid,, p. 43.

-/ Ibid.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. On the 11th, the Combined Battalion again boarded a ship

and was transported to a point on the Raritan River near Perth

Amboy. Here, several stables and barns served as quarters for

the men and the officers were billeted in a house nearby.

Heusser described the settlement as deserted by the Americans,

but pleasant and with "an unimpaired view across Staten Island 9/ to the open sea."— Here the unit remained for several months,

"constantly h^rrassed" by the enemy, within a perimeter of out­

posts about a mile apart. On several occasions during this

period the garrison ventured out in force to escort General

Howe to and from Brunswick. This was apparently one of the

purposes of this post — to provide n protective link between

Brunswick and New York City.

On March 23, Colonel Johann August von Loos, formerly

assigned to the von Lossberg Regiment, was transferred from

the Mirbach Regiment and given command of the Combined Bat­

talion. Lt. Colonel Schieck returned to his own regiment in

New York. Colonel Heinrich von Borck, who had been wounded

with the Knyphausen Regiment at Fort Washington, returned to

the Combined Battalion in good health.— ^

During the month of April the outposts of the Combined

Battalion were subjected to continuing harrassment by the

I b i d ~ , P .

— / Ibid,, pp. kk-k5.

with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 131

Americans. In turn, the battalion made numerous forays into

the surrounding countryside, burning houses and, on occasions,

inflicting casualties and taking prisoners.

On May 8 , the battalion was ordered to begin loading its

artillery on ships and on the 21st the entire garrison was

moved to another side further up the Raritan River. Here,

another fortified post was constructed and numerous batteries

built. A week later the garrison was augmented with the arrival

of six English regiments. On June 8 , the von Lossberg Company

of the Combined Battalion received fifty-six replacements from

Rinteln. Two days later the battalion received marching orders

for the next morning. At four in the morning, most of the gar­

rison began a march to a camp near Brunswick.— ^

On June 12, General Howe began a series of moves aimed at

luring Washington from his stronghold around Middlebrook. He

moved to the west with two columns. One, under Cornwallis, went

to Somerset Court House, (now Millstone), and the other, led by

von Heister, halted further to the east at Middlebush. During

this action, the Combined Battalion remained in Brunswick with

the Kohler Grenadier Battalion and the 7th and 26th British

Regiments under the command of General Matthews.

— ^ Ibid. , pp. k5-k6.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1 3 2

Failing to lure Washington out of his positions, Howe

ordered a withdrawal to Amboy. The Combined Battalion loaded

its cannon on ships and participated in the destruction of

the fortifications at Brunswick on the 21st. The following

day, the town was evacuated and the bridge across the Rari­

tan River was destroyed. On this day, the Combined Battalion

was assigned to the Stirn Brigade and received orders to pro- 12/ ceed to Staten Island.—

As the British moved toward Amboy, General Howe noted that

Washington was pursuing him closely. Observing this success in

luring the Americans from the hills, Howe made plans to force a

general engagement. On the morning of the 26th he moved toward

the enemy with 11,000 men in two columns. Cornwallis led one

force toward Woodbridge and Vaughan the other toward Bonumtown.

Howe hoped thereby to pinch Stirling's extended contingent between

them and cut the escape route to Middlebrook, thus forcing an en- 13/ gagement.— ‘ The Combined Battalion participated in this action

in the column under General Vaughan.

12/ Ibid. , p. U7 .

13/ Sir John W. Fortescue, A History of The British Army (London: MacMillan, 1902), III, p. 210.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 133

In the skirmish against Stirling's force, the British

inflicted some 200 casualties on the Americans, but were

unable to prevent them from slipping away. The von Loss­

berg Company of the Combined Battalion lost only one man

and that was from heat exhaustion. Heusser notes that one ih/ of the cannon lost at Trenton was recaptured.—

On the 28th and 29th Howe withdrew to Amboy, convinced

that his attempts to bring about a general engagement with

Washington were futile. The Combined Battalion was trans­

ported with most of the other Hessian units to a camp on

Long Island. On the 30th, orders were received to prepare

for a long sea voyage.

On July 9, the Combined Battalion was loaded on board

four transport ships at New York. The von Lossberg Company

was on the Apollo, the Knyphausen Company was on the Diana,

and the rest of the battalion was distributed between the

Bird and the Tweed.— ^ It was not until the 23rd, however,

that the entire fleet of 260 warships and transports set

sail from the rendezvous off Sandy Hook. On board were

perhaps as many as 18,000 men, many horses, and military

equipment of every description.— ^

— ^ Heusser, op. cit., p. M3.

15/ Ibid.

— ■/ Christopher Ward, The War of the Revolution (New York: MacMillan, 1902) III, p. 210.

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Cape Henlopen, at the southern entry to Delaware Bay,

was sighted on the 30th and all assumed that their course

lay up the Delaware River to Philadelphia. Howe, however,

developed serious doubts about his nbility to force a

passage of the Delaware and set a course for the Chesapeake

on August k, 1777*

Cape Charles and Henry at the mouth of the Chesapeake

were sighted on August 15 and the fleet entered the bay on

the following day. Baurmeister and Heusser reported the

trip up the Chesapeake as pleasant, except for the numerous

thunderstorms to which they were^subjected. Lightning struck

the ships on many occasions, resulting in the deaths of both 17/ men and horses.— The mouth of the Potomac was passed on

August 19 and the town of Annapolis on the 21st. The fleet

passed Baltimore on the 22nd and reached the head of the Elk 18/ on the 23rd.—

Landing operations began on the 2^th without any opposi­

tion from the Americans. A headquarters was established in

Elk Ferry, a town which had been completely abandoned by the

1 7 / — Bernard A. Uhlendorf, Revolution in America: Confidential Letters and Journals of Ad iutant General Baurmeister of the Hessian Forces (Hew Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1957), P» 97• Hereafter referred to as Baurmeister. Heusser, op. cit., p. 50*

— / Heusser, op. cit., p. 51*

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inhabitants. The Combined Battalion camped that night in a

plowed field without tents or supplies. During the night a

thunderstorm drenched them but, according to Heusser, did not 19/ interrupt their sleep because they were so exhausted.— The

tents and supplies were not received until the morning of the

26th. However, many men were by this time sick and the hos­

pital ships were filling rapidly. The Second Corps, under

the command of General von Knyphausen, remained in the canp

while General Howe and the First Corps moved out. Included

in the Second Corps which remained was the Stirn Brigade,

including the Combined Battalion, and the 3rd and 4th British

Brigades.

Howe's force marched northeastward until, on September

3, his advance guard made contact with the Americans. The

Knyphausen Corps followed immediately via what is now Kirkwood

and Glasgow, Delaware. Maneuvering always to turn Washington1s

flank, Howe drove on in two columns. On the 8th, Howe divided

his army into three columns, the first under Cornwallis, the

second under Grant, and the third under Knyphausen. The Stirn

Brigade and the Combined Battalion were part of the latter

group, which had the mission of protecting the artillery and

supply wagons.— ^

P* 52*

— / Ibid., p. 53 .

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On the 9th the American Army concentrated in a selected po­

sition on the north bank of the Brandywine Creek which blocked

the road to Philadelphia where it crossed the creek at Chad's

Ford. On the 10th, the Combined Battalion encamped near

Kennett Square and at daybreak on the 11th marched out with the

entire army toward the Brandywine. While the Knyphausen Corps

moved on Chad's Ford,General Howe, with the forces of Cornwallis

and Grant, began a flanking movement to the northwest, crossing

the Brandywine about six miles upstream at Jeffries Ford.

At Chad's Ford, Knyphausen found himself confronted by

"batteries and entrenchments, while just below the ford the

,21/ stream became a torrent, pent in between high, steep cliffs."—

The Combined Battalion and the Donop Regiment formed in the

center along the main road at the ford, while the 4th, 5 th,

2?th, and 49th British Regiments spread out over the lowlands

south of the road. The Leib and Mirbach Regiments, with the

23rd, 28th, 4oth, and 55th British Regiments, formed in a line

on the heights north of the road. The artillery was posted

on the high ground to cover all of the force. The 28th Regi­

ment moved north to cover Brinton's Ford, the next place up­

stream where a crossing could be made, and the 71st Regiment

and the l6th Dragoons were positioned to cover the right

21 — '/ Fortescue, op. cit., p. 213-

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ’A\ BRINTONS \W^

V s v f / 28th ^ ! /

23 r ^ ■''”' 55th ^ " 40th% ... 71st Baggage*^ SJ ^^bach' V;!y it . r |^ jCHAD s 'Vponop S T l\ 4th@ f U '/,* V ? th ®

1st Bat.

7 1 V * < Dragoons Jaegers and /■• Rangers

POSITION OF THE UNITS OF THE KNYPHAUSEN CORPS Assault across the Brandywine Septem ber 11, 1777

FIGUBE 16

1t • Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 138

flank.—

By four o'clock the attack of Howe's flanking column

could he heard on the left and at five o'clock Knyphausen

ordered a general assault against the Americans across the

ford, which he led himself. According to Baurmeister,

After crossing, the troops attacked them furiously, partly with the bayonet. The enemy's left wing began to fall back, and we took the battery. Our regiments, which pushed across one by one, gained one height after another, from which the enemy withdrew. They withstood one more rather severe attack behind some houses and ditches in front of their left wing. Finally, we saw the entire enemy line and four guns, which fired frequently, drawn up on another height in front of a dense forest, their right wing resting on the Chester Road. £3/

The Stirn Brigade was the last to cross the creek and the

Combined Battalion, therefore, suffered few casualties.

However, casualties were otherwise heavy. The British

lost eight officers and seventy-three men killed and forty-

five officers and 4ll men wounded. The Germans lost eight 2k J men killed and four officers and twenty-eight men wounded.— '

American losses numbered about a thousand, including kOO

prisoners.

Due to exhaustion and the gathering darkness, the British

were unable to effectively pursue the retreating Americans and

— / Baurmeister, op. cit., p. 108.

^ Ibid., p. 109.

2k/ s —' Fortescue, op. cit., p. 216.

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bivouacked on the battlefield. Moreover, elements of Howe's

flanking force had become scattered in the woods and straggled

in all during the night.

At sunrise on the 12th the Combined Battalion was detailed

to bury the dead and on the following day escorted the sick and

wounded to Wilmington, where a hospital was to be established.

Also in the column were 350 American prisoners. On the march

the von Lossberg Company destroyed a rebel supply dump which

was accidentally discovered. Colonel MacDonald and his High­

landers took the town of Wilmington on the night of the l4th in

a surprise attack. The Combined Battalion camped on a hill

"behind the town" on the evening of the 15th. Colonel von

Loos was designated commander of the area and received the

Mirbach Regiment to reinforce his position. He ordered for­

tifications to be constructed because of shortage of artillery 25/ and reports of large American forces in the area.—

Howe pursued Washington across the Schuylkill and occu­

pied Philadelphia on the 25th. During this time, the Combined

Battalion improved the fortifications around Wilmington and

sent out foraging parties which brought back cattle and other

foodstuffs. On October 13, 300 convalescents were landed at

25/ — Heusser, op. cit., p. 5^-*

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Wilmington from hospital ships and Colonel von Loos' force

with the American prisoners were loaded on the same vessels.

The entire corps was transferred to transports in the Dela­

ware on the l6th, the Combined Battalion boarding the America,

the Jenny, and the Bird. Moving up the Delaware, the America,

with Colonel von Loos on board., ran aground, and its passen­

gers were transferred to the Lively. On the l8th, the corps

disembarked near Chester and marched through Darby to a camp 26/ four miles from Philadelphia on the Schuylkill River.—

The Combined Battalion was part of the escort for a

quartermaster detachment which returned for supplies at

Chester on the 20th that was attacked by a force of about

100 Americans. In the action which saw the Americans driven

off, one man of the von Lossberg Company was wounded.

On the 22nd, Colonel von Loos' brigade crossed the

Schuylkill and moved into a camp near Middle Ferry, about

a mile outside Philadelphia.

Heusser reports with dismay the attack on Fort Redbank

on the 22nd. This was one of the key forts in the Delaware

with which the Americans had been successfully blocking the

passage of British ships upstream to Philadelphia. The

attack, carried out by Hessian forces under the command

— / Ibid,, pp. 55-56.

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of Colonel von Donop, was beaten off with heavy losses to the

attackers. On the same day, it was learned in Philadelphia 27/ that Burgoyne had surrendered at Saratoga.—

In the assault on Fort Redbank the former von Lossberg

grenadier company saw action as p^rt of the von Minnigerode

Grenadier Battalion and suffered heavy casualties. Karl Vogt

mentions Grenadiers Kanke, Sassenberg and Haste as being

killed, but none of these men appear on the rolls of the 28 / company.— ' Lt. Hille, who hsd been temporarily assigned

back to his old company, was wounded in the action. Many

highranking Hessian officers were killed, including Colonel

von Donop himself. The Mirbach Regiment suffered 377 casual­

ties, including Colonel von Schieck, who had been commander 29/ of the Combined Battalion after Trenton.—

On November 2; the Combined Battalion was ordered to es­

cort an expedition from Philadelphia to Chester for the pur­

pose of bringing back supplies past the American river blockade.

Some fifty flatboats slipped down the Schuylkill under the

cover of darkness, past Mud Island, and finally reached the

British fleet anchored off Chester. On the way they had been

— ■/ Ibid., pp. 56-57*

28 —' / Karl Vogt, "Das Kombinierte Batallion: Das Rintelner Regiment von Lossberg im amerikanischen Unabhangigkeitskreig," Schaumburger Heimatblatter, (1957), P- ^2 .

29/ Baurmeister, op. cit., p. 126.

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sighted by an American patrol craft, so the flatboats were

detained at Chester for two days, returning without incident

on a "dark and stormy" night. ^

As the month of November went by, the cold weather set

in and imposed a hardship on the troops of the Combined Bat­

talion and the rest of the German forces, who were "impatiently

waiting for their winter clothing." All the woolen breeches 31/ had been left in New York, according to Baurmeister.— '

On November 25, Colonel von Woellwarth arrived from Ger­

many with a contingent of replacements. The Colonel was given

command of the Combined Battalion and proceeded to reorganize

it into two battalions, henceforth known as the Woellwarth

Brigade.-^/

During the action at Whitemarsh on December 5, in which

Howe attempted to precipate an engagement with Washington

northwest of Philadelphia, the Woellworth Brigade, along with

the two Ansbach battalions, the depleted Mirbach Regiment, and

five British regiments, remained in Philadelphia to protect the

city

■2^/ Heusser, op. cit., p. 126.

^ Baurmeister, op. cit., p. 126.

— ■I Heusser, op. cit., p. 59*

^ Max von Eelking, Die deutschen Hulfstruppen im nordameri- kanischen Befreiungskriege, 1776 bis 1783. (Hanover: Helwing, I863), I, P. 155.

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On December 30, the Woellworth Brigade and all of Howe's

army moved into winter quarters in Philadelphia, of which

Heusser wrote that,

The town is so large that it absorbs our troops without giving the appearance of a mili­ tary garrison at all. Many of the inhabitants have fled their beautiful houses, which now serve as quarters for the soldiers. 3 V

The troops of the Woellwarth Brigade finally received new

winter uniforms early in January, 1778, and life in Philadelphia

apparently became reasonably pleasant for the Germans. The occu­

pation army was plentifully supplied by sea after the fall of

Fort Mercer and the breaking of the American blockade of the

Delaware late in November, 1777. In addition, fowl, eggs, fresh

meat, and choice vegetables were brought into the city by local

farmers eager for sterling instead of paper money. That winter

in Philadelphia was also the most brilliant social season the 35/ city had ever known." Except for occasional foraging expedi­

tions and skirmishes with American patrols, the British and Ger­

man soldiers were able to devote most of their time to their own

pleasures and comforts while Washington's men were enduring ex­

treme hardships less than twenty miles away at Valley Forge.

On January 28 most of the junior officers who had been cap­

tured at Trenton came to Philadelphia on parole. The Lossberg

34/ •=— Heusser, loc. cit.

f. e. Whitton, The American War of Independence (London: Murray, 1931)> P* 2lF!

