welcome, everyone. my name is, philip mead. i'm the chief historian and curator of this museum of the american revolut >> welcome everyone, my name is philip, i'm the chief historian and curator of this museum of the american revolution.

so pleased to see you all tonight for fredricka bears presentation. scott stephenson sends his regrets, he intended to be here hosting but wasn't available. he may be watching from zoom. if you're out there scott, hello. i want to call your tension to an important object that we actually have here in this room. this is a fragment of a -- it is from the blue seal years of hasse castle. it was discovered among other fragments of these in the delaware river in the early 20th century. some historical research by others has pretty well established that it was lost when a troop transport went under in may of, excuse me, march of 1778 in the delaware

river. no one on the ship survived, but a lot of the things state in the river. they were dredged up and are on display. other pieces of that are on display in accord galleries. so tonight, we have the privilege of welcoming fredricka bear, who is associate professor of history and division head for arts and humanities at the pennsylvania state university addington college. her research focuses on the experience of a german speaking people in north america, from the revolutionary period to the late 19th century. her publications prior to tonight include the trial of frederick. language, patriotism, and citizenship in philadelphia's german community, 1790 to 1830. that was the winner of the st. paul's prize for the best book

in lutheran church history. tonight, she is launching her book, german shoulders in the american revolutionary war. which is, i think, destined to be a indispensable book for scholars and general students of the american revolution. it plums an extraordinary number of previously unexamined primary sources. it gives us a view of a community in this conflict that we have really only understood through a glass so to speak. but with the precision, clarity, and humanity that actually is going to be very hard to beat as the definitive treatment for a very, very long time. so, thank you very much dr. bear, mr. --

we are here to hear your comments. first, i want to introduce, from haverford trust, which has supported these read the revolution programs, both the email publications that many of you get but also these evenings. i wanted to introduce, representing haverford, rebecca farnsworth, who is their vice president and institutional portfolio manager. so rebecca, thank you very much for joining us here. [applause] >> hello everyone. thank you phil. as phil mentioned, my name is becky farnsworth and i'm delighted to be here representing the haverford trust company. haverford is an investment management form located with 13 billion dollars in assets in

management. at haverford, i'm a portfolio manager which effectively means that i'm responsible for managing investment assets and serving as a trusted adviser for a number of firms, and non profit clients. i think we feel very fortunate to live in a region that has such deep groups and have referred has been committed to serving our nonprofit communities since the firms inception over 40 years ago. the greatest joy of my job is building deep, strategic partnerships with our nonprofit clients and amazing organizations like the american revolution museum. they do such important work in strengthening the fabric of our communities. haverford has been a longtime partner of the museum and it is very much a pleasure of our organization to once again sponsor the incredible read the revolution speakers series here at the museum. as the concluding speaker of

this year's presentation program, we are all very much looking forward to hearing from dr. bear. i welcome all of you, thank you very much for being here this evening. those in person and on zoom. i'll turn it back over to phil getting started, thank you. [laughter] >> thank you. without further ado, professor bear, if you would join me up here and give us your wisdom. [laughter] [applause] >> okay. i never thought i would be giving a lecture at the museum of the american revolution, i am so happy to be here today. so good evening, whether you're joining us here in person or on zoom, wherever you are, thank

you for being here. thank you to phil, the entire team, it's been a really wonderful experience working with you all to get this organized. and thanks of course to the haverford trust for supporting the speakers. i've had the pleasure of attending quite a few of them and it was a great experience. i hope this one will be a great experience for you as well. let me just click through the first slide. so, i would like to say a few general words about who they were, these thousands of troops who we call hessians. how they ended up in north america, and then i will give a few snapshots of the experiences over the course of the war. so, i want to start with a brief introduction. in a 17 70s and 1780's, as many as 40,000 german shoulders or hired to defend british imperial interests on four continents. in europe, in india, in south

africa, and of course in america. the vast majority of them, at least 30,000 saw service in america. in august 1776, a german periodical, the german chronicle, noted optimistically that quote, soon the english would have to thank the germans a second time for the conquest of america. the editor was alluding to william pitt's famous reference to germany's role in the seven years'war a decade earlier, a war that had resulted in a france seeding a large portion of its territorial possessions in north america, along with several caribbean islands, to britain. earlier that year, 1776, britain's prime minister had predicted that the higher of the german auxiliaries would bring the war, which he called a speedy resolution without quote, the further effusion of

