The Hessians [Paperback]

A study of the German auxiliaries who fought with the British against the American colonists.This study uses German, British and American manuscript sources to put the Hessians in their historical context. The encounter of the American colonists with the Hessian troops from a disciplined paternalistic society organized for war, was the meeting, not merely of two military systems, but of two ways of life.This study uses German, British and American manuscript sources to put the Hessians in their historical context. The encounter of the American colonists with the Hessian troops from a disciplined paternalistic society organized for war, was the meeting, not merely of two military systems, but of two ways of life.The Hessians are infamous in American history for their role as part of the British forces sent to crush the colonists' rebellion in 1776. Yet these German auxiliaries, or mercenaries were only one instance of a frequent military practice, approved by international jurists of the time and used by the British in all their eighteenth-century wars. This study (dealing with one of the six contingents known inaccurately as the Hessians) is the first to make extensive use of manuscript sources in Germany, Britain and America to put the Hessians in their historical context and to examine a number of the myths about them. The encounter of the Americans with the Hessian troops from a disciplined paternalistic society organized for war, with special thoroughness, was not merely the meeting of two military systems, but also of two ways of life, and is thus worthy of study in an age of conflict.List of maps; Acknowledgements; Abbreviations; Note on German ranks and currency; Introduction; 1. The German soldier trade; 2. The Hessians go to America; 3. The victories of 1776; 4. The Battle of Trenton; 5. The campaigns of 177781; 6. Anglo-Hessian relations; 7. The Hessian view of the American Revolution; 8. Hessian plundering; 9. Hessian desertion; 10. Recruiting in Germanylã9