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. officers included Lieutenants Schwabe, Moeller, and Hole, and

Ensigns von Zengen, Graebe, and Hendorff. On February 20, the

senior officers were returned. These included Lt. Colonel

Scheffer, Major von Hanstein, and Captains von Altenbockum and

Steding. Also returned at this time were Lieutenants Piel and

Discipline among the Germans was good in Philadelphia and

desertions were low. Baurmeister wrote the Landgrave on Janu­

ary 20, 1778 that,

The spectacle of Hessian troops on watch, church, and pay parades in completely new uniforms is applauded by everyone. 31/

He also later wrote,

The Hessian troops, including the artillery, are holding daily drills in firing. At present there are only fifteen wounded and twenty-five sick in the hospital. It is difficult to conceive of an army in such exce’" ' dition and such order as the army in this

On the fourth of May all of the Hessian troops in Philadel­

phia paraded in full dress before General and Admiral Howe. Their

strength at this time was given at 119 officers, hl2 non-commis­

sioned officers, 1^5 musicians, 2,985 men, and ninety horses. Of

this total, twenty-three officers, ninety-nine non-commissioned

officers, twenty-one musicians and 53& men belonged to the Woell-

warth Brigade.-^/

Heusser, op. cit., p. 6l.

Bauimeister, op. cit., p. 153-

^2/ Ibid., p. 169.

with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1^5

On May 7, a transport with replacements from Hesse arrived

and it was learned that France was about to go to war with

England.^/ On the 8th, General Sir Henry Clinton arrived from

England to take over the command of General Sir William Howe,

whose resignation had finally been accepted by the King. The

farewell party given in Howe's honor on the l8 th completely

astounded the Hessians by its pomp and cost.

On May 13, the recently paroled officers of the Trenton

affair were returned their pledges not to fight by General

Washington and were therefore reassigned for dirty with the

Woellwarth Brigade. In the action of the 19th and 20th against

Lafayette's probing maneuver, the Woellwarth Brigade remained

alone in the city, "on the alert by their rifles in the market­

place.

On May 2k, General Howe embarked for England and it was

learned that Philadelphia would soon be evacuated, a develop­

ment that caused great consternation among both the troops

and the inhabitants. Clinton, ascertaining that his transports

were insufficient to carry both his army and the some 3,000

refugees who demanded his protection, decided to move part of

his army overland to New York.^/ Another consideration in

this decision was the news that France had declared war and

Heusser, o£. cit., pp. 61-62.

Heusser, o£. cit., p. 62. k2/ —' Fortescue, op. cit., p. 253-

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. that the French fleet was "bound for America.

Advance units crossed the Delaware on May 30 in prepara­

tion for the evacuation. Heusser reports that on June 9, "The

Ansbach and Bayreuth Regiments were loaded on ships, as experi­

ence has shown that both regiments do not march well. They 43 / have many men sick and exhausted after even short marches."— '

On the 11th the Woellwarth Brigade was ordered to load only

its sick on ships and the troops of the Combined Battalion there­

by realized that they would be making the- march across Jersey.

On the 12th the wagons were ferried across the Delaware and

were followed by the horses and artillery on the next day. On kk/ the lUth the vessels at the wharfs and in drydock were burned.— '

On the evening of the 15"th, the Combined Battalion, now designated

as part of the Loos Brigade for the march, was ferried to Jersey

and marched three miles to Newton Township where they camped for

the night.

At three in the morning of the l8th, the remaining British

troops in Philadelphia were quietly withdrawn from the lines out­

side the city and ferried across the Delaware to Gloucester. This

operation took place so quickly that, to the inhabitants, the

^ Heusser, op. cit., p. 6 3.

itV ™ d -

with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. li* 7 I4.5 / British appeared to have vanished.—^ Clinton set up his head­

quarters that evening in Haddonfield.

At sunrise on the 20th, Clinton's entire army, some 15,000

strong, moved to the northeast toward Mount Holly, which it

reached by nightfall. Clinton was able to use the Delaware River

as protection for his left flank because it paralleled his line

of march for the first few days. At Blackhorse, on the 22nd,

Clinton split his army into two columns. General von Knyphausen

took charge of a force made up of ten battalions and the 17th

Dragoons which guarded the baggage at the head of the march.

Clinton himself took command of the fourteen battalions and

the 16th Dragoons which formed the rear guard.— '

Washington left Valley Forge on June 18 with 13,500 men

on a forcedmarch aimed at getting him between Clinton's column

and Hew York. He succeeded and made initial contact with the

British advance party near Allenstown, ten miles east of Trenton,

on the 23rd. This forced Clinton to turn his column of 1,500

wagons, which occupied twelve miles of road, to the east toward

Sandy Hook instead of attempting to force his way to Brunswick,

his original destination.-^ However, Washington again moved

to intercept Clinton's line of march, and the opposing forces

again met near Monmouth Court House on the 28th.

its/ Whitton, op. cit., p. 225.

Fortescue, op. cit., pp. 253-251*.

Whitton,cp. cit., p. 226.

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Up to this point, Heusser wrote that two corporals and

eight men of the von Lossherg Company deserted on the march.

Because of the extreme heat, "Almost one-third of our people

dropped out of ranks and lay sick by the road." On the after­

noon of the 26th a violent thunderstorm hit the Hessians and

lightning killed Doth of Lt. Colonel Scheffer's horses near his

tent.-^/ Concerning the deserters, Baurmeister observed that

the British deserters were mostly former prisoners of the

Americans and that the Hessian deserters were more native

Hessians than "foreigners," subjects of other German states ks/ impressed into the service of the Landgrave.— '

Due to the exhaustion of the troops, General Clinton

designated the 27th as a day of rest at Monmouth Court House.

Heusser reports that the Loos Brigade, which had been the

rear guard of Knyphausen's column for several days, was at­

tacked by about a hundred Americans in the evening of the 27th,

suffering several casualties At four in the morning of the 28th, Clinton sent Knyp-

hausen toward Sandy Hook with the wagons and a large escort

which included the Loos Brigade. The von Lossbergers thus

missed the action at Monmouth on that day, in which Clinton

successfully kept the Americans away from his baggage train.

Heusser, op. cit., pp. 6^-6 5 .

Baurmeister, op. cit., p. 185 .

Heusser, op. cit., p. 6 5 .

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On the march, many men were again overcome by the heat. Khyp-

hausen's force camped near Shrewsbury that night and reached

the Highlands of Navesink at noon on the 29th. During the march

from Philadelphia the Loos Brigade had seventy-two desertions,

of which two corporals and eighteen men were from the von Loss-

berg Company.—51/ 1

During the period 3-6 July, Clinton's entire army crossed

a hastily-constructed pontoon bridge to a camp on Sandy Hook.

On the 6th, the von Lossberg Company boarded the Diana and

reached New York City at six in the evening. On the 7th, they

were transported to Staten Island. On the following day, for

some reason not ascertainable, the Loos Brigade marched over­

land to Fort Lee and crossed the Hudson to Fort Knyphausen, 52/ arriving on the 8th.— On this date the French fleet arrived

to block the entrance to the bay.

On the 19th, many prisoners returned from captivity. The

von Lossberg Company received nineteen corporals, three field

surgeons, three drummers, and 109 men. On the 22nd, the von

Lossberg Regiment was formally reestablished as a regiment of 53/ the Loos Brigade.— “

^ Ibid., p. 66.

^ Ibid.

^ Ibid., p. 67.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission ANEW YORK

TRENTON/

PHILADELP Brandywine LMINGTON

BALTIMORE

ANNAPOLIS 9 0 }

MOVEMENTS OF THE COMBINED BATTALION

July 9, 1777-July 6,1778

FIGURE 17

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER IX

CALAMITY AT SEA

The French fleet under d'Estaing was unable to force an

action with the British fleet in New York harbor and sailed

away to Newport late in July. The month of August, 1778, was

a relatively quiet one for the British and German troops in

the New York area. A fire of considerable proportions in the

city on the 3rd and the explosion of an ammunition ship in the

harbor as a result of lightning on the Lth were the only events 1/ noted by Heusser. \ On the 5th, five corporals^and forty men of the old Rail

Brigade were returned from captivity. From this group the von

Lossberg Regiment received four corporals and eight men. On

the l6th, forty-seven more prisoners returned, of which the von

Lossberg Regiment got one drummer and five men. On the 26th a

small shipment of Hessian recruits arrived in New York with the

Cork fleet, from which three men were assigned to the von Lossberg

Regiment.^" With the exception of occasional sorties by the jaegers

and light troops from the Kingsbridge area, there was little mili-

■i/ Georg Ludwig Christian Heusser, Journal des Hochloblichen Fusi­ lier Regiment von alt-Lossberg...1778-1783 (original manuscript),

u Ibid.

with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 152

tary activity during the month. In the middle of the month the

Hessians were mustered and paraded on several occasions, prompt­

ing Baurmeister to write to the Landgrave that, "I sincerely wish

that your Lordship could see the excellent condition of these

regiments," mentioning specific Hessian Battalions which, in his

opinion, "can he matched against any other command."—'..3/

The first week of September saw twenty more transports ar­

rive from Cork bringing eight months provisions and some 500

English, 200 Ansbach, and 100 Waldeck recruits. Nineteen sol­

diers had died at sea and many others required immediate hospital­

ization.-^/

On the 22nd and 23rd a two-pronged foray against the Ameri­

cans was carried out. One column under Knyphausen crossed into

New Jersey opposite Fort Independence and advanced to the Phillips

House, where the general made his headquarters. Another column under

Cornwallis crossed the Hudson and moved southward into New Jersey

in an attempt to surprise American units near Elizabethtown and

Hackensack. Neither of these moves were particularly successful

3/ Bernard A. Uhlendorf, Revolution in America; Confidential Letters and Journals of Adjutant General Baurmeister of the Hessian Forces (New Brunswick; Rutgers University Press, 1957)5 P • 198• Hereafter referred to as Baurmeister.

y Max von EeIking, Die deutschen Hiilfstruppen im nordamerikanischen Befreiungskriege, 1776 bis 1783. (Hanover: Helving, 1863), I, p. 159.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission 1 5 3

due to the efficiency of the American intelligence system. During

the operation the von Lossberg Regiment was left in a dangerous

position. Nearly all of Clinton’s available forces were committed

to the action and Baurmeister points out that,

A daring troop of two hundred dragoons could at any time have alarmed the redoubts and the country, for only Colonel von Loos' brigade and two companies of De Lancey's Volunteers remained posted at Fort Iftiyphausen, and they did duty in the redoubts as well. 'J2

On October 10, 279 prisoners returned from captivity, five

corporals, one drummer and eighty-seven men to the von Lossberg

Regiment. On the 30th, Heusser noted that the Woellwarth and Wis-

senbach Regiments received embarkation orders and were presumably

bound for the VJest Indies.^/

On tpe 9th of November, the von Lossberg Regiment moved into

winter quarters near Marston's wharf. Houses were provided for the

staff officers, but the rest of the officers and men had to construct

shelter for themselves. Baurmeister recorded that,

The Hessian regiments are moving into miserable quar­ ters in huts. There is much delay in delivering the most necessary materials and tools to build quarters, and they are supplied in insufficient quantities; nor are there many boards, nails, and entrenching tools in the magazines. ->

Heusser noted that, "Our situation is so poor that, instead of bread,

we received oat flour with which to bake our own."-^/ However, the

5/ — ' Heusser, loc. cit.

^ Ibid, , p . 6 9. 7/ — ' Baurmeister, op. cit., p. 231.

y Heusser, loc. cit.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission situation apparently improved as Baurmeister wrote in December

that j

The Barracks Office has supplied each regiment with sufficient mattresses, straw sacks, sheets, covers, lights, straw, and woolen gloves. The huts have been built so solidly and made so waterproof that most of them are to be preferred to the drafty houses. 2J

On January 13, 1779, Major General von Bose arrived in New

York from Newport and took command of the units which had made up

the Loos Brigade.-^/ During the first two weeks of the year the

weather turned bad. Baurmeister wrote,

The storms have been terrible, and also the sub­ sequent cold spell and the deep snow. All of it was as strange to us as it was unpleasant...Some twenty transports and smaller vessels were entirely destroyed by the ice which the ebb tide brought down the North River into the harbor...how cold it was can be appreciated from the fact that wild geese and ducks froze to death by the thousands on the shores of Long and Staten Islands. They were most greedily eaten by the soldiers and the in­ habitants, for the provisions had become very low. There was no more flour, and the small amount of good oatmeal d did not make wholesome biscuits

The Adjutant General also opined that the troops,

Accustomed to getting their provisions regularly and unable to procure anything extra, were virtually at the end of their patience, especially since most of them were living in huts during this bitter cold

Baurmeister, op. cit■, pp. 236-237.

10/ EeIking } og. cit., p. 172.

Baurmeister, op. cit., pp. 21+7-2^8.

with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission 155

weather and were doing heavy field duty regardless of privation and hardship. He added in a note to the Landgrave that, for this reason, desertions were increasing, j-±J

However, the situation changed abruptly with the arrival of

the Cork provision fleet in the middle of the month. On the 17th,

the von Lossberg and Knyphausen Regiments exchanged quarters with

the Grenadier Battalions von Linsing and von Lengercke, a move

that was decidedly beneficial to the former and unpleasant for

the latter units. The new quarters of the Lossbergers were on

the East River in New York City and the nature of their daily du- 13/ ties enabled them to have a much more comfortable existence.— '

On January 28 the Erb Prinz Regiment was transferred from

Long Island to New York and united with the Lossberg and Knyp­

hausen Regiments to form a new brigade under the command of

Colonel Carl Wilhelm von Hachenberg.-^/

All of the Hessian regiments were again mustered and paraded

before Clinton, causing Baurmeister to comment to the Landgrave

that, "A mere description cannot suffice to tell your Lordship of

the fit condition of the regiments and grenadier battalions and

of the good appearance that every soldier makes. Moreover, only

^ Ibid., p. 2^8.

13/ — ' Heusser, op. cit., pp. 70-71.

Ik I —' Colonel von Hachenberg eventually became a Major General and served in the New York area until his death on August 27, 1783-

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. a few are sick at present."-^

On May 6 , Baurmeister noted that Lt. Ludwig von Gluer of the

von Lossberg Regiment committed suicide by shooting himself in New

York City, apparently due to mismanagement of his financial affairs

A relative newcomer to the von Lossberg Regiment, Heusser made no

mention of Gluer's death in his journal.

All was relatively quiet in the New York area until a large

force of British and German troops, including the former von Loss­

berg Grenadier Company serving in the von Minnigerode Grenadier

Battalion, took Stony Point on June 1. It was stormed by the

Americans under Wayne on July l6 and then abandoned to the British

again. No Hessians were present in the latter action.

On August 19, an American force under Major Henry Lee made

a surprise attack on Paulus Hook and captured all of the garrison

except forty to fifty Hessians who blockaded themselves in a block­

house and refused to surrender. These men were of the von Hacken-

berg Brigade under the command of Captain von Schallern. Among

them were Ensign Kress and at least eight men of the von Lossberg

Regiment, who were subsequently commended by Clinton for their

resoluteness.-^-^

15/ Baurmeister, op. cit., pp. 258-259.

16/ Ibid., p . 274.

11/ Karl Vogt, "Als Besatzung in Kanada: Das Rintelner Regiment von Lossberg im amerikanischen Unabhangigkeitskriege," Schaumburger Heimatblatter (1957), p. Ul.

with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Early in September, the von Lossberg Regiment, the Kynp-

hausen Regiment and the ^ t h British Regiment were placed under

the command of Colonel von Loos and ordered transferred to

Canada. On the 8th the contingent prepared for embarkation.

Loaded aboard the King George were Colonel von Loos, Captain

Krafft, Lieutenants Schwabe and Piel, Ensigns Graebe and Kress,

Quartermaster Heusser, the men of the Loos and Scheffer Com­

panies, and the von Lossberg regimental artillery detachment.