blood. neither of these predictions of course, as we know now, came true. the steady supply of germans actually helped keep the war going for seven more years. so before i continue, let me emphasize that by the late 17 70s, early 1780's, one third of the british regular army's strength in north america consisted of german auxiliaries. this was not an insignificant presence. moreover, between the summer of 1776, when the first contingency set foot on american soil and 1783, when the british army evacuated the newly founded united states, members of the german core spent extended time in location as dispersed as varied as quebec and nova scotia in the north, and florida and cuba in the south. across this vast terrain, they participated in all major

military campaigns and numerous less momentous skirmishes in military encounters. some never saw battle. they spent their entire time in north america, somewhere in garrison. thousands died of disease, were killed in battle, or were captured by the enemy over the course of the war. a growing number also deserted. i put up this map here from the military caddie me which has a great collection of maps like this. just to remind you of the major campaigns, the red or the british campaigns. as i mentioned, the germans took part in all of them, i should point out that they did not take part in the ones in the great lake regions. they also did not go into these florida. they did however take part in a couple of campaigns that are actually not highlighted here, namely the occupation of newport, rhode island and also sailing all the way to pensacola and fighting the spanish. a number of forts along the

mississippi river as well. there were troops, as i mentioned, in nova scotia which is not indicated here on this map. so how did they end up in america? in the spring of 75, 1775, britain face the challenging task of raising substantial military force that could be dispatched to america quickly. for various reasons, i don't want to go into detail, the king determined that he would not be able to raise sufficient amounts of troops at home or within other parts of the empire, including north america. after his failure to hire 20,000 russians, the king turned to several german states for support. french intelligence actually suggests that british efforts to hire troops may have commenced as early as ball 1774, before the war even started.

at that time, just a reminder, what are some tide called the trade in soldiers was unacceptable form of revenue. rulers used the income from hiring out military units to support their lifestyle, payoff territorial debts, and to fund projects that were designed to benefit their territories generally, such as construction of villagers, hospitals, schools, was sparse. moreover, subsidy treaties should also be seen as political matters that allowed the rulers of small territories within the holy roman empire to maintain a certain degree of power and influence. in some cases, they preserved dynastic interests and gain protection from foreign powers. all of the major european powers such as france, russia, pasha, and the united provinces of the netherlands included foreign troops into their military forces. in fact, in the 18th century, the typical european army was a multinational force.

eventually, of course we know that six chairman territories all in a wholly roman empire, there was no germany at the time. the holy roman empire consisted of several territories and large territories. six of them ultimately agreed to enter into substitute used to hire out auxiliary troops in exchange for substantial payments. they are combined on the map in red, small territories -- [speaking non-english] a little bit difficult to see. but in any case, there are six territories. they rented out troops ranging from maybe around 1200 ultimately, a total of 1200 from the territory, to as many as 19 or 20,000 soldiers by the castle. the very first treaties were signed in late 75, the first troops began their journey to

america in february 76. i should also point out that these soldiers were not mercenaries. they are usually referred to as mercenaries, but they were not mercenaries. mercenaries our soldiers who fight in a foreign army or a foreign war for personal profit. these troops are considered auxiliaries. these are military units that were hired out by their respective rulers to assist britain in its efforts to put down the american threat. although the subsidy treaties varied somewhat, they agreed on the basics. a very quickly, the troops would serve on uncertain terms as the british soldiers, they could only serve in or europe and north america. this was very important to the rulers. britain paid annual subsidies to the rule is during the time they were in british service and usually for a couple of years afterwards. of course, no one knew how long the war would last.

