Hessians: German Soldiers in the American Revolutionary War

Hessians: German Soldiers in the American Revolutionary War | Friederike Baer

Рет қаралды 20,887

Күн бұрын

Between 1776 and 1783, Great Britain hired an estimated thirty thousand German soldiers to fight in its war against the American rebels. 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, West Florida and Cuba. They penned a large body of private and official records that provide detailed accounts of the American war as well as descriptions of the built and natural environment, local customs and manners, the prevalence of slavery, and encounters with Native Americans. Based chiefly on these writings, Friederike Baer’s new book, Hessians: German Soldiers in the American Revolutionary War, offers a ground-breaking reimaging of Britain’s war against American independence from the perspective of the German soldiers, a people uniquely positioned both in the midst of the war and at its margins.
About the Speaker:
Friederike Baer is an associate professor of history and the division head for arts and humanities at Penn State Abington. She earned a Ph.D. in early American history from Brown University. Her research focuses on the experiences of German-speaking people in North America from the 1770s to the late nineteenth century. Among her publications is the book, The Trial of Frederick Eberle: Language, Patriotism and Citizenship in Philadelphia’s German Community, 1790-1830, which used the 1816 legal trial of around five dozen German Americans as a prism through which to explore prevalent notions of citizenship, language, and patriotism in the first four decades after the Revolution. Her research has been supported by various grants and fellowships, including a Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati Grant for research in the Society of the Cincinnati’s library collection at Anderson House.
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Пікірлер: 92

@azeclecticdog 3 ай бұрын

Enjoyed the talk and will be getting the book. I also have a 5th great grandfather that served in Regiment von Rall. He and his brother were captured and sent to Winchester. His brother went home but he stayed and married the daughter of a local patriot.

@hess14n Жыл бұрын

Ive got hessian soldier heritage, and my dad, grandpa, and uncle were all nicknamed "The Hessian" by their classmates when they learned about them in their US history classes. I'm taking US1 Honors this school year, hopefully i get the nickname too

@hess14n Жыл бұрын

and yes im from NJ. Between trenton and north delaware. Besides family records, that helps up almost guarantee we're hessian descent

@StephenMBauer Жыл бұрын

O.K. Hessian! (lol)

@Page-Hendryx Жыл бұрын

I was a member of the Hessians outlaw motorcycle club.

@Godyjail1 10 ай бұрын

I too have hessian heritage, we actually own one of the muskets that was used by my relative.

@JW02602 8 ай бұрын

@@Godyjail1 do you know which hessian unit he was with?

@bbwng54 Жыл бұрын

Excellent presentation. This talk gave the perspective of the Hessian soldier leaving Europe, coming to America, and surviving the American land and climate.

@DanielMatthews-ql3wf 8 ай бұрын

A great many Hessian soldiers stayed in America after the Revolution because they were a great addition to the colonies.

@Hollylivengood 2 ай бұрын

Yes. And quite a few planned on deserting. Ohio was not part of the colonies then, it was a territory, and many of the Germans deserted and went there, because no one could go after then. Isn't Columbus, Ohio supposed to have been originally settled by Hessian deserters?

@p51nion Жыл бұрын

I have the book. Interestingly, Friederike does not mention the fact that George III's sister Augusta was the wife of the Karl, Duke of Braunschweig, from whom he contracted the first body of German troops.

@isaiahrarrick5456 4 ай бұрын

I have an ancestor who was a Hessian soldier. From Hesse-Cassel. Who was captured at the battle of Trenton.

@JW02602 10 күн бұрын

Maybe he came from my home village Ziegenhain or from the surrounding area. There is a water fortress in Ziegenhain where the Rall regiment was stationed. Greetings from Germany

@arthorvonblomberg1624 Жыл бұрын

Excellent presentation and great insight into The Cause and the American experiment. I shall buy the book. Thank you..

@Tommyknox777 3 ай бұрын

I just found out on my fathers side of the family is a Hessian Aux who joined the American side when he was offered land in Pennsylvania. Pretty cool.

@unclrogPitcher 10 күн бұрын

mine also, their land in the Cherry Valley, south of the Mohawk river, NYS

@SunbeamGiant 24 күн бұрын

I learned a lot thank you!!

@davidchunkyonion 4 ай бұрын

Great presentation. I learned a lot.