On the Adamant were Major von Hanstein, Captain Steding, Cap­

tain von Wurmb, Lt. Moeller, Ensigns von Zengen, Rathemann, and

Waldeck, and the Leib and von Hanstein Companies of the von

Lossberg Regiment. Aboard the Badger were Captain von Alten-

bockum, Lt. Zoll, Ensigns Hendorff, Waldschmidt, and Koven,

Regimental Surgeon Oliva, and the Altenbockum Company of the

von Lossberg Regiment. At the time of its departure from New

York, the von Lossberg contingent was made up of twenty offi­

cers, sixty-two non-commissioned officers, five field surgeons,

eighteen musicians, UO^ men, thirty servants, twenty-five

women, and twelve children — in all, 576 people

At ten o'clock on the morning of September 9> 1779j 'the

entire fleet of twenty-two transports and many warships includ­

ing the King George and the Springfield put to sea, anchoring

Heusser, op. cit, pp. 7^-75-

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 158

again off Sandy Hook later that afternoon. The following morn­

ing the captains were all informed that their destination was

Quebec and, on the 11th, the fleet set sail. The Adamant and

Badger were assigned positions in the middle of the line of

transports and the King George brought up the rear.

Four days out, a violent storm of hurricane proportions hit

the fleet, scattering the vessels and forcing some of the smaller

craft to display distress signals. Heusser reported that, "Nobody had

a dry bed and we were unable to cook."-^^ Even the seamen were dis­

mayed, indicating that they had never been subjected to a storm of

such magnitude. No sails could withstand the wind and the vessels

were therefore unable to navigate and the rudders were bound. By

noon of the 15 th, most of the vessels were dismasted and wallowing

in the huge waves. Heusser wrote,

We could no longer determine whether the water came from the clouds or the ocean. The clouds and the ocean seemed to be one and the same. Wave after wave smashed over the ship, each more terrible than the pre­ vious. All of our livestock and poultry were swept overboard. The portholes of the cabins were broken and everything became soaked with water. We were therefore compelled to shutter the portholes and light lanterns. The wind and waves buffeted the ships with such intensity that we feared the ship would split up and sink at any moment. 22/

Considering that Heusser was aboard the warship King George,

one of the larger vessels in the fleet, it is not difficult to

22/ iMi.

with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1 5 9

imagine what the situation was on hoard some of the smaller

transports, which were little more than sloops.

Other journals relate the indescribable hardships of

that mid-September storm. Captain Wiederhold, on board the

Triton, vividly described the destruction wrought by five

cannon which had come loose from their moorings on the deck

of the vessel. The crew would do nothing about it and

Wiederhold led a party of soldiers who finally managed to get

the guns over the side, but only after several men, including

Wiederhold himself, were hurt by the crushing weight of the

rampaging guns. Then the pumps broke down and the soldiers

were required to bail, even though most of them were deathly

sick. One soldier was washed overboard and appeared to be

moving away to his doom when a huge wave deposited him back

on the deck of the Triton. At the height of the storm the

captain and crew of the vessel attempted to launch one of

the boats and abandon their passengers. Wiederhold, however,

placed them under arrest and took command of the ship himself,

confining the captain below deck. Then he ordered the already 21/ damaged boats thrown overboard.—

The storm abated somewhat on the l6th and the weather

turned clear on the 17th. Most of the vessels had been driven

Andreas Wiederhold, Tagebuch des Hauptmannes Wiederhold, 1776-1780 (copy of original manuscript), p. 6 2.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. to the area, of 37 degrees north latitude, roughly that of the

Virginia capes and some three degrees south of New York, but

the captains ha.d no idea of the longitude.^/

Emergency repairs were undertaken throughout the scat­

tered fleet, which began the attempt to regain the port of New

York. Heusser reports sighting many dismasted vessels on the

l8th and 19th and some nine ships collected around the King

George on the latter date, one of which was the Springfield.

Most of the surviving ships made it back to New York by October

1, but many individual vessels had encounters with American

privateers and did not return until as late as the 12th.

The Triton was captured and taken into Egg Harbor in New

Jersey where Captain Wiederhold and his men of the Knyphausen

Regiment were made prisoners. They were marched through Phila­

delphia to Reading, where they remained until December, 1780,

when they were exchanged.— ^ The Molly, which carried another

part of the von piyphausen Regiment, was also captured and taken

to Philadelphia.

The Badger did not arrive in New York until October 12. It

had lost its masts in the hurricane, been severely damaged in a

Edward J. Lowell, The Hessians and the other German Auxil­ iaries of Great Britain in the Revolutionary War (New York: Harper, l8Sk), pp. 23A-235 .

Ibid. , p . 237*

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. l 6 l

collision with the Clementine, and then captured by an American

privateer. During this latter incident Captain von Altenbockum

was permitted to remain on the Badger because he was sick, but

Lt. Zoll, and Ensigns Hendorff, Waldschmidt and von Koven were

taken aboard the enemy vessel as prisoners. However, on the fol­

lowing day the British frigate Soleby took both vessels and es- 2 kf corted the Badger to New York.— '

Nothing was ever heard again of the Adamant, which must

have gone down in the hurricane with all hands. Major von Han­

stein and the other officers aboard were carried on the rolls for

many years and were not officially given up for lost until I78U.

Both the Hanstein and Leib Companies of the von Lossberg Regiment

were thus wiped out and, for a time, the regiment consisted only

of the Loos, Scheffer, and Altenbockum Companies.

The surviving troops of the Lossberg and Knyphausen Regiments

were temporarily quartered in New York City. On October 15 they

were assigned winter quarters in a large area around Herrichs on

Long Island, where they proceeded to march after a difficult

crossing of the East River. ^ Of the strategy behind this dis­

position of forces, Baurmeister wrote in New York on November 8 ,

Because of the inactivity of the army through sickness. General Clinton must also take every

^ Eelking; oj>. cit., p. 187.

25/ Heusser, op. cit., p. 8l.

with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 162

precaution to cover this island and doth Staten Island and have enough troops ready to oppose ef­ fectively every attempt on the newly-fortified line. Hence, most of the troops on Long Island are quartered so as to he ahle to land on Throg's Neck and gain the enemy's left flank between East Chester and Morrisania while a successful sally is made from the new works. 26/

Heusser wrote of the Long Island quarters as follows:

Our winter quarters on this most beautiful and fertile island would have been very pleasant if it hadn't been such an unusual winter. It was so cold that the East River froze over and we had to prepare for nightly attacks from the rebels in Connecticut. Every night we had to stand guard until dawn. Since the regiment had only a few officers, it was doubly hard on them.

Heusser also noted that Captain von Altenbockum broke

his arm during the winter.^/

Illness continued to take a heavy toll of the troops in

the New York area, throughout the winter of 1779-1780. Baur­

meister complained to the Landgrave,

If only this pernicious ague and putrid fever would let up, General Clinton could undertake a great deal with the troops. But the misery prevail­ ing here cannot be described; it must be seen. Many officers and servants are sick in bed. How the poor subalterns, almost all of whom are in this miserable situation, can stand it is more than I know. Having to pay double to be nursed by stran- fers, procuring fresh food at the highest prices, medicine— all these are inevi­ table worries.

/ 26 Baurmeister, op. cit., p. 311•

Baurmeister, 0£. cit., p. 313*

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1 6 3

Weather conditions grew even worse in January, 1780, and

complicated Clinton's defense of the area. Baurmeister noted

that the ice was eleven feet thick between Fort George and

Paulus Hook, a condition which forced Clinton to reinforce

the garrison on Staten Island by stripping Long Island of

troops. This worked an additional hardship on the men of 29/ the von Lossberg Regiment.— '

On April 1, the regiment received new embarkation crders

and moved from Herrichs to Flushing where it occupied cottages

vacated by the Brown Corps.The embarkation order was re­

ceived with great consternation by the troops. It was by this

time realized that the other two companies of the Lossberg

Regiment and portions of the Knyphausen and i+Lth Regiments

had been lost at sea during the storm of the previous September.

Moreover, they had learned first-hand about life on British

transports. Baurmeister wrote, "The soldiers are now twice

as unwilling to board a ship, especially since the British

are not keeping the transports in good repair and are over­

crowding them;

On May 13 the von Lossberg Regiment marched to Jamaica

to new quarters. The regimental baggage was transported from

£2/ Ibid. , p. 337.

Hausser, loc. cit.

31/ Baurmeister, op. cit., p. 323-

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. here to the ships assigned to them at Brooklyn. On the 15th,

Colonel von Loos, Captain Krafft, Lt. Piel, Ensign Graebe,

Quartermaster Heusser, the Loos Company, most of the Scheffer

Company, and the artillery detachment boarded the James and

William, a transport of sufficient tonnage to be considered

a good ship at that time. Captain von Altenbockum, Lt.

Schwabe, Ensign Recordon, Surgeon Oliva, all of Captain

Altenbockum's Company and the rest of the Scheffer Company

boarded the Felicity, a somewhat smaller vessel. On the morn­

ing of May IT the fleet of thirty ships, which also carried

the remnants of the Knyphausen Regiment, the^Uth Regiment, and 32/ replacements for the Brunswick Regiment, set sail.— '

On the afternoon of the 31^, Louisburg on the coast of

Nova Scotia was sighted. After a week of contrary winds the

fleet finally gained the entrance to the Gulf of St. Lawrence

on June 9th. They passed Anticosti Island on the 13th and

reached an anchorage in the St. Lawrence River off Riviere

du Loup on the 23rd. The harbor of Quebec was entered on the

25 th and the entire von Lossberg Regiment was disem.ba.rked on the 33/ 27th and marched to their quarters in Beauport before noon.— '

32/ Heusser, op. cit., pp. 83-84.

33/ Heusser, op. cit., pp. 90-91-

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER X

CANADA

Quartermaster Heusser's journal provides the major source

for knowledge of the activities of the von Lossberg Regiment

in Canada during the last three years of its service in North

America.

On June 30, 1780, Colonel von Loos was promoted to the

rank of Brigadier General, a position which Heusser wrote,

apparently much impressed, "Pays forty-five shillings a day."

General von Loos selected Ensign Ritter of the Knyphausen

Regiment to be his Brigade Major, a position which paid fif­

teen shillings a day. In a subsequent order, General von

Loos was given command of all German troops in the Quebec

area.-'1/

In July, several men of the von Lossberg Regiment de­

serted, but were quickly apprehended. On the 19th, an

English Major named Holland inspected the Lossberg and

Georg Ludwig Christian Heusser, Journal des Hochloblichen Fusilier Regiment von alt-Lossberg...177^-1783 (original manuscript), p. 92.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 166

Knyphausen Regiments, for what purpose Heusser does not say.

On the 27th, the deserters were court-martiailed and sentenced

to run a 200-man gantlet twenty-four times during a two-day

period. During the first two weeks of August many British

ships arrived at Quebec from England with supplies. Losses

to American and French privateers were heavy, hut two of the

marauding enemy vessels were captured by the frigate Hind dur­

ing the period.^/

On August 22, the Lossberg, Knyphausen, and l*l*th Regiments

were combined into a new brigade and moved into a camp on the

Plains of Abraham. Also moved into this camp were the 31st

Regiment, the Hanau Regiment, and two companies of Brunswick

troops. This entire contingent was placed under General von

Loos with orders to defend the town from the west while at 3/ the same time constructing a new system of fortifications.-'

In September desertions continued, some from the Lossberg

Regiment. All were caught, however, and given the same punish­

ment as was previously meted out. On the 25 th, all of the troops

in General von Loos’ command marched before him in a dress parade.

% Ibid., p. 93.

^ Max von Eelking, Die deutschen Hiilfstruppen im nordamerikani- schen Befreiungskriege, 1776 bis 17B3 . (fe^ver: Helving, I863), I, pp. 21*5-21*6.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Heusser reported that, "During September it rained continually

and it is amazing that our people didn't all get sick as they

were sleeping on the wet ground without any straw to protect k/ them from the moisture.^-J

French agents did their work well among the French-speak­

ing inhabitants of the area. According to Eelking, "The fear

of insurrection kept the soldiers busy as armed police, and

the prisons were soon filled with suspects and men accused of

treason or sympathy for the enemy." On many occasions Cana­

dians thought guilty of comspiracy were taken to a cathedral

and forced to listen to a long high mass and then to ask par­

don of the King, Church, and God. During all this they had

ropes around their necks. ^

In November, the U^th and Knyphausen Regiments were as­

signed winter quarters in Quebec, but the Lossberg Regiment

was ordered to winter on the Isle of Orleans in the St. Law­

rence. On the 10th,the Lossberg Regiment left Quebec before

sunrise and boarded a vessel called the Canseau. However, a

contrary wind prevented sailing downstream to Orleans and the

troops disembarked at noon and were transported to their

Heusser, op. cit., p. Sk.

^ Eelking f o£. cit., p. 2k9.

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\ S T J ~ oHNS D , , ,u . viawm 18 1'JA vrtowTREAL Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. destination on flatboats. On the following day each company

of the regiment marched to a separate village for quarters.

The Loos Company went to St. Pierre, the Altenbockum Company

to St. Jean, and the Scheffer Company to St. Laurent. Lt.

Graebe and Ensign Recordon were detached to the Knyphausen

Regiment because it was short of officers.-'6/

Heusser described the quarters as "very inadequate" and

complained that the only natives who had anything to do with

the Hessians were priests, "not the most pleasant people for

us to associate with." This comment is probably attributable

to the fact that the Lossbergers were Protestants. He added

that, "The common people are the most intolerable creatures

one can imagine. They are rude, very selfish, and ridiculously

proud.

The winter of 1780-1781 was a struggle against the elements

for the officers and men of the von Lossberg Regiment. Heusser

wrote,

Without a fur cap here it is impossible to stand the cold. When a cold north wind blows one can get a frostbitten hand, nose, or ear within minutes. Many of our guards have been frostbitten. Our soldiers, therefore, buy fur caps with the money which they get for working on the fortifications.

In addition, General Haldimand, the British commander in Canada,

^ Heusser, op. cit., pp. 9^-95-

1/ Ibid. , p . 9 5 .

with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission ordered enough heavy cloth issued to make a pair of trousers

for each man in his command. He also saw to it that every man

got a pair of woolen gloves and a woolen blanket to wear as an

overcoat while standing guard. The British also supplied each

Hessian company with fifty pairs of snowshoes, which they 8/ quickly learned to use out of necessity.-'

'With the coming of spring, military activities multiplied

rapidly. On May 13,the Lossberg Regiment sent a fatigue party

of over a hundred men under Captain Krafft to Quebec to renew

work on the fortifications. Another detachment of fifty men

was sent to St. Margarita Island in the St. Lawrence to cut

wood for the garrison at Quebec. On June l 6/ another fatigue

party of sixty men was sent to Quebec, leaving only three offi­

cers and fifty men of the regiment on the Isle of Orleans. On

July 27, the entire regiment was brought together to occupy

summer quarters just west of Quebec. The von Lossberg Regiment

the Knyphausen Regiment, the 31st, and- the IfUth Regiments, all

greatly understrength, were formed into another combined battal

ion to spend the summer working on the fortifications.-'9/

On September 25, Captain Hegemann and Lieutenants Wald-

schmidt and Luder arrived from New York with twenty-seven re-

Ibid.

2/ Ibid., p. 96.

with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission 1 7 1

cruits for the von Lossberg Regiment. Also included was a

private returning from captivity who had been a prisoner of

the Americans since Trenton. At this time word was received

that the Mirbach Regiment in New York would henceforth bear

the name of General von Lossberg. As a result, it became

the Regiment Jung von Lossberg and the original regiment took

the name Alt von Lossberg.^/ Due to the arrival of additional

recruits it was announced that, on October 1, the two missing

companies of the von Lossberg Regiment would be reconstituted.

Captain Krafft would be the commander of the old Hanstein Com­

pany, of which there were still a few of the original members in

tie regiment, and the Leib Company, officially belonging to

General von Loos, would be commanded by Captain Mondorff.^/

However, the implementation of this order was delayed for a

year and a half, finally becoming effective in the spring of

1783.

All of the officers lost by the Alt von Lossberg Regiment

since Trenton had been replaced by October 1, 1781. . Carried on

— f Bernard A. Uhlendorf, Revolution in America: Confidential Letters and Journals of Adjutant General Baurmeister of the Hessian Forces (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1957), P- ^30.