britain would also pay for transport to and from america, it would cover individual pay, equipment, provisions, placements, medical care, and so on. as you can probably imagine, keeping track of all of this was quite challenging. and it got even more complicated, confusing over the course of the war for those of you who like spreadsheets. this is one from 1783. this is trying to tally up expenses and income that was still owed to the troops that were in canada at the time. it is on the eve of the evacuation and they return to europe. there are lots of records like these in the archives. you have people, even then, it's hard for us to figure what is going on. you have people there who complain constantly. they are sorting out the finances, who gets paid for what, who is owed what money, who is paying, is it a british bank in london, or germany, or

america? it is very confusing. i do also want to point out that expenses such as the rations and uniforms were commonly deducted from the soldiers pay. so soldiers themselves were responsible for covering some of these expenses. the german units would be commanded by their own officers and subject to their own military law. they almost always served alongside british troops with a very, very rare exceptions. the overall commander was also always a british officer. because the majority of these troops were supplied by the territories of hessian, the label hessian has been used since the 17 70s to describe all german troops in british service troop, regardless of place of origin. and for this reason, i'm using the term and the title of my book. however, in the book itself and also today, i use german when referring to the troops

collectively and hessian when discussing individuals belonging to the hessian core. after all, the subsidy troops and affiliated civilians never describe themselves as hessian, unless they were actually from hessian or belong to a hessian military unit. the troops were accompanied by hundreds of civilian employees and other camp followers. including medical personnel, chaplains, servants, labor's. to the army, belong a significant number of women, including single women and also wives of soldiers who served in a range of essential roles, such as for example, maids who were employed in field hospitals. there was also a great number of children. so who were these auxiliaries? well, none of the german willis simply rented out the entire

armies. the potentially long term and even permanent loss of a large number of young men would not only hurt the economy, not only here at the territory economically, but it would also of course potentially make it vulnerable to foreign threats. in general, the regiments hired out to britain consisted of a combination of experience soldiers and new recruits. some of whom had probably never fired a gun before leaving for the war in america. for example, the regiment that i mentioned earlier, consisted of roughly 670 men, typically at full strength. it consisted of around 200 men who were taken from two regiments at the time that were in touch service at the time. the other ones, twice that number, had to be specially recruited for service in america. so, britain may have expected to get a trained and experienced military force, but this was only partially the

case. it was fairly easy to fool the officer. the war present them with an opportunity to advance their careers. all of the territories received large numbers of requests are applications essentially from officers as well as ambitious soldiers and veterans asking for appointments in the american core. the territories used a variety of conscription's to raise the troops, such as enrollment for example or requiring districts to raise a certain number of men. regardless of the kind of scheme they employed, they territories were essentially looking for the same type of men to fill up the regiments. they had to be, ideally, physically and mentally fit to meet the demands of military service in america. they should be at least around five feet four inches tall, ideally they were single and if married, without children.

all of these requirements will be next over the course of the war, it became increasingly difficult to make up for the losses. all the territories used various exceptions that were designed to exclude certain men from military service. for example, only son's, sons that expected to inherit property, property owners in essential industries, such as mining, these men were not supposed to go in service abroad. generally, recruiters were supposed to enlist foreigners, not natives to that territory where they were recruiting, or native men deemed expendable. . men's who departure from america was regarded as having little or no advantage from the

territory, but whose absence would have been seen as beneficial to the local community. for example, in separate february 1776, an official ask the duke for permission to enlist a poor man who was accused of stealing would. that's a month, a woman begged the duke to enlist kherson in law, who she described as quote, a disgusting godless man, and a quote. she pleaded with him to quote, free us from this evil. we have quite a few positions like this in german archives. drunkenness, laziness, those kinds of things, sometimes in laws, can you please take them and send them to america. ideally of course, the men volunteered. but the files and driven records doctoring cases of young men who refused to report for mustering potential recruits who stayed in the foreign territories, recruits who deserted or need, and

families who pleaded with the ruler to exempt husbands and sons for a variety of reasons. just because a man was deemed expendable by the territory, of course it did not mean that he was deemed expendable by their families. even for families, when the husband or son was gone, these families suffered even more economically. for families are very much affected by this as you can probably imagine. the main objective when we read this petition from parents for example or wives to exempt their husbands, the main objection appears to have been the prospect of serving in a foreign war on a distant continent against a enemy head that had done no harm. military service itself is not the problem, it is sending these men to america where many of course assumed they would never come back. although britain had hired german auxiliaries on multiple occasions, since the 18th century, since the 17th century

really, they had never served outside of europe. this was new. it is difficult to determine just how many men were forced into service. the definition of forced might be included difficult economic service -- problems with relatives, problems with the law. in addition to coercive tactics such as trickery or offers a food and alcohol, prudential and peer pressure appears to the men's sense of patriotism and love for their ruler, they also played important roles in filling subjects to enlist. many were undoubtedly impoverished rural folks who were forced to go by the circumstances or by the authorities. the german -- recalled in 1821 that in 1775, and i quote, america used to be the eldorado of people who found themselves in a difficult situation.

