Discover the truth about the Hessians, the German mercenary soldiers who assisted the British during the American Revolutionary War
Discover the truth about the Hessians, the German mercenary soldiers who assisted the British during the American Revolutionary War
Learn about the Hessians, German mercenary soldiers who fought as auxiliary troops on the British side in the American Revolution.
© Civil War Trust (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
Transcript
I'm standing here at historic Carlisle Barracks, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, home of the today's U.S. Army War College. The building behind me is known as the Hessian Powder Magazine. It is, as the name suggests, a powder magazine built by Hessian prisoners of war, captured by the Continental Army, in December of 1776 after Washington's iconic crossing of the Delaware on Christmas night. German principalities did typically have a reputation as being disciplined fighting troops, largely due to their sort of relation proximity I think to Frederick the Great and the Prussian army in the early and mid-18th century, which was sort of the gold standard.
As we talk about the Hessians, I think it's important to recognize that there were actually six German principalities that will provide manpower for British forces in North America throughout the revolution. In addition to the more numerous soldiers from Hesse-Kessel and Hesse-Hanau, the true Hessians. There were also wall deckers, Brunswickers, and troops from the Ansbach-Bayreuth, as well as Anholt [INAUDIBLE] totaling some 37,000 troops or German auxiliaries provided in British service throughout the war.
I think the German auxiliaries are a definite help to the British, a definite value added in the end. For one thing, they provide up to a third of the end strength of the British forces in North America at various points during the Revolution. So, the British are unable to make the numbers they need. In fact, it could be justly argued I think, that the British don't have the numbers that they need in terms of end strength by modern counterinsurgency doctrine, for example, to control the land they need to control in North America.
And so without the Germans, they would had been an even tighter spot in terms of manpower. And they are fairly, generally, fairly disciplined reliable soldiers. The idea of having foreign troops-- foreign being non-English troops-- come on to the American colonies was something that patriot propaganda seized upon, these soldiers for higher, coming to our shores. And they tried to paint them sort of as sort savages, or barbarians or, heartless thugs, again, as much of that as propaganda as is reality, if not more. So, as I said, though there were some violations of what we would consider laws of armed conflict, some pillaging, some atrocities committed by Hessians, the same can be said by all the combatants for that matter.
What's interesting to me is that of those, as I said, some 37,000 German auxiliaries, an estimated 5,000 or 6,000 of them will elect to remain in North America as wars ended. And many will be permitted to do so given the discharge, rather than pay their voyage home. Many of them are were seeking increased economic opportunity over what they could expect in their homeland.
And they would choose, instead, to integrate in the local German communities already established in the colonies of which there were several principally in Pennsylvania, but also, in Maryland, in Virginia. They'll become a part of the thriving economy and the American melting pot. And they'll actually help fuel the economy and the westward expansion into both the Shenandoah and Ohio Valleys.
As we talk about the Hessians, I think it's important to recognize that there were actually six German principalities that will provide manpower for British forces in North America throughout the revolution. In addition to the more numerous soldiers from Hesse-Kessel and Hesse-Hanau, the true Hessians. There were also wall deckers, Brunswickers, and troops from the Ansbach-Bayreuth, as well as Anholt [INAUDIBLE] totaling some 37,000 troops or German auxiliaries provided in British service throughout the war.
I think the German auxiliaries are a definite help to the British, a definite value added in the end. For one thing, they provide up to a third of the end strength of the British forces in North America at various points during the Revolution. So, the British are unable to make the numbers they need. In fact, it could be justly argued I think, that the British don't have the numbers that they need in terms of end strength by modern counterinsurgency doctrine, for example, to control the land they need to control in North America.
And so without the Germans, they would had been an even tighter spot in terms of manpower. And they are fairly, generally, fairly disciplined reliable soldiers. The idea of having foreign troops-- foreign being non-English troops-- come on to the American colonies was something that patriot propaganda seized upon, these soldiers for higher, coming to our shores. And they tried to paint them sort of as sort savages, or barbarians or, heartless thugs, again, as much of that as propaganda as is reality, if not more. So, as I said, though there were some violations of what we would consider laws of armed conflict, some pillaging, some atrocities committed by Hessians, the same can be said by all the combatants for that matter.
What's interesting to me is that of those, as I said, some 37,000 German auxiliaries, an estimated 5,000 or 6,000 of them will elect to remain in North America as wars ended. And many will be permitted to do so given the discharge, rather than pay their voyage home. Many of them are were seeking increased economic opportunity over what they could expect in their homeland.
And they would choose, instead, to integrate in the local German communities already established in the colonies of which there were several principally in Pennsylvania, but also, in Maryland, in Virginia. They'll become a part of the thriving economy and the American melting pot. And they'll actually help fuel the economy and the westward expansion into both the Shenandoah and Ohio Valleys.