Karl Vogt, "Als Besatzung in Kanada: Das Rintelner Regi­ ment von Lossberg im amerikanischen Unabhangigkeitskreig," Schaumburger Heimatblatter (1957), P*

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 172

the rolls at this time were, according to rank:

1 . General von Lossberg 2 . Colonel von Loos 3- Lt. Colonel Scheffer k. Major von Alten-Bockum 5- Grenadier Captain Mondorff 6 . Fusilier-Captain Krafft 7- Fusilier-Captain Marquard 8 . Fusilier-Captain Schwabe 9- Fusilier-Captain Piel 1 0 . Fusilier-Captain Hegemann 1 1 . First Lt. von Munchhausen 1 2 . First Lt. Zoll 13. First Lt. von Hobe ik. First Lt. von Uslar 15. First Lt. Hille 1 6. Second Lt. Graebe 17- Second Lt. Hendorff 1 8 . Second Lt. Waldschmidt 1 9. Second Lt. Kress, adjutant 2 0 . Second Lt. von Luders 21. Ensign von Koven 2 2 . Ensign Recordon 23. Ensign Muller 2k. Ensign Stegmann 25. Ensign Ronneberg

On October 17 the Alt von Lossberg Regiment was assigned to

winter quarters in the towns of St. Thomas, St. Francois, St.

Pierre, and Berthier on the south shore of the river opposite

Orleans. On the 29th the regiment crossed the St. Lawrence in

flatboats to Pont Levy and reached St. Michel for the night.

Bad weather on the following day kept the Lossbergers from march­

ing any further than St. Valier. Finally, on the 31st, the staff,

the artillery detachment, and the Scheffer Company moved into St.

Thomas, the Loos Company occupied St. Francois and Perthier, and

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1 7 3 12/ the Altenbockum Company took quarters in St. Pierre.— '

The winter of I78I-I782 was another cold one for the offi­

cers and men of the von Lossherg Regiment. The ice in the St.

Lawrence River froze so solidly that a road was built on it

from the city of Quebec to Pont Levy. During this period Lt.

Colonel Scheffer was in a hospital in New York suffering from

gout, and Lieutenants Zoll, Hobe, and Hille were in the same

city representing the regiment at the court martial inquiring

into the affair at Trenton in 1776. In January, 1782, Captain

von Altenbockum was promoted to Major.—13/ '

In March, General von Loos and several officers from his

brigade and the von Lossberg Regiment set out on a. tour of in­

spection of the defensive preparations of all German units in

Canada. They travelled up the north bank of the St. Lawrence

via St. Anne to Trois Rivieres where they conferred with Generals

Clark and Riedesel. From here the entire group crossed the St.

Lawrence and proceeded to Sorel where they inspected the Bruns­

wick Dragoon Regiment and the Berner Battalion which made up

the town's garrison. On the 9th, Generals Riedesel and von

Loos travelled to St. Ours to inspect the Mrth Regiment. General

Haldimand arrived in Sorel on the 10th and personally inspected

12 / Heusser, op. cit■, p. 99*

William S. Stryker, The Battles of Trenton and Princeton (Cambridge: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1898), p. All.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1 7 4

the fortifications in the area. On the 11th, General von Loos'

party travelled by way of Berthier, Lavaltrie, and St. Sulpice,

crossing the river to Pont aux Trembles on the Isle Jac Cartier

and arriving in Montreal on the 12th. After inspecting the area

with the Duke of Brunswick, General Loos' party began the return

to Quebec on the 21st and travelled via Chambly, Beloeil, St.

Charles, St. Denis, St. Ours, to Sorel on the first day. They

reached Quebec via Trois Rivieres and Dechambault on the 28th.

On April 8 , the von Lossberg Regiment sent twenty-five men

to Quebec to work on the fortifications and another fifty men to

the same place on the 22nd. Heusser noted on the 20th that a

von Lossberg surgeon named Guldenpfennig drowned attempting to

cross the St. Lawrence in a canoe.—^15 /

In May, supply ships from New York began coming into Quebec

harbor, much to the relief of the troops. On June 4, the garri­

son at Quebec celebrated the King's birthday with a dress parade

and a twenty-one gun salute. In the evening all the officers

attended a party which, according to Heusser, General Haldimand

was required to give, "because he received 500 Pounds Sterling

from the King for this purpose."^/

Ibid., pp. 101-103.

^ Ibid., p. 103.

^ Ibid.. P- 104.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. On the 11th, two ships from the West Indies arrived at

Quebec with the news of Rodney's victory over the French in

April. A great celebration followed that night in which the

townspeople lit up their houses and the merchants provided

spirits to the troops. The soldiers subsequently proceeded

to break windows in the houses of the French which were not

lit up in celebration of the event.—17/ '

On June 17, the Regiment Alt Lossberg moved into summer

quarters at Pont Levy, opposite Quebec. On the 23rd, a mer­

chant fleet of twenty-six ships escorted by the warships

Assistance and Surprise arrived at Quebec from London. With

it came Brigadier von Loos' promotion to Major General, which

.had been signed on March 18 by the Landgrave in Kassel. The

summer of 1782 was one of routine work on various fortifica­

tions uninterrupted by any significant military activity. On

October 6, a fleet arrived from New York with twenty-four new

recruits for the regiment escorted by Lt. von Uslar. Captain

Krafft and Ensign Ronneberg were ordered by General von Loss­

berg to return with the fleet to New York to pick up men for

the two new companies. On October 8 , the officers and men

of the Lossberg and Khyphausen Regiment were read the results

of the court-martial on the disaster at Trenton. This

^ IMd.

with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission 1 7 6

information, which had arrived with the New York fleet, pro­

vided a lift to the spirits of the officers involved, as they

had been acquitted of any wrong-doing by the verdict. On

October 13, the invalids of the regiment embarked for Europe, 18/ first receiving three months pay and their mustering-out pay.— '

On October 30,the Loos Brigade set out for winter quarters.

The Alt Lossberg Regiment was assigned the villages of St. Thomas,

Cap St. Ignace, and L'Islet on the south shore of the St. Lawrence.

On November 3> the Loos Company occupied L'Islet, the Scheffer

Company took quarters in Cap St. Ignace, and the Altenbockum

Company and the artillery detachment were quartered in St.

Thomas. General von Loos established his winter headquarters

at Cap St. Ignace to command the south shore district from

Kamourasca to Becancour. General Haldimand assigned a schooner

to the von Lossberg Regiment to carry its heavy baggage, but

the vessel ran aground near Cap St. Ignace in heavy weather.

Another ship with supplies for the regiment also ran aground

in the same area.—"19/

In mid-November, Captain Nuppenauer of the Anhalt-Zerbst

Regiment led a detachment of fortification workers through Cap

St. Ignace on the way to their respective winter quarters.

H i d . t pp. IO5 -IO7 .

Ibid., pp. 108-109.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Among them were 150 men of the Lossberg Regiment who were sent

to their various companies. Lt. Uslar and a small group of

men remained in Quebec to work during the winter. On the 27th,

a soldier in this detachment was killed in Quebec by a block

house door which fell on him. General Haldimand ordered a col­

lection raised for his widow and twenty-four pounds was given

to Heusser to send to her.

On February 23, 1783, General von Loos received a dispatch

from General Riedesel warning him that intelligence indicated

the possibility of an American attack on Canada. All posts

were alerted and Indian scouts employed to detect enemy move­

ments. Three days later Loos received word that 1000 Americans

were moving north up Lake Champlain. However, it was soon

learned that this was a feint involved in the unsuccessful

attempt to take Fort Oswego, and the troops returned to their

winter quarters by the beginning of March. Early in this month

a soldier in the Scheffer Company committed suicide outside his

quarters

On the 28th of April a ship of the Royal Navy arrived in

Quebec from Halifax with the news that the war was over.

Heusser reported that,

•, PP. 111-112.

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The Canadians are displeased with some of the terms reported to he included in the treaty. It is easy to sympathize with the local merchants because they face bankruptcy as a result of the peace an­ nouncement. Their warehouses are filled with goods „ / which have immediately lost one-third of their value. —'

On May 2kth a vessel arrived from England with official cor­

respondence for the regiment. Included were orders promoting

Corporal Friedrich Frederking to Ensign. On June 12 the regi­

ment left its winter quarters and moved to Pont Levy where it

was learned on the lit-th that all German troops in Canada had

been ordered to prepare to return to Europe. This news was

received with joy by the officers and most of the men, but

many of the men who had established strong local ties were

troubled by the difficult decision that they faced. On the

23rd,Sergeant-Major Wolf, who had been a prisoner of the

Americans since December 26, 1776, arrived from Halifax. On

July 2h, the Loos Brigade was mustered and paraded before

General Haldimand for the last time. Also on that date, En­

sign Stegman's request for retirement was approved.

On July 31, General von Loos sent the embarkation and

termination of service certificates required by British Army

administrative regulations to General Haldimand and received

O f Ibid., p. 113.

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the following reply which was circulated among the German staff

officers:

Headquarters, Quebec, 2nd of August, 1783

Sir:

I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter and the attached certificates of the regimental commanders of the various National troops under your command. I have thereby been assured that your brigade has no complaints with the treatment your troops have experienced under my command. I ask you, Sir, to in­ form your officers that it has always been my desire to make you and your troops as comfortable as the nature of our duties would permit. I am gratified to learn that you are satisfied with my efforts in your behalf.

Permit me, Sir, to also express on this occasion ray- complete satisfaction with the ardour and attention which you have demonstrated while in the king's service and with the excellent condition and discipline of the troops under your command.

I have the honor, Sir, to be with the greatest respect Your most obedient servant,

Frederic Haldimand

In the evening of August 2, the Alt von Lossberg Regiment

boarded the vessels Vernon, Friends Adventure at Pont Levy.

On the Vernon were General von Loos, Captains Piel and Hege-

mann, Lieutenants von Uslar, Graebe, Kress, von Luders and

Zoll, Ensigns Recordon, and Frederking, Quartermaster Heusser,

and the Loos, Scheffer and Leib Companies. Including women

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and children there were 303 passengers on hoard. Aboard the

Friends Adventure were Major von Altenbockum, Captain Schwabe,

Lt. Waldschmidt, Surgeon Oliva, the Altenbockum Company, Krafft

Company, and the artillery detachment. The whereabouts of the

other officers was not recorded by Heusser. Despite strict

preventative measures, hundreds of Hessian enlisted men de­

serted during the week prior to embarkation. However, the

von Lossberg Regiment had only seventeen desertions during this

period.^/

On August 6, 1783, the fleet returning the Germans to their

homeland set sail.

22/ Ibid., pp. 114-116.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission CHAPTER XI

THE COURT MARTIAL

It took over five years for the blot on the escutcheon

of the von Lossberg Regiment caused by the disaster at Tren­

ton to be removed. The official report of the affair at

Trenton by General von Heister produced great consternation

in Cassel as well as London. The first reaction in Germany

was a letter from William, Count of Hesse-Hanau and son of

the Landgrave Frederick II, to General von Knyphausen. The

fact that it was written to Knyphausen, second in command of

the Hessian forces and logical successor to Heister, indi­

cates that Heister's days as commander were over. Following

is a translation of the letter, still on file at the archives

in Marburg:

To Lieutenant General von Knyphausen.

Cassel, April 7, 1777*

I am accustomed to hold the honor of my troops so high that nothing worse could have happened to me than to receive the information that my three regiments had in an unlucky moment lost their well- earned reputation. Nothing but an utter disregard

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of all drill and discipline could have caused this disgrace. I find it necessary to have a personal interview with Lieutenant-General von Heister and as the climate of the country does not agree with his health I therefore write him to come home for a time and to transfer the command of my troops in America to the lieutenant-general commanding...

The "lieutenant-general commanding" was, of course,

Knyphausen himself, who was exhorted by the Count net to

rest until he was able to by some great deed obliterate the

memory of the affair at Trenton. The Count went on to cast

aspersions on the valor of the officers under Rail, blaming

them for not attempting to break out of the trap after the

Colonel was wounded. He pointed out that the great number of

men who succeeded in escaping indicated that the rest of the

troops could have done likewise if they had been led properly.

He did not at this time know that most of those who had

escaped did so by shirking their duty early in the battle.

The count also made it clear that the regiments captured at

Trenton would not receive new flags from the Landgrave until

they would capture as many from the enemy as they lost in that

battle. He concluded his letter as follows:

Greater than ray joy at the honorable conduct of ray troops on their arrival in America is now my surprise and indignation on reading the report of the unlucky affair in the lieutenant-general's report of the fifth day of January. The

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loss of such well-organized regiments, with their flags and their cannon is not only an everlasting reproach to my troops hut I must believe according to the report of the affair which has come to my knowledge that these organizations did not regard their duty nor their own honour which up to that time they had guarded so well. I reserve still my decision until I am more fully in­ formed of all the circumstances of this disgraceful affair, which could only have taken place by an utter disregard and neglect of all discipline and all exist­ ing orders. Colonel Rail was not a senior in rank on the army list and the lieutenant-general should not have intrusted him with a brigade but have taken the oldest colonel, even if he had to take him from a regiment on Staten Island or on Long Island.

The report submitted by Heister was a lengthy and emotional

piece which gave few facts and greatly exaggerated the strength

of Washington's force at Trenton as well as the casualties suf­

fered by the,,Rail Brigade. He suggested that the defeat was due

to Rail's ''hot-headedness" in refusing to retreat before Ameri­

cans. Heister was recalled by the Landgrave and died in dis­

grace in November, 1777 > apparently without even being given an

audience by his ruler. Following are two subsequent letters by

Frederick to General Knyphausen outlining the direction he

wished the investigations to take:

Cassel, l6th of June, 1777*

I expected to receive the particulars of the fatal affair at Trenton on the return of Quarter Master Mueller from Lieutenant General von Heister. This has not been done and I therefore expect and demand of the Lieutenant General all the informa­ tion necessary to give light on this unlucky busi­ ness, and enable me to judge of the proper sentence.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The general description has not yet been received and all the minor points are still wanting. Quar­ ter Master Mueller's diary does not mention a word of it. My sensitive feelings are not quieted and the painful shock not lessened by keeping from me the details of this affair. I therefore repeat the demand on the Lieutenant General for a thorough investigation of the whole matter. Lieutenant Colonel Scheffer particularly and the commanding officers of the other two regiments must on their return from imprisonment be subject to the sever­ est investigation. The former must especially be questioned why he did not take command immediately after Colonel Rail was wounded and why he did not try to remedy the disaster when he knew that Colonel Rail was disabled from further command?

Court Geismar, August 3> 1777

As soon as the three captured regiments are ex­ changed. the Lieutenant General is requested, as he has been already ordered to establish a court martial in which a Major General shall preside and all these questions must be answered: /* 1. --At ■■•hat time in the day were the regiments attacked and captures?

2. -- How strong was the force of the enemy?

3- — What plans had Colonel Rail made in case his regiments were attacked?

k. — Were the quarters of the regiments sepa­ rated or near together? What precautions were taken and were there any patrols sent out to obtain infor­ mation as to the near approach of the enemy?

5. — How did the regiments defend themselves and how long did this defense continue? How heavy was the loss of wounded and dead on our side and how great on the side of the enemy?

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6 . — Why did not Lieutenant Colonel Scheffer take command after Colonel Rail had been disabled, as it vas his duty as senior officer, and why did he not retreat over the little bridge across the stream in their rear, after finding the enemy so strong?

7. — From whom did Colonel Rail receive his orc'ers? Did he not receive proper instructions? Did Colonel Rail visit his posts often? Did Lieu­ tenant Colonel Scheffer give no orders when Colonel Rail found himself unable to save his men?

8 . -- Why did not Colonel von Donop march to their assistance and was there no communication existing between Bordentown and Trenton?

The greatest responsibility after the death of Colonel Rail rests on Lieutenant Colonel Scheffer and after him on the two officers who commanded the von Knyphausen and the von Woellworthi' regiments and those officers are to be held to account for their conduct.

General von Knyphausen supervised the accumulation of facts

about Trenton throughout the year 1777 and submitted a report to

the Landgrave early in 1778. However, the officers of the Rail

Brigade had not yet returned from captivity and there were many

questions which Knyphausen's investigation had not been able

to answer. After the captured officers were exchanged at Phila­

delphia in the spring of 1778 an official court of inquiry was

constituted for the purpose of determining who was to blame for

the disaster at Trenton. Three Hessian staff officers made up

the court and heard testimony from the officers of the old Rail

Brigade. The first meeting of the court was held in Philadelphia

on April 13, 1778, and continued thereafter on April 1^, 18, 21,

22, 28, and May 1 and 2. The court then recessed to prepare a

brief for further questioning and met again on May 7, 8 , 9, H ,

The name of the old Rail Regiment at that time.