however, there were also many reasons why a man from the holy roman empire may have volunteered for service in america. i'm showing you here a recruiting certificate for a man who signed up, you'll hand frederick. he was a rope maker by trade, it protestant. the basic information from the certificate. i don't know why he signed up, maybe it was the bounty. i want to point out that he received $5, which at the time was quite generous. to put this into perspective, a service monthly wage at the time was maybe between one and one and a half dollars. $5 is a pretty good amount of cash that he would get just for signing up. i also want to point out the date. 1782, this is a good reminder that britain recruited, actively recruited germans well

into 1782, even into 1783. conventional history of the revolutionary war were more or less over yorktown. focusing on the germans reminders, the war is not over at your turn, at least not from the british perspective. we have shipments, large shipments of recruits that go to america as late as the fall of 1782. the courts improve their economic situation. some game free passage to plans to integrate. it was a free ride. some hope to advance the military, they study the people or they were in search of adventure. 22-year-old recruit recorded in

his journal that many other recruits around him were and i quote, filled with grief and sorrow while i and those in my way of thinking we're enjoying the prospect of leaving our mother country so new world. a few of these recruits, people that signed up were actually explorers and scientists who recruited, recorded their observations about the american land and the people in letters and journals. they studied fossils, and collected cultural objects, and natural specimens. my two examples here is on the left, a very popular journal, it's called -- the correspondence series of letters. he published a huge series of letters, he solicited from offices in america. send me letters that i can publish during the war. here is an example of a series from canada.

on the rights is a publication by david. he was a scientist who was actually getting ready to go to india when he first was presented with the opportunity to accompany the biographer to america as a regimental surgeon. he signed up and not only that, he decided to remain in america for additional years after the -- he was disappointed that they had only seen little york as he called new york, little rhode island and the district of philadelphia. he wanted to go out and that's what he did after 1783. he eventually published a travel narrative, he penned several letters, they were publishing journey during the war and numerous works on natural history topics were used as an example. these individuals did so privately because they were interested in studying this

strange land. but they also often did -- in 1779 for example, general will home, the commander of the hessian troops directed all hessian regiments on behalf of the landgraff to collect what he called rarities such as native american clothing and equipment. and he ordered the quartermaster's to maintain journals that detailed as he put it, each and every event pertaining to the regiments. the receipt in the archives indicates that he brought back from america the sugarcane and a pouch with crystals as a gift for the famous naturalist heel who is a professor at the castle at the time. so in all of these kind of accounts, published, circulated amongst friends or published

during and after the war, they helped broaden the knowledge of north america among german speaking europeans. to some extent, these soldiers really acted almost like foreign correspondents. they wrote these things that were published throughout the war in various german territories. so in my book, i talk a little bit about the logistics of getting these troops to america. i'm not going into great detail here. i just want to mention of course that they were taken to ports in germany or the netherlands. they were mustered into service, that is really when their role in british service officially started. they boarded vessels that took them to england and then from there to america. german records described the ocean crossing as a very frightening experience. this is new, germany is not a seafaring country really. for them, they have been on

river boats. ocean crossing for them was a new experience and it was generally pretty scary. the sighting of land offered significant relief, journalist described crossing in great detail. the surgeon yulia's frederik, as he put it in his own diary, kept thinking of columbus as his vessel was sailing towards the canadian coast in early summer of 76. he felt as though the german troops were discovering a new world. that is how he put it. and you them, i would say it was a new world indeed. the sister of the physician christiane frederick who served in the hessian core as a physician. he noted later that the journey to america at the time was almost as adventurous as going to the moon. in fact, when the first

