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Between 1776 and 1783, Britain hired an estimated 30,000 German soldiers to fight in its war against the Americans. Collectively known as Hessians, the soldiers and accompanying civilians, including women and children, spent extended periods of time in locations as dispersed and varied as Canada in the North to West Florida and Cuba in the South. This study examines how they experienced and described the war they fought in, the land they traversed, and the people they encountered. Based chiefly on their own writings, including a large body of letters and diaries, the book offers a ground-breaking reimaging of Britain's war against American independence.
List of contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Chapter 1: "A Matter Pregnant with Great, Serious, National Consequences:" Britain's Decision to Hire German Auxiliaries
- Chapter 2: "In General a Good Body, and Very Fit for Service:" Recruiting the Auxiliaries
- Chapter 3: "Moving Across a Vast Body of Water in Nutshells:" The Voyage to America
- Chapter 4: "The Garden of all of North America:" New York and New Jersey, 1776
- Chapter 5: "An Unfortunate Affair:" Trenton, 1776
- Chapter 6: "The Men are Weary from Toil:" Canada, 1776 and 1777
- Chapter 7: "A War Against all Humanity:" Fort Stanwix, Saratoga, Quebec, 1777 to 1783
- Chapter 8: "They were Vexed to Find that we Looked like Human Beings:" Captivity, 1776 to 1781
- Chapter 9: "Good Night, Peace:" Philadelphia, 1777
- Chapter 10: "Conquered Little but Lost Much:" Philadelphia, Rhode Island, New York, 1778 to 1780
- Chapter 11: "How German Bones are Scattered around in this War": The Spanish Borderlands, 1778 to 1782
- Chapter 12: "We Joyously went on the Expedition:" Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, 1778 to 1782
- Chapter 13: "We were once again Onlookers and Idlers:" Captivity after Yorktown, 1781 to 1783
- Chapter 14: "I Will Always Call them Rebels:" Evacuation, 1783
- Abbreviations
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
About the author
Friederike Baer is Associate Professor of History and Division Head for Arts and Humanities at Pennsylvania State University, Abington College. Her research focuses on the experiences of German-speaking people in North America from the Revolutionary period to the late nineteenth century. Her publications include the monograph The Trial of Frederick Eberle: Language, Patriotism and Citizenship in Philadelphia's German Community, 1790-1830, winner of the St. Paul's, Biglerville Prize for the best book in Lutheran church history.
Summary
Between 1776 and 1783, Britain hired an estimated 30,000 German soldiers to fight in its war against the Americans. Collectively known as Hessians, they actually came from six German territories within the Holy Roman Empire. Over the course of the war, members of the German corps, including women and children, spent extended periods of time in locations as dispersed and varied as Canada in the North to West Florida and Cuba in the South. They shared in every significant British military triumph and defeat. Thousands died of disease, were killed in battle, were captured by the enemy, or deserted.
Collectively, they recorded their experiences and observations of the war they fought in, the land they traversed, and the people they encountered in a large body of letters, diaries, and similar private and official records. Friederike Baer presents a study of Britain's war against the American rebels from the perspective of the German soldiers, a people uniquely positioned both in the midst of the war and at its margins. The book offers a ground-breaking reimagining of this watershed event in world history.
Additional text
It is rare these days to encounter a scholarly work free of jargon, political polemics, and presentist interpretations. It is especially rare to find a book superbly grounded in primary sources that is also readable. Friederike Baer's Hessians not only fits the bill in both cases but also expertly analyzes a historically significant and fascinating subchapter of the American Revolution that has not been comprehensively examined for over a hundred years.