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12, 14, 15, l6, 19, 20, 21, and 22. After the retreat across

New Jersey it again met in New York on August 5, 6, 7, 10, 12,

17, 17, l8 , 24, and finally on September 23, 1778. The results

were attested, sealed, and sent to Cassel on this latter date.

In December, 1778, a Hessian official in Cassel by the

name of Wagerman made a digest of the findings of the Court

for the Landgrave and the Prince of Hesse. In April of 1779,

after reviewing the digest, the Landgrave wrote to General

Knyphausen,

In regard to the report of that fatal affair at Trenton I would inform you that the importance of the matter has not permitted an earlier conclusion. It has been found that many facts need verification, that the behaviour of every one implicated should be clearly understood so that the conduct of each one should be judged properly and beyond question. I would respect­ fully ask the Lieutenant General to convene a just and impartial court according to the rules, that this un­ pleasant affair may end- and every officer implicated, irrespective of previous statements and testimony, be resworn in so important a matter. A Major General should preside and there must be three officers ordered on the court of each rank. You may order such courts-martial to carefully investigate all the circumstances of this affair and after due considera­ tion pass judgment thereon. If any are found guilty according to law you should pass sentence on each one according as your conscience may dictate and send the verdict to me.

The Landgrave then outlined nine points which he wanted investi­

gated more thoroughly, three of which concerned the von Lossberg

Regiment in particular:

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2 . — An investigation is yet to be made by the court-martial as to vhat orders Lieutenant Colonel Scheffer gave after Colonel Rail had been wounded in the attach on the town which he made with the von Lossberg and his own regiment and after Major von Hanstein had informed Lieutenant Colonel Scheffer of the wounding of Colonel Rail and he according to his own statement had assumed charge of the command.

3- --As Major von Hanstein states that after the fruitless attack upon the town and during the retreat to the woods he, Lieutenant Colonel Scheffer and Major Matthaus had all agreed to break through the line of the enemy, a thorough investigation must be made why this resolution was not carried out. The protocol of former investigations should be presented to this court-martial for its action.

1+. — Lieutenant Colonel Scheffer is to be ques­ tioned as to why in the retreat not the least effort was made to break through and join the English troops at Princeton, when the troops had not even fired and' by his own testimony an officer of the enemy was called out and made by him to understand that they were forced to surrender. Captain Steding said in his testimony that Lieutenant Colonel Scheffer and Major von Hanstein joined an officer of the enemy who rode up to them at the time of the retreat and on their return both of the regiments surrendered. We may conclude from this as well as from Lieutenant Colonel Scheffer's testimony that no fire was opened upon the enemy in front of them.

Frederich closed with specific orders for further prosecu­

tion of the case:

As soon as all these points have been examined into as we have already stated the Lieutenant General having reconvened the Court-Martial, all those who are found guilty by the Court should be arrested and confined until my action in the matter shall be re­ ceived in America. The kind of punishment will be

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indicated in the summing up of this unpleasant affair. Because of some facts worthy of consideration in the case of those officers now serving with the von Trum- bach regiment in Georgia and who may be found guilty, their arrest will be deferred until my action in the matter is made known.

Yours affectionately

Friedrich L. I. Hessen.

Weissenstein 23rd of April 1779

The investigation continued until January 5* 1782, when the

formal court-martial convened in New York City. At this time all

of the surviving officers of the Trenton affair were either re­

examined or had testimony read before the court. Lt. Colonel

Scheffer was confined to'a hospital in New York with gout and

could not attend. The von Lossberg Regiment was on duty in

Canada, but sent three officers to attend the court-martial.

An extract from the minutes of the court shows the following

officers of the Rail Brigade in attendance:

New York, 5th of January 1782

Major General von Kospoth,. presiding

The following officers of the regiments von Lossberg, von Knyphausen and Rail hear the read­ ing of the minutes and the testimony and offered no objections:--

1 .--Lieutenant Zoll 2.— Lieutenant von Hobe (formerly Ensign) 3.— Lieutenant Hille— all of the regiment von Lossberg. 4.— Captain von Biesenrodt

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5-— Captain Baum 6 .— Captain Wiederhold (formerly Lieutenant) 7.— Captain Vaupell (formerly Lieutenant) 8 .— Lieutenant Sobbe 9.— Lieutenant von Brach (formerly Ensign) 10 .— Lieutenant von Romrodt 11.— Lieutenant Zimmermann (formerly Ensign)— all of the regiment von Knyphausen. 12.— Major Boking (formerly Captain) 13*— Captain Salzmann (formerly Lieutenant)— all of the regiment Rail l4.--Corporal Frank Georg Bauer of the Yagers

After six days of hearing testimony, the court rendered

its verdict on January 11th. The nineteen members of the court

submitted their report ccxlectively by rank, beginning with the

Ensigns, as was the custom of the time. The junior officers

placed the blame on Rail and commented in the third person

about Colonel Scheffer as follows:

They think Lieutenant Colonel Scheffer in the situation in which he was when he took command of the regiments, against a superior force, would have found it impossible to have effected a retreat; that he and all his officers did all in their power to encourage their men and preserve order and that the testimony shows no censure should be placed on them.

The Lieutenants concurred with the Ensigns and recommended

that all the surviving officers be acquitted. The Captains also

exonerated the surviving officers and recommended that their de­

cision be published in the newspapers in Cassel as well as in

Few York. The Majors concluded as follows:

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The examination shows nothing more to us than that Colonel Rail neglected to take the necessary pre­ cautions which it vas his duty to do for the regiments he commanded and he left his officers without any orders in case of attack. Colonel Rail died without an exami­ nation which would probably have cleared up many things. We are therefore of the opinion that neither faint­ heartedness, premature flight or insubordination is to be charged against the men at the surprise at Trenton and that their commander Lieutenant Colonel Scheffer, Major Matthaus and the other officers of the regiments von Lossberg and Rail, also the pickets and guards as well as Sergeant Mueller who had the watch at the bridge, and the detachment of artillery have all done their duty and we recommend them for acquittal. We think that all the officers still living, who served at the surprise at Trenton, should be fully exonerated from blame...It is to be hoped that His Highness the Count of Hesse will grant new flags to these three regiments, keep them in service and retain his good will toward them.

The Lieutenant Colonels submitted a lengthy decision empha­

sizing that the surprise at Trenton was "carried out with great

force and determination by the enemy." In commenting on Scheffer

in particular they stated that,

After a due consideration of all the different perplexing situations in which Lieutenant Colonel Scheffer was placed after the wounding of Colonel Rail, we can neither find a want of courage or irre­ solution on his part, but rather great bravery be­ cause: —

1 .— He formed his regiment in a large open ground under the direct fire of the enemy.

2 .— While marching to attack the enemy, he obeyed according to his rank the order of Colonel

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1 9 1

Rail and "began an attack on the enemy then in his rear in the town, and after the regiments had "been "beaten and Colonel Rail had "been wounded he took command.

3.— After agreeing with Majors von Hanstein and Matthaus to "break through the woods he did march against the enemy a certain distance "but he was com­ pelled to stop, because his regiments were not in order after leaving the town and because he found him­ self surrounded on all sides by the enemy. The regi­ ments which can form in a great surprise and under fire of the enemy like the von Lossberg and Rail regiments and by an order of their commander attack the foe and defend themselves a considerable time, which the loss of the von Lossberg sufficiently shows, cannot be judged otherwise than that the officers, non-commis­ sioned officers and privates fully did their duty.

The Colonels severely censured the deceased Rail and con­

cluded that "no blame for want of courage" could be placed on

tie officers and men of the three regiments of the Rail Brigade.

The final verdict of the court was as follows:

On the surprise at Trenton of the regiments von Lossberg, von Knyphausen and Rail, now d'Ange- lelli, and their capture.

The Court Martial resolves after thoroughly examining all the testimony and all the facts that by a unanimous vote they judge that the regiments von Lossberg, von Knyphausen and Rail, now d'Ange- lelli, cannot be blamed for any want of courage, premature retreat or insubordination at the surprise at Trenton, and they believe that the commanders of the regiments, the other officers, the regiments themselves, the guards and pickets, the watch at the bridge under Sergeant Mueller and the detachment of artillery all did their duty.

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The document then lists the name of'' all the surviving officers

of the old Rail Brigade, a lisu which includes Major von Han­

stein and the other missing officers of the von Lossberg Regi­

ment, and concludes:

We desire to acquit all these officers and if the verdict is confirmed we wish to have it announced in public orders and published in the newspapers here and in Cassel for the justification of the regiments. We also humbly pray that his Highness will grant these regiments new flags.

On April 15, 1J82, the special commission convened by the

Prince of Hesse in Cassel reviewed the findings and recommended

as follows:

To His Serene Highness, Prince of Hesse,

Most gracious Prince and Lord:

The War Commission humbly ask for a full pardon in the case of the surviving officers at the surprise at Trenton. We agree with the court that the sentence should be published in the gazettes and that permission be granted to carry new colors.

The Prince approved the request and the von Lossberg and von

Knyphausen Regiments, who had been without colors all this time,

thus received them in Canada in time to come home with honor.

Colonel Rail has since almost uniformly been stereotyped

as a fat and stupid German who, through negligence and drunkeness,

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may have cost the British a chance for a successful conclu­

sion to the war in North America. Lord Germain, defending

his prosecution of the war in the House of Commons 011 May 3>

1779, said, "All our hopes were blasted by that unhappy affair 2 at Trenton."- / General Howe, assiduously looking for a scape­

goat after Trenton, said of Rail, "If he had obeyed the orders

I sent to him for the erecting of redoubts, I am confident his 3/ post would not have been taken."— Cornwallis, deprived of a

winter vacation in England by the disaster at Trenton, wrote,

The misfortune at Trenton was owing entirely to the imprudence and negligence of the commanding officer. On all other occasions the troops ever have behaved and I dare say e ;er will behave with the greatest courage and intrepidity. The be­ havior on the attack on Fort Washington of this very brigade of Colonel Rail's was the admiration of the whole army.

At a later date, when he was being examined by the House of

Commons on the Trenton affair on May 6, 1779> Cornwallis said

that,

...it had been necessary for the general to ex­ tend his chain of cantonments to that distance, that he had himself indeed advised it, and that the fatal accident that afterward happened was not in human prudence to foresee, and therefore

2/ —1 William S. Stryker, The Battles of Trenton and Princeton (Cambridge: Houghton, Mifflin, and Company, 1898), p. 222.

~ Ibid., p. ^82 .

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not to be guarded against."—• V

Sir Henry Clinton, successor to Howe, did not agree. He wrote,

referring to himself in the third person:

There were who thought (and who were not silent) that a chain a cross Jersey might be dangerous. General Howe wrote to General Clinton thus a few days before the misfortune! I have been prevailed upon to run a chain a cross Jersey! the links are rather too far asunder! General Grant was princi­ pally to blame! He should have visited his posts, given his orders, and seen they had been obeyed. I am clear it would have been better if Sir W. Howe had not taken a chain across Jersey! but General Grant is answerable for every thing else. kl!

These facts were discernible to British military men shortly

after Trenton. Colonel William Harcourt wrote from Brunswick.

to his father, the Earl of Harcourt, on March IT, 1777,

The public papers have hitherto given you a fair account of our operations; in what light they may state the affairs at Trenton and Prince Town I cannot so easily guess, for, however we may blame the scandalous negligence and cowardice of the Hes­ sian brigade, there certainly was a fault in the original arrangement of the winter quarters, which were much too extensive for an army of our numbers, and the position of Trenton in itself extremely faulty. 2/

Thus we see the finger of blame pointed at Heister, Howe,

Cornwallis, Grant, and Donop, as well as Rail, the low man in

h/ Ibid,, p. 22k.

Ibid. 6/ — Henry Steele Commager and Richard B. Morris, The Spirit of Seventy-Six (Hew York: Bobbs-Merrill, 195^77 I, P* 52^.

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the chain of command. Strangely enough, most Hessian authori­

ties have been content to blame Rail and have refrained from

dwelling on the obvious defects in British strategic decisions

in the affair. Only Captain Johann Ewald of the Jaeger Corps

blames someone else, and that was another Hessian, hisown

chief, Donop. He wrote of him,

He was not able to tell a sham attack from a real one and foolishly took his force out of supporting distance of Rail's command. As Colonel Rail lost his life in the fight, and was therefore unable to defend himself in person, the blame will forever rest on him. His memory has been cursed by Germanand English soldiers, many of whom were not fit to carry his sword. J/

Probably the most objective picture of Rail was written

by Heusser, who knew him well. He wrote in his journal,

Our commander was too proud to retreat a., step before such an emeny as the Americans. He did not suppose the rebels would wager a battle with him. If General Howe had judged him accu­ rately he would never have trusted him with such an important post. He was a born soldier but never a commanding general. Although he had deservedly won the greatest honor at Fort Washing­ ton, where he followed the orders of a great gener­ al, he lost all his oraise and all his glory at Trenton, vhere he was in command himself. He had the necessary courage to attempt the most daring acts, but he lacked the cool presence of mind absolutely essential in the event of a surprise. He was full of activity and very lively in his nature but one thought quickly crowded out another and he did not come to any fixed resolve.

—7 / Stryker, op. cit., pp. 200-201.

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He was to be esteemed as a generous and a hospitable man, polite to every one, kind to his subordinates and to his servants. Devotedly fond of music, he was agreeable in all social gatherings. 8/

One of the best summations of the true source of guilt at

Trenton was written by Stryker, undoubtedly the most informed

authority on those closing days of 1776 in Hew Jersey. Comment­

ing on Cornwallis' criticisms of Rail, he wrote,

It was useless, however, for Lord Cornwallis to censure his dead subordinate when the folly was in the first place clearly his own. His succession of canton­ ments along the shore of the Delaware River was little less than a blunder as a military movement, for it al­ lowed the very opportunity, invited the very demonstra­ tion of which General Washington so promptly took advan­ tage. 9/

This penchant of Lord Cornwallis to deploy his commanders,

and ultimately himself, in untenable positions culminated at

Yorktown and did much to cost his country the decision in the war

in North America.

8/ Georg Ludwig Heusser, Journal des Hochlbblichen Fusilier Regiment von alt-Lossberg...1776-1783 (original manuscript), p. 50.

— •I Stryker, op. cit., p. 22k.

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After a relatively easy passage across the Atlantic,

the fleet hearing the Hessians anchored in the harbor of

Portsmouth on September 10. After taking on provisions, the

ten transports carrying the Hessians set sail by themselves

for Germany on the 12th and arrived at the port of Bremerlehe

on the 21st. The von Lossberg Regiment was mustered on board

their ships by an English major, formally discharged from the

King's service and disembarked that evening. After two nights

at the staging depot at Gestendorff and Schiffdorf, the Loos,

Altenbockum and Scheffer Companies began the march to Rinteln.

According to Heusser, the Leib and Krafft Companies were de­

layed and did not join the others until "some days later."

Both groups marched via.Bassum, Barenburg, Uchte, and Minden,

the first contingent arriving in Rinteln on October 5, 1783.—^

Thus, after an absence of over seven and a half years,

the von Lossberg Regiment was back in its headquarters in the

little walled city on the Weser. However, the toll on the

— ' Georg Ludwig Christian Heusser, Journal des Hochloblichen Fusilier Regiment von alt-Lossberg...1776-1783. (Original manuscript), p. 122.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. officers and men of the regiment had been high. Of the origi­

nal seventeen officers who left Rinteln with the unit in 1776,

eight were dead, one had retired from service, and eight were

believed to have returned to Germany, although the whereabouts

of Lt. von Hobe at this time cannot be ascertained. Of the

original contingent of 39^ men which, according to the rolls,

left Rinteln in 1776, only eighty-f^ur are known to have re­

turned with the regiment in 1783* The rolls indicate that the

maximum strength of the regiment could never have exceeded 53^-

men, even counting all replacements. Of the losses, 111 men of

the Leib and Hanstein companies are believed to have perished

on the Adamant in 1778. Total battle casualties of the Regiment,

including those men who later died of wounds, are not likely to

have exceeded fifty men. Deaths from sickness, accidents and

suicide were probably at about the same figure. Known deser­

tions were thirty-six and twenty-eight men, for one reason or

another, apparently did not return from captivity after Trenton.

Since 206 men are known to have returned to Rinteln, there are

at least fifty men of the regiment whose fate and whereabouts

cannot be accounted for.