contingents of german troops were venturing across the atlantic in the spring of 76, the average german probably did not know much about the western hemisphere, especially north america. they knew even less about the war they were about to enter. in addition, important to note as well, the vast majority of the german troops had no knowledge of english. when they set up for america. and many struggle to acquire even a basic command of it after their arrival. the german troops thus had to get used to fighting in an unfamiliar train along soldiers and other commanders and against an enemy that did not necessarily understand. major coral of the core captured the sense of frustration in the very first entry of his journal. he wrote, it was twice the work to fight a war with an in comprehensible friend and

rebellious enemy. the first transport carrying german troops arrived in the summer of 1776. actually the first one right from canada and then shortly thereafter troops arrived in new york. that was the impression of this land. many germans detailed detailed descriptions of the new york regions, their view of what they initially saw as representing all of america was very favorable. the americans appear to be injuring very high standard of living, and ordinary long island farmer one observer mentioned appeared to be living as well as an aristocrat and hessian. indeed, one officer noted, if one put an american farmhouse next to the house of a noble family, it will be challenging to tell the difference. one reason for this prosperity was the richness of the land

itself. the germans described the landscape including the farmland as exceptionally abundant and fertile. i chose this image here, a map because we have to remember of course that new york, the stockton island, this is rural, the forests are green, it's not built up the way it is today. obviously when the strip arrive, they saw country, and what they described as rolling hills, lush forests, fresh brings, there was an abundance of wheat, corn, other greens. there were many orchards, chestnuts, peaches, cherries, apples, pairs, plumps, apricots, another fruit. the livestock was well nourished, the farms neatly kept. long island was described as the garden of all of north america. the germans impression of new york city was very positive as well.

they admired its white streets, beautiful churches, stately college. sadly, this prosperity seem to have corrupted the inhabitants. indeed, the view of the land was so -- the view of the land was so favorable that many of the german observers speculated that the reason for the rebellion could not have possibly the oppression by the mother country. as the americans were claiming. from their perspective, the colonies had little reason to complain. if anything, many have become lazy and decadent. one lieutenant meanwhile in a letter to castle that the white inhabitants of new jersey lived quote, like picks. they drank and ate several meals a day, the women spent the time winning 40, decorating their homes. the evident abundance of goods also encourage the americans to be wasteful with what the

germans, were valuable resources such as fire would for example. most germans cannot fathom by such a prosperous people, that they would take up arms against a benevolent king under whose watch they had obviously done so well. the germans concluded that the rebellion must of been the work of a few conspirators of selfish and sinister intentions who were leading the american people into believing that they were struggling for liberty from oppression. a few evil men, one observer called them, were conspiring to make themselves masses of the people under the pretense of fighting for freedom. from that perspective of the germans, the white population was able to enjoy such a high standard of living, from the labor of love people.

yeah would these quote, poor if there was a people in america that was longing for liberty, as he put, it it would be these, quote poor blacks. the evident wealth of the new york region contrasts starkly with the desolation that the rebels had brought to their own country. without the british oversight and protection, so it seemed, the nation's prosperity was rapidly declining. first german troops landed in north america, the war of course have been going on for more than one year. they were shocked by the extent of destruction that had been done by and to civilian properties in the new york region. they found entire villages abandoned, homes plundered, cattle killed, fields burned. not surprisingly, the population that was hit

hardest where the people who were or suspected to be loyal to the crown. the americans treatment of the civilian population helped create an image of the americans as an undisciplined and principled people. this experience by the way also helps explain why the german troops initially saw themselves as liberators, rather than occupiers. they were confused when the people did not treat them accordingly. what became known as the great fire of new york in 1776 after the arrival of the british and hessian troops reinforced the image of the americans as vengeful fanatics. the fire consumed a quarter of the city's buildings. the hessians were convinced it was set by the rebels and they were this

event as powerful evidence for the a rational determination to destroy their own country rather than letting it thrive under british rule. the hessian officer was shocked that the, quote, evil and disobedient rebels were deliberately destroying what he described as their blasted land and habitations. another officer wrote, the evil sentiment of destination are indescribable, as he surveyed the destruction of new york. they were destroying the nicest regions in the entire world. over the next few years, the view of a fanatical enemy was reinforced over and over again as german troops in pillaged homes, fields and forests and other regions, including maryland and pennsylvania, the carolinas, virginia and georgia. ultimately, these experiences combined with military setbacks also raised doubts in the minds of german soldiers, whether this enemy could be crushed,

