Hessians

Hessians: German Soldiers in the American Revolutionary War

November 6, 2023 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

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

Hessians: German Soldiers in the American Revolutionary War

March 30, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The book Hessians: German Soldiers in the American Revolutionary War (Oxford University Press, 2022) by Friederike Baer takes a look at the thirty thousand German soldiers that Great Britain hired to fight in its war against the American rebels between 1776 and 1783.

Collectively known as Hessians, the soldiers and accompanying civilians, including hundreds of women and children, spent extended periods of time in locations as dispersed and varied as Canada in the North and West Florida in the South. [Read more…] about Hessians: German Soldiers in the American Revolutionary War

‘Hessians’ in the Revolutionary War

March 2, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The term “Hessians” refers to the approximately 30,000 German troops – about a quarter of British land forces – hired by the British as auxiliaries during the American Revolution. The term typically refers to all Germans who fought on the British side, because 65% came from the German states of Hesse-Kassel and Hesse-Hanau. [Read more…] about ‘Hessians’ in the Revolutionary War

German Soldiers in the American Revolution (Podcast)

August 3, 2018 by Bob Cudmore 1 Comment

This week on The Historians podcast, Eric Schnitzer, a park ranger/historian at Saratoga National Historical Park, discusses the German soldiers, commonly called Hessians, who fought for the British in the northern campaign of the American Revolution in 1777. Schnitzer was one of the speakers at a conference in June sponsored by the Fort Plain Museum. [Read more…] about German Soldiers in the American Revolution (Podcast)

New Beer Celebrates ‘Hessians’ At Battle of Bennington

June 6, 2014 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Brown’s Brewing Company in Hoosick Falls and Troy, NY, has brewed a special beer in tribute to the Germans that served at the Battle of Bennington which took place in the Town of Hoosick in 1777 during the American Revolutionary War.

The historic Braunschweigers Mumme Ale is a dark, spicy beer created in the late 1400s in the German province of Braunschweig in what is now Lower Saxony, home of Lieutenant Colonel Friedrich Baum and his elite regiment of mounted infantrymen called Dragoons. [Read more…] about New Beer Celebrates ‘Hessians’ At Battle of Bennington

Battle of Trenton: George Washington’s Surprise Attack

March 8, 2014 by Editorial Staff 3 Comments

Like many historical events, the American Revolution is often shrouded in romantic myth and stubborn stereotypes. Perhaps no event offers a better example than General George Washington’s famous crossing of icy Delaware River on Christmas night to lead the Continental Army’s defeat of the Hessians at Trenton, New Jersey, an event which revived the flickering morale American revolutionaries.

In George Washington’s Surprise Attack: A New Look at the Battle That Decided the Fate of America (Skyhorse Publishing, 2014), Phillip Thomas Tucker attempts to parse fiction from fact. He provides an in-depth look (more than 600 pages, with notes) at the events of the Battle of Trenton, presenting new insights and analysis about a battle that holds a mythical place in American national history. [Read more…] about Battle of Trenton: George Washington’s Surprise Attack