Of the total 29,867 German troops which saw service with

the British in Worth America, 17,313 are believed to have re­

turned to Germany. Hesse-Cassel sent 12,805 men, 10,^92 of which

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returned.-^ Of the 12, 55^ German troops who did therefore not

return, Lowell estimates that 1,200 were killed in action or

died of wounds, 6,35 ^ died of illness and accidents, and 5*000

deserted.—3/

The military careers of the officers who survived and re­

turned to Germany were often aided by their service in America.

The knowledge of the new tactics employed by the American ir­

regulars was particularly valuable when the French citizen armies

began to use similar tactics on the continent. On this subject

Uhlendorf writes,

The experience gained during the war in America proved to be valuable during the French campaigns, 1792-179A. We are told by a writer on military his­ tory, a Prussian general, that of all the nationali­ ties that went to war against France, the Hesse-Cassel troops were the best disciplined and that they excelled all others by their ready acceptance of hardships and their proclivity for war._

One of the Hessian officers frequently lauded by Baurmeister for his daring exploits and military stra­ tegies. Captain Johann Ewald of the Jager Corps, later a lieutenant general in the service of Denmark, drew -- upon his American experiences in several publications, of which the most important is Belehrungen uber den Krieg, besonders uber den kleinen Krieg, published in 1798, 1806, and 1803 . The three volumes, now extreme­ ly rare, are an important source for the military his­ tory of the Revolution. Among the Von Jungkenn Papers is also a short unpublished treatise by Ewald on the subject of what an officer needs to know of the use of

—' Friedrich Kapp, Per Soldatenhandel Deutscher Fursten nach Amerika (Berlin: Springer, 187^), pp. 209-210. 3/ —' Edward J. Lowell, The Hessians and the Other German Auxil­ iaries of Great Britain in the Revolutionary War (Hew York: Harper, 188^), p. 300.

with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2CJ

mounted troops in the field. —'V

Typical of the Hessian officers is the career of the pre­

viously mentioned Major Carl Baurmeister, Adjutant General of

the Hessian Division throughout the war. Born in Rinteln, May

5 , 173^, he entered military service as an ensign in 175 & and

probably saw service in the Seven Years War. In addition to

serving Heister, Knyphausen, and Lossberg as Adjutant General,

he also temporarily commanded the Minnigerode Grenadier Battal­

ion in the North American war. On returning to Germany he

served as a Lt. Colonel in campaigns against the French and

was subsequently promoted to Colonel, commanding the Erb Prinz

Regiment. In 1793 be was made a Major General and appointed

resident minister to London, his knowledge of English learned

in America probably being no small consideration in his selec­

tion for this post. He died in London in l803-

One of the subjects avoided in presenting the history of

the von Lossberg Regiment was that of plundering, an art so

often attributed by historians exclusively to the Hessians.

Typical of such accounts is the following by Trevelyan:

—' Bernard A. Uhlendorf, Revolution in America: Confidential Letters and Journals of Adjutant General Major Baurmeister of the Hessian Forces~TNew Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1957),P- 2 3 .

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Most Hessian regiments contained veterans of the Seven Years' War who long ago had learned how to find their way about the inside of a hen­ roost; and the poultry yards were at once ransacked without any plea of military necessity, except the necessity which a grenadier felt to have a duck or a capon for his supper. The herds and flocks were next converted into beef and mutton, without a single halfpenny of payment to their owners; and the Germans especially luxuriated at free quarters in a country district which was noted for the cur­ ing of hams, and the manufacture of sausage-meat. Emboldened bv impunity, the spoiler soon carried his operations into the inmost recesses of the home —

According to British historians their troops were taught

the bad habits of looting by the Hessians, but there is con­

siderable evidence that it was the other way around. Uhlendorf

sums it up this way:

Legends of the Hessians being guilty of a great deal of plundering have survived to this day, even jn history books. Of course, the common sol­ dier, some noncommissioned officers, and even some subaltern commissioned officers appropriated many valuables on excursions into enemy-held territory; but this type of looting was then generally con­ sidered to b.e a more or less legitimate way for the soldier to reward himself for his services. The Hessians, however, looted no more than did the British— or the patriots, when Tory property was concerned. _/

An appreciation of this latter point is important in judging the

matter objectively. The excesses committed by the American

Sir George Otto Trevelyan, The American Revolution (London: Longmans, 1903)? Vol. I, Part II, p. 373-

6 — / Uhlendorf, op. cit., p. 21.

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patriots and tories on each other make the activities of the

British and Germans in this area seem insignificant by com­

parison.

This, then, is -what is hoped has been an objective view

of the German troops of the British in the American Revolu­

tion as seen through a focus on one particular regiment.

From it, it appears that the Hessians were neither as bar­

barous or meek, as militarily skilled or stupid, nor as sig­

nificant or insignificant as the traditional and revisionist

histories of the past 150 years have portrayed them. The em­

ployment of the Hessians by England, probably more than any

other single factor, solidified the aspirations for indepen­

dence of the colonists, yet, without them, the British could

not have prosecuted the war on the military scale which they

desired. The original successes of the Hessians were due to

their reputation of invincibility and the good fortune of being

utilized against suitably-deployed opponents. Their later

failures were at least partially caused by the same strategic

misconceptions on the part of the British that ultimately cost

George the Third a goodly portion of his North American empire.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. A. PRIMARY SOURCES

1. Collected Documents

Pettengill, Ray W. Letters from America, 1776-1779* Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 192^"!

Stone, William Leete, Letters of Brunswick and Hessian Officers during the American Revolution. Albany: Munsell, I89I.

Uhlendorf, Bernard A. Revolution in America: Confidential Letters and Journals of Adjutant General Baurmeister of the Hessian Forces. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1957*

2. Diaries and Journals

a. Unpublished.

Heusser, Georg Ludwig Christian. "Journal des Hochloblichen Fiiselier Regiment von alt-Lossberg.... 1776-1783 •"

Piel, Jacob. "Geschichte des Hochloblichen Fiiselier Regiments von Lossberg."

Wiederhold, Andreas. "Tagebuch des Hauptmannes Wiederhold, 1776 -1780 ."

b. Published.

Buettner, Johann Carl. Buettner, der Amerikaner— Eine Selbst- biographie Johann Carl Buettners, Ehemaligen Nordarneri- kanischen Kriegers. Camenz: 1928. Translated by C.F. Heartman. New York: Special Print, 1913*

Dohla, Johann Conrad. Tagebuch eines Bayreuther Soldaten, des Johann Conrad Dohla, aus dem nordamerikanlschen Freiheitskrieg von 1777 bis 1783 . Bayreuth: Burger, 1913*

Dornberg, Karl Ludwig. Tagebuchblatter eines hessischen Offiziers aus der Zeit des nordamerikanischen Unabhangigkeitskriegs, von Gotthold Marseille. Pyritz: Backesche Buchdruckerei, 1900. 2 vols.

permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2 0 5

Melsheimer, Frederick V. Tagebuch von der Reise der braunschweigischen Auxiliartruppen von Wolfenbuttel nach Quebec. Frankfurt: 177&.

Popp, Stephen. A Hessian Soldier in the American Revolution: The Diary of Stephen Popp. Translated by Reinhardt J. Popp. Racine, Wisconsin: Private Print, 1953•

Waldecke, Philipp. Philipp Waldecke1s Diary of the American Revolution. Philadelphia: America Germanica Press, 1907-

B. SECONDARY SOURCES

1. Books

Alden, John R. The American Revolution. New York: Harper, 195^.

Anderson, Troyer S. The Command of the Howe Brothers During the American Revolution. New York: 1935.

Bates, Herbert E. The Hessian Prisoners. London: W. Jackson, 1935.

Belcher, Henry. The First American Civil War. 2 vols. London: MacMillan, 1911.

Bill, Alfred Hoyt. The Campaign of Trenton and Princeton, 1776-1777. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 19I+8

Bolton, Reginald Pelham. Fort Washington. New York: The Empire State Society, 1902.

Butcher, H. Borton. The Battle of Trenton. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 193*+.

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Carrington, H. B. Battles of the American Revolution. New York: A. S. Barnes & Co~ 1888.

------Battle Maps and Charts of the American Revolution. Rev York: A. S. Barnes and Co., 1881 .

Cadwalader, Richard McCall. Fort Washington and the Encamp­ ment at White Marsh. Lancaster, Pa.: New Era Print­ ing Co., 1901 .

Coramager, Henry Steele, and Morris, Richard B. The Spirit of Seventy-Six. New York: Bobbs-Merrill, 195'S'* 2~ vols.

Coster, G. Hessian Soldiers in the American Revolution. Cincinnati: Private Print, 1959•

Curtis, Edward E. The Organization of the British Army in the American Revolution. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1926.

Delaney, Edward Floyd. The Capture of Mount Washington. New York: N. Y. Historical Society, 18 TT-

Eelking, Max von. Die deutschen Hiitfstruppen im nordamerikani- schen Befreiungskriege, 1776 his 1783• 2 vols. Hannover: He1 wi ng, 18 6 3 .

Field, Thomas W. The Battle of Long Island. New York: The Long Island Historical Society, 1869 .

Fortescue, Sir John W. A History of the British Army. 13 vols. London: MacMillan 1902.

Greene, George Washington. The German Element in the War of Independence. New York: Hurd and Houghton, 1876.

Johnston, Henry P. The Campaign of 1776 Around New York and Brooklyn. Brooklyn: Long Island Historical Society, 1878 .

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. »

2 0 7

Kapp, Friedrich. Der Soldatenhandel Deutscher Fursten nach Amerika. Berlin: Springer, 187^.

Kruger, Alfred. Geburt der USA: German Newspaper Accounts of the American Revolution. Madison: Wisconsin State Historical Society, 1962.

Kuntze, Paul Heinrich. Verlorenes Blut: deutsche Fremd- truppen in 2000 Jahren germani sch-deuts cher Ges chichte im Rahmen der Allgemeinen Kraftverluste durch die deutsche Auswanderung. Leipzig: T. Fritsch, 193&.

Lefferts, Charles M. Uniforms of the American, British, French and German Armies in the American Revolution. New York: Wall, 19 2 6.

Lezius, Martin. Deutsche Kampfer fur fremde Fahnen. Berlin: Henius and Co., 193^-•

Lossing, B. J. Field Book of the Revolution. 2 vols. New York: Harper, 1851 .

Lowell, Edward J. The Hessians and the other German Auxil­ iaries of Great Britain in the Revolutionary War. New York: Harper, 1884.

Pfister, A. The Voyage of the First Hessian Army from Ports­ mouth to New York, 1Jj6 « New York: Special Print,

Preser, Karl E. Der Soldatenhandel in Hessen: Versuch einer Abrechnung. Marburg: Elwert, 1900.

Rankin, Hugh F. The American Revolution. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 196k.

Richards, E. The Pennsylvania German in the Revolutionary War. Lancaster: Private Print, 190HT

Robson, Eric. The American Revolution. London: Batchworth, 1955•

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Rosengarten, Joseph George. The German Soldier in the Wars of the United States.Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1890•

------The German Allied Troops in the North American War of Independence, 1776-17^3- Albany: Joel Munsell's Sons, 1 893•

______American History from German Archives. Lancaster: The Pennsylvania German Society, 190^.

Scheer, George F. and Rankin, Hugh F. Rebels and Redcoats . The World Publishing Company, 1957-

Slafter, Edmund F. Landing of the Hessians, 1776. Boston: The Massachusetts Historical Society, 190^.

Stadtler, Erhard. Die Ansbach-Bayreuther Truppen im ameri- kanischen Unabhangigkeitskrieg, 1777-17S3 • Niirnberg: Vorwart, 1955 *

Stone, Frederick D. The Battle of Brandywine. Philadelphia: The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1895•

Stryker, William Scudder. The Battles of Trenton and Princeton. Cambridge: The Riverside Press, T89"H7

Trevelyan, Sir George 0. The American Revolution. 6 vols. London: Longmans, 18'99-191 ^ •

Ward, Christopher. The War of the Revolution. 2 vols. New York: MacMillan, 1952.

Werthern, Alfred H. Die Hessischen Hulfstruppen im nordameri- kanischen Unabhangigkeitskrieg, 1776-1783- Kassel: Kay, 1895.

Whitton, F. E. The American War of Independence. London: Murray, 1931•

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Wiebke, J. Die Ersten Jahre des Nordamerikanischen Frei- heitskrieges. Hamburg, 1860"!

Volm, Matthew H. The Hessian Prisoners in the American War of Independence and their Life in Captivity. Char­ lottesville, Va.: 193T•

2. Periodicals and Newspapers

Diffenderfer, Frank Reid. "A Letter from Friedrich II, Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel," Lancaster County His­ torical Society Bulletin, vol. 6, 1902, pp. 85-89-

Doll, Eugene E., "American History as Interpreted by German Historians," Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 38, part 5, 19^8 •

Krafft, John Charles Philip. "Journal of Lt. John Charles Philip von Krafft," Hew York Historical Society Publica­ tion Fund Series for the Year 1882 , vol. XV, 1883 , pp. vol. XV, 1883 , pp. 1-202.

Rainsford, Charles. "Transactions as Commissary for Embarking Foreign Troops in the English Service frcmGermany...1776 -1777," Hew York Historical Society Publication Fund Series, vol. 12, 1880 , PP- 313-5^3.

Rosengarten, J. G. A Defence of the Hessians," Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, vol. XXIII, (July, 1899).

Vogt, Karl. "In fremdem Sold," Schaumburger Zeitung, Rinteln, Germany, October 24-November 4, 19^2. (Series)

------"Der Uberfall in Trenton, 1776: Das Rintelner Regi­ ment von Lossberg, 1776-83," Schaumburger Heimatblatter, 1956, pp. 53-56.

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______"Das Kombinierte Batallon: Das Rintelner Regiment von Lossberg im amerikanischen Unabhangigkeits- krieg," Schaumburger Heimatblatter, 1957? PP* 39-^5*

______"Als Besatzung in Kanada: Das Rintelner Regiment von Lossberg im amerikanischen Unabhangigkeitskrieg," Schaumburger Heimatblatter, 1957? PP* 39—^-5-

3 * Unpublished Materials

Vogt, Karl. A collection of notes and papers on the von Lossberg Regiment now in the possession of his son, Reinhard, in Hannover, Germany.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. APPENDIXES

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Von Lossberg Regiment Battle Record

1693 - Rheinfels War of Polish Succession 1695 - Namur 1734-Rheinmorde, Trier 1697 - Fought with Protestants in War of Bavarian Succession numerous small battles in 1748 -B ergensopzet the Spanish Netherlands against Louis XIV Seven Years War 1757-Hassenbeck War of Spanish..Succession 1758 -Num erous H essian battles 1702 - Kaiserswerth, Luttich 1759 -Minden 1703 - Bonn, Speyerbach 1760-Warburg 1704 -Hochstadt, Blenheim 1761 -Wellingholzhausen 1705 -Louvain, R am illies 1762 -Ahrenberg 1706 -C astiglione American Revolution 1707 -Toulon 1776-Long Island 1708 -Seige of L ille, Ghent 1776-White Plains Oudenarde 1776-Fort Washington 1709-Tournai, Mons, Malplaquet 1776-Trenton 1710 -Seige of Douai, Verdun 17 77-Brandywine 1711 -Bouchain (Combined Battalion) 1712 -Quesnoy, Lanrecies

Commanders

1683-1690, Von Wartensleben 1751-1757, Haundring 1690-1692, Rotarius 1757-1758, Kappellan 16924696, Goetz 1758-1760, Von Toll 1696-1703, Von Loewenstein 1760-1770, Bartheld 1703-1713, Moetz 1770-1778, Von Lossberg (Senior) 1713-1723, Rencke 1778, Jungenn 1723-1731, Von Oppen 1789-1799, Von Lossberg(Junior) 1731-1734, Clement 1799-1805, Von-Biesenrodt 1734-1751, Baumbach 1806-1814, Regiment inactivated 1751-1757, Haundring by Napoleon 1814-1816, Von Biesenrodt 1816, Merged with Hessian Guard

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(von Uslar) (Krafft) Reconstituted Reconstituted

V B. (L oos) (Steding) LOST AT SEA (Scheffer) (Hanstein)LOST AT SEA (Altenbockum) THE VON LOSSBERG COMPANIES Z PQ z h-i H F-( CQ W o S < Q O o < h h H E P < < a 1. 1. Grenadier Company under Lengerke detached for entire war and assigned to Grenadier Battalion von Minnigerode 6. (Heeringen) (Benning) 5. (Fritsch) (Altenbockum) 3. (Scheffer) 2. Leib (Ries) 4. (Lengerke) (Hanstein) No. 1775 1776 1777 1778 1779 1780 1781 1782 1783

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BIOGRAPHIC SKETCHES OF THE ORIGINAL OFFICERS OF THE VON LOSSBERG REGIMENT

Colonel Heinrich Anton von Heeringen.