given their stubborn determination to defeat britain. they were obviously willing to sacrifice everything in defense of their cause. and as time went on, there is no indication that this resistance was diminishing. initially, however, the germans did not have much respect for the americans as a where the enemy. of course, again, many of the german soldiers themselves were young men who had been recruited specifically for the war in america. they were not necessarily more experienced in warfare than their american counterparts. certainly, most of them had never participated in a battle before. however, from the perspective of someone belonging to a highly hierarchical and disciplined army, that stress the need an orderly appearance of all its members, from private to general, the americans did not even look like soldiers. here's

an example of a hessian regiment from wilhelm von knyphausen. for example, german soldiers were either clean shaven or wear a neatly groomed mustache, as you can see here on this image. many of the americans, by contrast, we are unshaven. given the end the appearance of what hessian they called -- or scoundrels. shortly after the arrival on long island, a hessian was embarassed to write, he wrote to kassel that he did not have a razor. he was embarrassed that he had at times, quote, a beard like a rebel. moreover the hessian troops, well uniformed, at least during the early phase of the war, found that many americans were dressed in, quote, torn rags of different colors or the miserable outfits typically worn by poor farmers. for the most part, moreover, they found

that american soldiers were also undisciplined and lacked loyalties. they were cowards who ran at the first sight of the enemy. from the germans perspective, washington's retreats, in other words, his refusal to meet the british in a large-scale battle, were not based on strategic decisions. rather, they were due to the spinelessness of his soldiers. some officers contemptuously compared the war to a hunt. according to chaplain backer of the hessian corps we, hessians were charging after the countless band of gypsies, as he described the american troops. and that the battle of harlem heights in the fall of 1776, the american colonel joseph reed was enraged went british hessians quote, sounded their people to a most insulting manner, as is usual after a fox chase. one exception to this unflattering

view of the american military where the riflemen, but even these troops were regarded with ambivalence. while most germans feared and respected these sharpshooters, the effectiveness as soldiers was limited, in part by the time it took them to reload their weapons. in addition, they only really posed a threat in surrounding such as woods, where they could hide behind trees like hunters. the strategy, their strategy of ambushing an unsuspecting enemy, may have been ineffective, but it was also seen as dishonourable. in 1777, a private wrote to his parents in hessen which that the americans were not like regular soldiers at all. rather, more like, quote, robbers and thieves, they hide in hedges and bushes and shoot so well that they hit every time. we should mention, some of you probably know, this the german counterpart of the rifleman where the -- recruited

from hunters and games men in with germany, they turned out to be particularly effective in the american war. in general, then at least in the first step of the war, they regarded the americans as poorly disciplined that they were chasing most of the time. as one officer put, it, it was fortunate that they were fighting against a nation that was unfamiliar, as he put it, with real warfare. it took the germans a while to abandon knit their notions of about the proper appeared to behavior of an army. these thousands of germans who went with the forces created a huge volume of records, public and private. diaries, letters, journals,

official records, master roles, et cetera, et cetera. my study is based largely on this archival material. so, i would like to spend the rest of the time showing you a couple of representative samples of these kinds of sources and share stories surrounding them as a way to highlight a few of the experiences of these troops. i want to start with a private letter that was written by a lieutenant, a braunschweig lieutenant named august. he was in canada in may of 1771. the letters here on the left. he wrote this letter to his sister, consortia, in braunschweig. when he sat down to write this letter, he had been in america for five long years. on the right here is a detailed from a map of the st. lawrence river.

