Between 1776 and 1783, Britain hired more than 30,000 German soldiers to fight in its war against the rebels in North America. 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. [Read more…] about Hessians: German Soldiers in the American Revolutionary War