Born in 1722, probably in Cassel. Had an outstanding record •with the military forces of the ruler of Hesse-Cassel. Served with distinction in the Seven Years War and had been designa­ ted a Knight of the Order "Pour la Verta Militaire." Commander of the Sixth Company of the von Lossberg, he assumed command of the regiment by reason of his seniority when Colonel von Loss­ berg was assigned to higher command. Died in Brooklyn, Septem­ ber 25, 1776.

Lieutenant Colonel Francis(cus) Scheffer.

Born at Henmsdorf in 1722. He was married and a veteran of thirty-five years' service in 1776. Commander of the Third Company, he became acting commander of the regiment on the death of Colonel von Heeringen. He lived under a cloud for seven years following his capture at Trenton until exonera­ ted by the court martial. Plagued by illness, he was ulti­ mately promoted to Colonel, but saw no more military service after returning to Germany.

Major Ludwig August von Hanstein.

Born at Obernhof in 1730. He had been in the army twenty- eight years in 1776, first in the Donop Regiment and finally the Erb Prinz Regiment before joining the Lossberg Regiment in 1773* He was married. He commanded the Fourth•Company of the regiment and was captured at Trenton. He was lost at sea on the Adamant in 1778-

Captain Ernst Eberhard von Altenbockum

Born in Courland in 1736, he was unmarried and in 1776 a

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veteran of twenty-two years service in the army of Hesse- Cassel. Commanded the Fifty Company of the Lossherg Regi­ ment throughout the war in North America. Captured at Trenton. Later served in the Napoleonic Wars and made at least one trip hack to America before l800.

Captain Adam Christoph Steding.

Born in Fischheck near Rinteln in 1737* He was -unmarried and in 1776 a veteran of twenty-three years military ser­ vice, having joined the von Lossherg Regiment at the age of sixteen. Commanded, for a time, the Sixth and then the Leib Companies. Captured at Trenton. Lost at sea on the Adamant in 1778.

Captain Friedrich Wilhelm von Benning.

First appears in the records as a First Lieutenant in the Lieh Regiment in 1766, remaining in this post until 1773> when he was made a Staff Captain in the Lossherg Regiment. Killed in action at Trenton while commanding the Sixth Company of the regiment.

Lieutenant Heinrich Reinhard Hille.

Born in Rinteln in 17 5h, he was a Second Lieutenant in the Lossherg Grenadier Company. Transferred to the Third Com­ pany in 1776, he served under Lt. Colonel Scheffer until Trenton, where he escaped capture. Served in the Comhined Battalion and again with the detached Lossherg Grenadier Company at Red Bank. He is known to have served with the Regiment Alt-Lossherg and returned with them to Germany, hut does not appear on the 1778 or 1783 rolls.

Lieutenant Ernst Christian Schwahe.

Born in Rinteln in 17^6, he hegan his military service at the age of fourteen in the Leih Company of the von Lossherg Regiment in which he served until Trenton, where he was cap­ tured. Later he served as a Captain in the Fourth Company under Major von Altenbockum ana returned to Germany with this unit.

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216

Lieutenant Hermann Heinrich George Zoll.

Born in Rinteln in 1747 Re had served in the Sixth Company of the Lossherg Regiment since 1764, becoming an Ensign in 1773. Captured at Trenton, he later was assigned to the Fifth Company as a First Lieutenant and returned to Germany with this unit. The much younger Ensign Wilhelm Zoll who joined the regiment in 1778 may have been his brother.

Lieutenant Wilhalm Christian Muller.

Born in Ziegenheim in 174-9, he had served in the Fourth Com­ pany since he was sixteen. Captured at Trenton. Lost at sea on the Adamant in 1778.

Lieutenant Jacob Piel.

Born in Bremen in 1742. Served fourteen years in the Fourth and Second Companies of the Lossberg Regiment, being appoin­ ted an Ensign in 1774. Was made adjutant of the Rail Bri­ gade in 1776 and promoted to First Lieutenant at that time. Captured at Trenton, he later was assigned to the Third Com­ pany under Lt. Colonel Scheffer in 1778 as a captain. Later given command of the Leib Company and returned to Germany with this unit. Author of one of the von Lossberg journals.

Lieutenant Georg Christian Kimm.

Born in 1743* First appears in German records as an Ensign in the Barthold Regiment in 1766. Promoted to Second Lieu­ tenant in the Lossberg Regiment in 1773- Promoted to First Lieutenant in the Fourth Company in 1776 . Killed in action at If enton.

Lieutenant Christian August von Hobe(n).

Born in Mecklenburg in 1754. Served in the Fifth Company from 1770 to 1776, when he was transferred to the Sixth Company. Captured at Trenton, he never again appeared on the regimental rolls, although he is known to have served with the unit in Canada.

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Ensign Franz Friedrich Graebe.

Born in Rinteln in 1759» he was carried as a Free Corporal in the Fifth Company in 1775* In 1778 he was appointed an Ensign and later captured at Trenton. Appointed a Second Lieutenant in 1778, he does not appear on the 1783 rolls, although he is known to have returned to Germany with the von Lossberg Regiment.

Ensign Heinrich Carl von Zengen.

Born in Bonenburg in 1757* Listed as a Free Corporal in the Fourth Company in 1775> he was promoted to Ensign in 1778. Captured at Trenton, he was exchanged and lost at sea on the Adamant in 1778.

Ensign Friedrich Christoph Hendorff.

Born at Rheinfels in 17^8, he served eight years in the Kessian " Hussar Corps before being assigned to the Fourth Company of the Lossberg Regiment in February, ’778. Believed captured at Trenton, he did not sign the parole. Listed by Heusser as having been exchanged in Philadelphia on January' 28 , 1778. An Ensign Hendorff is recorded as having been transferred to the Third Battalion of the New Jersey Volunteers (a Tory unit) on February 5 , 1782. The Trenton court martial proceedings indicate him to be "retired'' in 1782.

Quartermaster Georg Ludwig Christian Heusser.

Born in 17^6, probably in the Rinteln enclave. Little is known about Heusser. Despite the fact that he is the source of so much information about the von Lossberg Regiment through his journal, he wrote nothing of himself. He apparently was well- educated and had served for some time in the von Lossberg Regiment prior ro 1775* He was absent from Trenton at the time of the surprise attack and served as Quartermaster of the Combined Battalion during the period 1777-1778. Reassigned as Quartermaster of the von Lossberg Regiment in 1778, he returned to Germany with the regiment in 1783. A Colonel Georg Heusser served with the Hessian Guard at Waterloo, but there is considerable doubt that it was the same man because Quartermaster Heusser would have been sixty-nine years old in 1815 .

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CONSOLIDATED ROLLS OF THE VON LOSSBERG REGIMENT 1776 - 1783

Name Home Town

Abell, Christian I, 7 Obernkirchen Abelmann, Friedrich I, 7 Obernkirchen A chilles, Wilhelm II, III, Borstel Achtmann, Friedrich I, Ucht Aldag, Heinrich, I, 7 Strucken Aldag, Jobst I, Krankenhagen Aldag, Wilhelm I, II, III, Strucken Apking, Heinrich m, Rehren A rend, Wilhelm I, Wage nf eld Astenau, Wilhelm I, Albringhausen Auhagen, Curt I, n, ni, 2 Ottensen Austermann, Friedrich n, HI Weibeck Balcke, Otto I, Gr. Neimdorf Barner, Heinrich I, Wagenfeld Barner, Heinrich I, Freudenberg Bartels, Wilhelm I, 4 Oldendorf Barghels, Tholche I, III, Nienstadt Bartsch, Christian I, Oldendorf Battermann, Curt I, Rehren Baude, Heinrich II, ni, .6, Oldendorf Becht, Wilhelm I, 7 Rodenberg Becker, Christoph I, 2, 7, Ucht Bellersen, Friedrich I, n, III, Freudenberg Berens, Christian I, n, III, Rohden B erlitz, Heinrich I, II, III, Oldendorf B eru ss, Heinrich I, Ottensen Biermann, Christian III, Fischbeck Biermann, Gottlieb EH, Rodenberg Biermann, Ludwig I, II, III, W elsede Biglefeld, Johannes I, Horstinghausen B iltem eyer, Friedrich II, III, Fuhlen Bitter, Arnd I, Loge Blancke, Christoph I, 7 Rodenberg Blate, Heinrich I, 7 Scharringhausen Bleitische1, Friedrich HI, Hohnhorst Blum, Heinrich, I, n, III, Rehren Blum, Otto II, III, Hohnrode

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Bock, Heinrich I, 7 Gr. Nenndorf Bodecker, Heinrich I, ni, Rinteln Bodecker, Friedrich n, III, 5 Rinteln Boeger, Heinrich I, II, III, Krankenhagen Bodensieg, Friedrich I, 7 Ostendorf Bodensieg, Konrad I, Oldendorf Bohne, Karl II, III, W elsede Bokeloh, II, ni, Hohnrode Bolte, Heinrich I, II, n i, Gr. Wieden Book, Hermann II, in, Reinsdorf Borgers, Konrad I, Waltringhausen Bornemann, Wilhelm I, 7 Obernkirchen Brankhann, Friedrich I, 7 Oldendorf Brandt, Phillip II, in, Deckbergen Brandt, Tonjes n, III, Strucken Brath, Heinrich I, 3, 7 Exten Brauckmeyer, Heinrich I, Ostendorf Bredemeyer, Herman I, Ucht Brehmer, Otto I, n, III, Rehren Brehmer, Phillip I, II, III, Rehren Breymeyer, Heinrich n, in, B orstel Breymeyer, Urlh n, III, Kathrinhagen Brinkmann, Heinrich I, 7 Ucht Brinkmann, Ludwig I, Wagenfeld Brockmeyer, Friedrich I, 7 Gr. Wieden Bruggemann, Friedrich I, Kirchdorf Bruggemann, Johannes I, Hohnrode Bruns, Otto I, Rehren Buchholz, Hermann I, 7 Buchholz Buchmeyer, Friedrich I, n, m, Deckbergen Buchmeyer, Konrad Deckbergen Buchmeyer, Wilhelm I, II, III, Westendorf Budde, H einrich I, n, m ,5 Gr. Wieden Budensieg, Heinrich I, II, HI, Wosberg Budensieg, Johannes I, Wosberg Busing, Otto I, 7 Reinsdorf Buthe, Christian I, Rohde n Buthe, Karl I, II, in , Segelhorst Butte, Georg I, Goldbeck Christ, Phillip I, Hessendorf Clauss, Wilhelm I, n, HI, Oldendorf Clauss, Heinrich I, Exten

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Clusmann, Heinrich I,7 Ucht Clusmeyer, Konrad 1,7 Woltringhausen Cordes, Anton I, Wagenfeld Cornett, Moritz I, Kuggendorf Crohne, Wollrad ni, Oldendorf Dankerson, Friedrich I, Sachsenhausen Daubele, Christoph I, II, III, Rodenberg Debelmann, Wilhelm I, 7 Wagenfeld Degerberg, Wilhelm III, Rosenthal Demuth, Ludwig I, II, III, Rinteln Denker, Heinrich I, II, III, Freudenberg Deppling, Heinrich II, ni, : Rumbeck Deyerling, Wilhelm II, Rosenthal Dobelmann, Friedrich HI, Wagenfeld Dohm, Georg n, III, Hohnrode Dohm, Heinrich n, III, Segelhorst Dohm, Karl I, Rinteln Dohm, Peter I, II, in Hohnrode Dohne, Ludwig I, Oldendorf Dohne, Wilhelm n, HI, Rannenberg Dorstfeld, Konrad ni, Wiebeck D roste, Hermann I, Todemann Ebeling, Dietrich I, Auhagen Ebeling, Friedrich I, Wolfshagen Ebeling, Jost H, HI, Wolfshagen Ebeling, Konrad I, Rinteln Eberding, Heinrich I, Bokedorf Eberth, Friedrich I, 3, 7 Apelern Eckermann, Heinrich I, II, III, Uchtdorf Edler, Heinrich I, Nottberg Eickhoff, Heinrich I, in, Segelhorst Eickhorst, Johannes I, Nienstadt Engelking, Heinrich I, Haste Ermerling, Reinhard I, Rinteln E yssel, Christian I, II, III, 6 Rinteln Faber, Friedrich I, II, III, W elsede Fahrenkamp, Heinrich I, Goldbeck Fauth, Heinrich I, 7 Rinteln Fauth, Wilhelm I, II, III Gr. Wieden Feldmann, Daniel I, II, III, Haddessen Feldmeyer, Wilhelm I, Freudenberg Fiedler, Dierk I, Bassum

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Fiermann, Anton I, 7 Scharringhausen Fitcher, Heinrich I, 7 Rehren Flacke, Friedrich I, Deckbergen Flacke, Konrad I, II, III, W elsede Fleutje, Heinrich I, Riehe Frederking, Friedrich II, III, Fishbeck F reise, Jost I, 7 W elsede Frewerth, Conrad n, Barksen Frewerth, Nikolaus I, n, III, Exten Freyholz, Curt I, Auhagen Friedrich, Tonjes I Strucken Fromm, Heinrich I, II, Apelern From m e, Georg I, Volksen Fullgraff, George III, (Unknown) Gellermann, Hermann I, 7 Reinsdorf Gemling, Reinhold II, III, Rinteln Gerlach, Christian III, Obernkirchen Gewecke, Heinrich I, Sachsenhagen Giesecke, Friedrich ni, Rodenberg Goebber, Johannes I, 2 Nienstadt Gonter, Bernhard I, 7 Apelern Goucke, Just I, Apelern Graebe, Friedrich I, II, III Rinteln Graebe, Heinrich I, Ostendorf G rages, Heinrich I, II, III, Rehrwiehe Grohne, Johannes I, Gr. Wieden Grosskopf, Heinrich I, III, Strucken Grundangel, Heinrich I, II, ni, Hohnrode Grundmeyer, Christoph n, III, 4 Barksen Grupe, Christoph I W iersen Haake, Wiegand n, III, Rinteln Hachmeister, Christian II, III, Fischbeck Hahn, Stats I H esslingen Hahne, Christian I, Ahe Hahne, Hermann II, III, Segelhorst Hanstein, Friedrich I, 7 Grove Hanstein, Wilhelm I, Rodenberg Hartman, August I, Gr. Wieden Hartsmann, Ludwig Rosenthal Hartung, Wilhelm I, 1, Rinteln Hartwig, Heinrich I, 7 Rinteln Hasselbusch, Wilhelm I, Kirchdorf

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Hasselmann, Heinrich I, Bassum Hasselmann, Wollr. I, Bassum Hattendorf, Christoph, I, 4, 7 Rinteln Hattendorf, Cord I, II, III, Hohnhorst Hattendorf, Heinrich III, Horsten Haveland, Konrad I, 7 Bokedorf Hector, Christian II, III, Auhagen Hegemann, Friedrich II, (Unknown) Hegemann, Johann II, III, (Unknown) Heisterberg, Phillip I, Nordbruch Heydenreich, Frie drich II, III, Rinteln Herking, Friedrich I, II, III, Rinteln Heusser, Wilhelm I, Bokedorf Heydorn, Christian I, Bokedorf Heyer, Wilhelm I, 7 Kuppendori Hilcke, Heinrich III, Rinteln Hitzemann, Heinrich I, Oldendorf Hoelbe, Jakob I, Rinteln Hohmeyer, Johannes I, II, III, Oldendorf Holle, Christian I, Horsten Holste, Friedrich I, II, III,4 Oldendorf H olste, Hendrick I, II, III, Wennenkamp H olste, Konrad II, m Wennenkamp Hoof, Konrad n, III, Rinteln Hopman, Heinrich I, II, Albringhausen Hoppe, Curt I, II, III, Wennenkamp Hoppe, Konrad I, Wennenkamp Horemann, Curt I,7 Scharringhausen Horemann, Heinrich II, III, Holzhausen Horemann, Herman II, Scharringhausen Horemann, Wolle I, Rinteln Hucker, Philens 33, Rinteln Hupe, Heinrich I, II, Deckbergen Hupe, Levin I, Barksen Hupe, Tonjes II, HI, W oseberg Hupe, Wilhelm I, II, III, Deckbergen Hupe, Wilhelm I, Gr. Wieden Hunte, Wilhelm I, 7 Reinsdorf Huxhold, Christoph I, 7 Rolfshagen Huxhold, Johannes I, II, III W elsede Jacob, Christian I, Rinteln Judas, Heinrich I, 7 Pohle