@DanielMatthews-ql3wf 8 ай бұрын

Most wealthy Colonials were loyalists they had little to gain from independence. Were as the Revolutionarys were tradesmen and farmers who bore the brunt of the burden of taxation.

@brycetonproctor5204 Жыл бұрын

Though only garrisoned there were Hessians in East Florida. They were actual Hessians from Hesse-Cassel under Colonel Friedrich von Porbeck. They were 85 men, including a surgeon from the Knoblauch Regiment. They arrived in April 1781 in St. Augustine due to fears of a Spanish attack.

@michaelmanning5379 Жыл бұрын

The assertion starting at 8:58 is incorrect. Hesse-Hanau Jagers were on the Fort Stanwix campaign that passed through the Great Lakes.

@myradioon 4 ай бұрын

Many Hessian soldiers were actually Jews who were forced into conscription for longer terms by German States in exchange for ability to reside/work in them etc.. A list of German Troop War Rosters in New Jersey etc., shows Jewish origin names (Osterman, etc.) amongst Germans/Hessians and not so coincidentally - a lot of deserted Hessian and Prussian soldiers in the Revolutionary War (and names that show up in places in the U.S. that German deserters/prisoners ended up in), have Jewish or known Crypto-Jewish surnames (many hid their identities in the service). Many Jews of course didn't want to go back to Germany and were lower on the totem pole to rescue/exchange/evacuate from the colonies.

@user-ul1cv2ii1c 8 ай бұрын

Excellent

@hisoverlorduponhigh90 10 ай бұрын

My great, great Grandfather came over from Darmstadt, which I believe is in Hesse. Though he came over in 1832. He landed in Baltimore. He settled in Somerset, county, Pennsylvania. There are much German ancestry there. I have always wondered why he came over

@JW02602 10 күн бұрын

yes, Darmstadt is in Hessen. Greetings from Germany near Darmstadt

@hisoverlorduponhigh90 10 күн бұрын

@@JW02602 Hello from Indiana.

@JW02602 10 күн бұрын

@@hisoverlorduponhigh90 Hello I'm happy. Indiana is a beautiful country. I visited Indiana in the 1980s. Kind regards

@DanielMatthews-ql3wf 8 ай бұрын

Second and third son often joined the army as a way of earning a living and becoming wealthy.

@mewmannamwem6087 8 күн бұрын

HAHAHh I ADORE the Germans when they speak English Learning German right now so beautiful language and such a beautiful culture Good luck

@bartholomus9548 Жыл бұрын

Anyone know much about Bunau regiment? In a database of hessian soldiers during the revolutionary war there was a soldier with my last name in that regiment

@JW02602 Жыл бұрын

I know Garnisons Regiment von Bünau. I Think it is .

@bartholomus9548 Жыл бұрын

@@JW02602 I think I remember seeing that it was a garrison regiment. Do you happen to know where it was garrisoned at?

@JW02602 Жыл бұрын

The Garnisons Regiment von Bürnau stayed in the town of Witzenhausen in Hessen(Germany)

@JW02602 Жыл бұрын

The Regiment von Bürnau got the March order at 9.Mai 1776 to Amerika. I found two different names of Bartholmay.

@bartholomus9548 Жыл бұрын

@@JW02602 interesting my actual last name is Bramer. There was a guy name Johan Adolf Bramer in the bunau regiment. Don't actually know if there is a concrete connection. But I know my 4th great grandfather immigrated to America about 1850 and on a later census the region of birth is labeled as Baden

@DanielMatthews-ql3wf 8 ай бұрын

The first 3 George's were German so recruiting German soldiers as a no brainer. If you are fighting an enemy you ask for help from your friends, and King George's friends were germans.

@MixerRenegade95 2 ай бұрын

The fist two Georges were German not George III, he was English born and raised.

@Back4WhatsMines Жыл бұрын

What was the majority of the people and rulers complexion in 🇩🇪 in 1751?

@JW02602 10 күн бұрын

Most of them had white skin color

@danielgregg2530 Ай бұрын

How do you say, "I heard Amerikan girls are easy" in 18th-century German ?