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Jungblut, August I, Wagenfeld Kaltz, Christoph I, 7 Bokedorf Kapmeyer, Hermann I, 7 Soldorf Karstadt, Jakob I, Rinteln Hastening, Heinrich I, n, HI, Auhagen Kaucke, Hermann I, n , III, Waltringhausen Kehe, Karl III, Kruckeberg Keidel, Heinrich I, 7 Obernkirchen K essel, Ludwig I, Bassum Kirmann, Friedrich I, ni, Haste Klauss, Christian I, Wagenfeld Klause, Ludwig I, 7 Pohle Klingenberg, Friedrich I, III, Gr. Wieden Klingemann, Christian I, Sachsenhagen Klusmann, Ludwig I, Apelstadt Knabenschu, Heinrich I, Rinteln Knie, Georg I, III, . Rodenberg Knieff, Hermann I, II, ni, Engern Knieff, Karl n, ni, Obernkirchen Knieff, Wilhelm H, III, Ahe Koch, Ludwig I,. Hofingen Kohlstadt, Wilhelm I, 7 Mollenbeck Kolling, Heinrich II, III, Soldorf Koenig, Christian I, II, III, Strucken Koenig, Heinrich I, Exten Koenig, Hermann I, Exten Konne, Heinrich I, 7 Bahrenborstel Konnemann, Konrad I, 7 Ucht Konne mann, Otto I, 7 Ucht Kopmann, D ietrich I, 7 Kirchdorf Korff, Friedrich n, B orstel Korp, Anton I, 7 Scharringhausen K oster, Friedrich I, Rinteln Kramer, Christian I, 7 Soldorf Krehe, Karl n, Kruckeberg Krichmann, Friedrich n, Haste Kroger, Moritz II, III, Uchte Krohne, Wolr. I, Ostendorf Kroskopf, Heinrich II, Strucken Kruckeberg, Christoph I, 7 Reinsdorf Kruckeberg, Heinrich II, Algesdorf Kuster, Johannes I, II, III, Auhagen Kuster, Reinhold I, HI, Sachsenhagen

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Lachmeyer, Dietrich I, Kl. Ringmar Laeseke, Anton I, II, III, Hohnhorst Landwehr, Heinrich I, Hallstadt Landwehr, Ludwig I, Eschenhausen Lange, Hermann II, III, Strucken Langmann, Peter II, III, Ucht Lassenberg, Ludwig I, Rinteln Lauterbach, Ludwig I, II, III, Oil uocvou Lehmkuhl, Friedrich I, II, III, 4 Kl. Ringmar Leisemann, Christoph H, ni Oldendorf Logemeyer, Dietrich I, II, III, Holzhausen Loffmeyer, Heinrich I, Wagenfeld Lohfeld, Heinrich I, 7 Ucht Lohmann, Friedrich n. Escher Lohmann, Heinrich I, Rinteln Lohmeyer, Phillip I, 7 Lohe Lubcke, Hermann I, II, III, Riehe Lubcke, Hermann Cord II, III, Riehe Lucke, Friedrich II, III, 4 Rumbeck Lucke, Heinrich II, III, Hohenrode Ludolf, Karl I, Oldendorf Luerson, Ludwig I, Obernkirchen Matthai, Friedrich n, III, Rodenberg Matthias, Christoph I, Rehren Matthais, Heinrich I, II, III Rehrwiehe Matthais, Heinrich I, III, Wennenkamp Matthais, Hermann H, III, 4 Rehrwiehe Matthais, Konrad I, 7 Gr. Niemdorf Matthais, Phillip n, III, 2 Riepen Mehrman, Heinrich I, Rinteln Mente, Wilhelm I, 7 Horstenhausen Mestmacher, Conrad I, 7 Kirchdorf Meyer, Christoph n, III Sachsenhagen Meyer, Christoph I, Apelern Meyer, Dieker I, Loge M eyer, Friedrich I, II, III Rohden M eyer, Heinrich I, Bokedorf M eyer, Heinrich I, Freudenberg Meyer, Heinrich I, Roden M eyer, Hermann I, HI, Ucht Meyer, Johannes n, III, Bensen Meyer, Justus ni, Fischbeck Meyer, Karl I, Hohenrode Meyer, Konrad n, in, Kohlenstadt

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. M eyer, Konrad II, III, H esslingen M eyer, Otto II, III, Hohnhorst Meyer, Wilhelm n, III, Deckbergen M ichaelis, Konrad I, II, III, Strucken Mohling, Heinrich II, III, Riegen Mohlmann, Wilhelm II, III, Rumbeck Mohme, Johannes I, II, III, 2 Ahe Mohrmann, Anton I, II, III, Oldendorf M oeller, Wilhelm I, 7 Wagenfeld Mormann, Ernst I, Uchtdorf Mohrmann, Konrad I, Oldendorf Mule re, Wilhelm I, Sachsenhagen Mulhaus, Phillip I, 7 Rinteln Muller, Friedrich I, Rohden M uller, Hermann I, II, III, Todenmann Munstermann, Gerd I, Hallstadt Munchhausen, Wilhelm I, 7 Rinteln Nackenhurst, Anton I, Wagenfeld Nahrhold, Wilhelm I, Uchtdorf N ellm eyer, Hermann I, II, III, Kohlenstadt Nettler, Friedrich I, 7 Obernkirchen Netzer, Anton n, III, Rinteln Niehaus, Friedrich I, Adelstadt Niehaus, Heinrich I, II, III, Hallstadt Niemann, Anton Loge Niemeyer, Hermann I, Hoysinghausen Noll, Hermann I, Rinteln Nolte, Heinrich I, II, III, Auhagen Nortmann, Christian II, III, Rinteln Obenhausen, Anton I, Rodenberg Ohm, Konrad I, 7 Rinteln Olenhausen, Gerd I, Obernkirchen Ossenkopf, Heinrich I, Strucken Paul, Heinrich I, II, III, Waltringhausen Paulmann, Friedrich I, 7 Rodenberg Peine, Konrad I, Liebenau Pfingsten, Christoph I, II, III Soldorf Pfingsten, Cord I, II, III, Horsten Piepenbrinck, Christoph I, 7 Bokedorf Plaade, Friedrich I, Obernkirchen Plaade, Ludwig I, Obernkirchen P lon jes, Christoph I, 7 Ucht Pohler, Friedrich I, II, III, Hallstadt

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Prasuhn, Gottlieb I, Obernkirchen P riesm eyer, Ernst II, Barksen Prusse, Christian I, Woteberg Raabe, Konrad II, III, 4 H esslingen Ranke, Friedrich I, Bassum Redecker, Curt I, Wennenkamp Rediecker, Otto I, Rehrwiehe Reguarth, Heinrich I, Wennenkamp Reheling, Wilhelm I, Hohnrode Rehmert, Kurt II, Wennenkamp Rehorst, Hermann, I, 7 Scharringhausen Reinicke, Heinrich n, III Grove Rentzelmann, Phillip I, 7 Ucht Reuter, Heinrich I, 7 Kirchdorf R iechers, Otto II, Rehren Riecke, Friedrich I, Uchtdorf Rinne, Christoph n, III, Ostendorf Rinne, Friedrich II, in, Barksen Rinne, Johann I, Ahe Rischm uller, Ernst II, III, W elsede Rode, Christoph I, II, in, Gr. Nenndorf Rohmert, Curt I, III, Wennenkamp Roheler, Anton I, 7 Apelern Rohrkasten, Christoph I, 3, Reinsdorf Rohrkasten, Heinrich I, 7 Holzhausen Roose, Heinrich I, 7 Ohndorf Rosenbaum, Franz I, Liebenau Rosenbaum, Friedrich I, Deckbergen Ruh, Ludwig n, Rumbeck Ruhe, Konrad I, Kohlenstadt Ruhe, Wilhelm I, Kohlenstadt: Saacke, Moritz I, II, III, Gr. Wieden Sandman, Wilhelm I, 7 Bahrenborstel Shaaper, Herman I, II, Pohle Schaeffer, Heinrich III, Rinteln Schaeffer, Johannes I, Hallstadt Schaper, Friedrich I, III, Voseberg Schaumburg, Anton I, Rinteln Schaumburg, Johannes I, Rinteln Schauten, Heinrich I, Idensermoor Scheffer, Heinrich I, 7 Rodenberg - Schiermann, Konrad m , Raden Schirmer, Friedrich I, Nienstadt

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Schirmer, Hermann I, 7 Riegen Schirnbeck, Dietrich I, 7 Ucht Schirnbeck, Friedrich I, 7 Ucht Schmidt, Heinrich I, III, Kuppendorf Schmoe, Christoph, II, III, 4 Gr. Nenndorf Schnadt, Christian II, in, Volksen Schneider, Anton I, 7 Rodenberg Schophuth, Conrad I, 7 Bahrenborstel Schove, Christoph I, Waltringhausen Schove, Wilhelm I, Apelern Schrieck, Hermann I, 7 Ucht Schroder, Konrad I, 7 Waltringhausen Schroder, Otto I, Hohnhorst Schuhmacher, Johannes I, Albringhausen Schurmann, Konrad I, .. Nienstadt Schutte, Christoph I, 7 Reinsdorf Schutte, Georg I, 7 Pohle Schutte, Johannes II, III, Borstel Schwacke, Phillip I, II, 4 Rehrwiehe Schwer, Christian I, 7 Hattendorf Sebaum, Hermann I, 7 Apelern Seeger, Conrad II, III, Rumbeck Seegert, Just I, Hohnhorst Seelstrang, Christian II, III, Rosenthal Seistling, Johannes I, (Unknown) Seistling, Friedrich I, (Unknown) Sellman, Heinrich I, Ostendorf Seysenschmidt, Curt I, Wagenfeld Siebert, Ludwig HI, Nottberg Siegmond, Christoph II, III, Rumbeck Siegmond, Heinrich III, Sachsenhagen Sinekenberg, Curt I, 7 Scharringhausen Soffker, Heinrich I, W elsede Soffker, Konrad I, W elsede Speckmann, Heinrich I, Wagenfeld Sprieck, Wilhelm I, 7 Kirchdorf Stark, Konrad I, II, III, Rinteln Steding, Christian I, II, in , Rinteln Steding, Christoph n, Engern Steding, Friedrich II, Ostendorf Steding, Heinrich I, Rosenthal Steege, Christoph I, II, in, Rehrwiehe Steege, Konrad ni, Waltringhausen SteCge, Otto I, II, in, Riegeln

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Steinm eyer, W ilhelm I, II, III, Exten Stello, Hermann I, 7 Hertha Stemme, Friedrich II, Rohden Stem me, Phillip I, II, III, Segelhorst Sternickel, Heinrich HI, Liebenau Steuber, Christian I, Hohnhorst Steuber, Ludwig I, 7 Hohnhorst Stock, Christoph I, 7 Horsten Strangmann, Wilhelm I, Wagenfeld Streicher, Georg I, 7 Rinteln Streudelberg, Heinrich I, Loge Struckmann, Georg I, Sachsenhagen Tagtmeyer, Ludwig I, n, W elsede Tatje, Georg I, n, ni, Rodenberg Tatje, Heinrich I, Algesdorf Tegetmeyer, Friedrich I, Odendorf Tegetmeyer, Friedrich n, III, 3 Strucken Tegetm eyer, Ludwig I, II, m , Kathrinhagen T eigeler, Heinrich I, II, HI, Hohnhorst Thiemann, Georg I, Engern Thies, Heinrich n, Horsten T hiess, Wilhelm I, , Oldendorf Thomas, Christoph I, Haste Thomas, Konrad I, II, HI, Horst Tiemann, Georg n, HI, Engern Tocke, Ulrich I, 7 Mollenbeck Trebes, Heinrich I, Ottensen Troge, Friedrich I, 7 Rinteln Tummermann, Hermann I,, II, m, Volksen U slar, August II, in, Rinteln Vette, Arnold I, Oldendorf Vette, Friedrich I, n, HI, Scharringhausen Vieth, Heinrich I, III, Woseberg Vogt, Heinrich I, II, in, Eugern Vogt, Ludwig ni, Rosenthal V oss, Heinrich I, II, in, Wagenfeld Vosshardt, Heinrich I, Bahrenborstel Wage, Hermann I, 7 Kochdorf Wage, Wilhelm I, 7 Kirchdorf Wagener, Johannes n, 3 Auhagen Wahlemann, Cord I, Rehrwiehe Waip, D ietrich I, 7 Kirchdorf Walbaum, Hermann III, Rannenberg Waldecke, Sigmund I, ( Unknown)

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Wallbaum, Friedrich I, II, Rohden Wallbaum, Wilhelm I, II, III, Rohden W assermann, Wilhelm I, 7 Obernkirchen Wattermann, Karl III, Rehren Weber, Friedrich I, Uchtdorf Weber, Phillip I, Uchtdorf Wechter, Andreas I, , Hesslingen Wegener, Heinrich I, II, m, Auhagen Wehlhausen, Friedrich III, Rinteln Weichmann, Christoph I, HI, Ucht Weihe, Konrad I, II, Rodenberg W eiser, Matthiew I, 7 Rinteln Weiss, Arend I, 7 Fuhlen Wellhausen, Christoph II, III, Weibeck Wendt, Klaus I, 7 Hallstadt Wenthe, Heinrich II, III, Pohle Wenthe, Rudolph I, - Rohden Wenthe, Wilhelm I, Gr. Wieden Weyhe, Christoph I, 7 Kl. Hegesdorf Weyhe, Friedrich I,ni, Rodenberg Wichard, Georg I, n, in, Rinteln Wiechmann, Engel I, Bahrenborstel Wiechmann, Heinrich I, Stuhren Windheirn, Heinrich I, Ottensen Windheim, Heinrich Ludwig I,7 Schottlingen Winnefeld, Georg I, in, Liebenau Winter, Friedrich I, 7 H esslingen Winter, Ludwig n, in Rinteln W issel, Johannes I, II, m , Oldendorf Wissel, Wilhelm n, III, Rumbeck Wohlers, Gerd I, Wagenfeld Woleadt, Heinrich I, Exten Wolff, Phillip 1,9 Oldendorf Wolfkuster, Ludwig I, H esslingen Wolfrath, Heinrich I, n, m , Luke we gen Wolter, Christian n, III, Exten Wortmann, Heinrich I,III, Bassum Wustenfeld, Hans I, Nordbruck Zerbst, Heinrich I, 7 A he

Listed on 1775 rolls. II - Listed on October, 1778, ro lls. III - Listed on 1783 ro lls. 1 - Commanded Pennington Road picket post at Trenton, Dec. 26, 1776. 2 - Present at Brunswick Road picket post at Trenton, Dec. 26, 1776. 3 - Present at Ferry picket post at Trenton, Dec. 26, 1776,

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4 Present at Crosswick Creek picket post, December 26, 1776. 5 Present at Assunpink bridge picket post, December 26, 1776. s Apparently erroneously reported killed on Dec. 26, 1776. 7 Believed lost at sea on the Adamant, September, 1778. 8 Carried on ro lls as Sergeant Major in 1775. 9 Probably the Regimental Sergeant Major Karl Wolf referred to K**uy XJ/Mirinor>iicuoocf o

EXPLANATORY LEGEND

I - Did not go to America or killed, captured, or deserted 1776- 78. II - Joined regiment after 1775, died or deserted after 1778. III - Late recruit, probably returned to Germany. I, II - Died or deserted after 1778. I, III - Probably taken prisoner at Trenton...late in returning. II, III - Joined regiment after 1775, probably returned to Germany. I, II, III - Continuous service with the Lossberg Regiment throughout the period.

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