@JW02602 10 күн бұрын

In what context do you mean that? In the 18th century, things were said differently in Germany. Many greetings from Germany

@ordyhorizonrivieredunord712 Жыл бұрын

Those who remained in Canada were very succesfull in helping kill the savages, especially in Manitoba and quench the 1838 rebellion in Québec. They also captured Tecumseh. 🐺

@RPMZ11 Жыл бұрын

What's the part? The mother country literally bankrupted themselves to protect her English-speaking colonies for over 130 years from the French and her native allies.....who sent hundreds of raiding parties into the American colonies, killing and wiping out dozens of New England settlements. This terror only finally ended with Wolfe's epic campaign and capture of the Citadel at Quebec....finally bringing the end of the French threat to the very livelihoods of her citizens. 16 years later...🔪 🩸 Mother country?....F* them...parle vous?

@ordyhorizonrivieredunord712 Жыл бұрын

You are totally brainwashed by propaganda. ⚜

@RPMZ11 Жыл бұрын

@@ordyhorizonrivieredunord712 Ring your nurse old man. When's the last time you even bothered to read a book...to actually know about where the freak you came from? Ready?... Bring it.....Have I got a story for you.

@ahuels67 2 ай бұрын

42:07 This sounds exactly like what the Russians said about Germany and the Germans standards of living, homes and everything in them, when they finally got to Germany in WW2. Didnt understand why people who had so much would feel the need to invade an extremely poor country like theirs.

@MH-jt3lx Жыл бұрын

The Hassians were right about a few not wanting to pay taxes and were decadent and greedy.

@briancomiskey3792 Жыл бұрын

Hm ok

@kenj.8897 2 жыл бұрын

The enemy is within now .

@cb6816 2 жыл бұрын

lol

@cb6816 2 жыл бұрын

usually

@CulbsDC Жыл бұрын

We have met the enemy. And, yup, it’s us. 😂

@davidharner5865 2 жыл бұрын

A 'small fleet' is a flotilla.

@davemacnicol8404 Жыл бұрын

I could take all of those huns except for maybe ol dirty Sanchez in the middle there.

@michaeldivirgilio 9 күн бұрын

Not all Germans were Hessians and none were mercenaries.

@DanielMatthews-ql3wf 8 ай бұрын

Wealthy people didn't go to the colonies 2nd and 3rd sons went to the colonies to start a business or farm to create Wealth.

@danichicago9140 2 ай бұрын

Premogeniture was a major driver of expansion inherited from the Normans.

@davidboulden1778 2 жыл бұрын

1. Huge Lecture Pro - YES. Hessians were Not mercenaries. Thank you for stressing that fact. 2. BIG Lecture Con - Germany didnt unite until 1871. How can there be German soldiers in the revolutionary war? If Germany didn't exist for almost another century.

@p51nion 2 жыл бұрын

It's a trivial matter of simplifying the linguistics. The language spoken was Deutsch. Collectively, the lands where this language was spoken were "Deutschland". Since Americans, generally, are way too poorly educated, to grasp this it's simpler to call the inhabitants of these 300+ duchies, landgraves, margraves, principalities, etc., etc., "Germans".

@GLfocus2 2 жыл бұрын

@@p51nion You are correct.

@GeneWarren Жыл бұрын

There was a German cultural identity, and while actual unification wouldn't come until 1871, there were various earlier attempts, including the German Confederation in 1815. (Still post Revolutionary War, but closer).

@yoshkebenstadapandora1181 Жыл бұрын

I am suspicious that "German Hessians" is in reality Zionist Yiddish speaking Communists hired by Lincoln to come and conquer America for the New World Order. Lincoln was an evil bastard, Rosicrucian freemason. The myth he was a good man is absurd.

@jorgmartinbauer5127 Жыл бұрын

Right, Germans were created not before 1871..

@DymaxionDon 3 ай бұрын

Very weak presentation, more focused on slavery than the Hessian troops. She fails to mention is existing German populations in North America and their impact on the conflict and the Hesssians.

@user-js7ek9oh3p 4 ай бұрын

The Hessian Mercenaries were paid to go to the 'New World' and "Conquer" the Colonists.... But, they failed and lost the war, and some stayed and were happily "Conquered".!!

@Whopoopedinmypants 3 ай бұрын

Hmm here i was thinking the Hessians were a professional standing army for hire. When in reality they were mostly made up of dissidents and rebel-rousers lol

@DanielMatthews-ql3wf 8 ай бұрын

Second and third son often joined the army as a way of earning a living and becoming wealthy.