roughly from quebec to montreal. that is where the german troops that were in canada, some for the entire war, some never saw battle, that is pretty much where they were encamped. he himself was in this place i circled in red. this is where he, he is writing this letter. his initial impressions of the land of canada, really quebec, had been quite positive. in fact, he described canada in another record as a kind of symbol world, a wilderness mostly untouched by what he called civilization. he felt that one point as though he was seeing, quote, nature in her first childhood. but by 1781, this view had become less favorable. it is clear that he is lonely. and i should say that feelings of loneliness and homesickness are recurrent themes in these kinds of records. life in

canada in particular is harsh. he feels isolated, doesn't even know what is going on in the rest of the continent, especially during the winter. he misses his siblings, the last letter from concordia had arrived in canada two years earlier. at that time, he was one of at least 5000 german troops that were stationed in canada, far more than british troops that were there at the time. although they were in a loyal province, they were quite suspicious of the local sentiments and they tended to feel like an occupying force. the fact that most of the inhabitants were french speaking and catholic may have contributed to the sense of alienation. do roy, in the letter he writes, he doubts that the americans would dare another attack on canada after the disastrous attempt in the

winter of 1776. but he can't be sure. by the time he writes the letter france had entered the war, that was a real threat. but he knew they were thinking of making another attempt on canada. i point this out because, think when we study the, war we study these events of the past, there is a temptation to -- we know what happened, we know the americans never attacked. we know none of these troops ever participated in a battle in canada, but they don't know this. they had to remain on high alert, they were worried that an invasion might in fact come. despite persistent complaints that you hear it many letters coming out of canada about the climate, the sense of isolation, the loneliness, the german troops, again, some spent years they're like du roi, they gradually got used to life in this northernmost province. when it

came time for them to leave canada in the summer of 1783, as many as 1700 german soldiers belonging to braunschweig the court were granted permission to remain there. so, while thousands of german troops were stationed in canada, largely inactive, a significant number of germans were prisoners of war. that takes me to the next record. captivity was a common experience for members of the german auxiliary troops, many spent considerable periods of time in captivity, in mostly locations from massachusetts to virginia. the record that i'm showing here is an embarkation list. it lists the troops belonging to two hessian regiments. regiments who had mostly been captured at trenton

in the fall of 1776. this record is from 1779, these troops have been released and they are now embarking on several vessels from new york to canada. over the course of the war, a total of at least six thousands germans have been captured on five occasions alone, many more were captured but 6000 we know were captured at these five moments. trenton, 1776, of course, more than 1000 were taking. then bennington in 1777. saratoga in 1777. yorktown in 1781. and two of these vessels. what happened was that the vessels departed almost immediately sailing into a massive storm. troop movements by boat, by the way, it's something that the british

more or less had to rely on. and it was a major disadvantage. if they wanted to -- whether they want to go to philadelphia or canada or florida, the southern colonies, they did this on boats going along the coast. what does that mean? first of all, it means that it confines sometimes thousands of troops on vessels, two vessels, for extended periods of time. making them unavailable for any time of defensive or offensive actions. ocean journeys also took a toll on the soldiers, who often arrived at their destination tired, hungry and sick. on every voyage, moreover, soldiers were last to disease or accident. in addition, the ships carrying troops were easy prey, especially if they were separated from the fleet, which happened quite frequently. on more than one occasion, the british lost transports to america and also later french

capers. the most spectacular of this kind involving french troops is this event. these troops, these transports are leaving new york to canada. there are six vessels, three of them i want to point out. one is the adamant, the adamant unfortunately was lost in the storm, in the diaries and letters for members of the corps, there were frequently expressions of hope. that maybe they had been blown ashore somewhere, maybe they're in europe, who knows, they were rescued. it ultimately turned out that the adamant had sunk, at least 200 individuals on board. men, women and children perished. other vessels were seriously damaged in this storm. amongst them, the marley and the triton. i'm going to show you this nice drawing here from -- diary, the before and

after of the triton, he was on return to captivity. i want to show you those, to i couldn't resist, from the neighbor's diary. it was also taken to trenton, also featured in the diary. this is your han as his depiction of the battle of trenton. i just want to explain, he has a lot of drawings in this diary, it's kind of nice. two and a half years after this event, these individuals returned to captivity. i also want to point out on this embarkation list, we don't have a lot of records of this but we have enough to indicate that there were women and children. you can see that women and children are listed there, 38 women total and 24 children total on these vessels. so, that is an interesting document

for that reason alone, i think. when they were captured, wiederhold writes in this diary, the vessel is basically drifting in the ocean. they're like, oh god, the capers, thank god we're being captured now. it kind of saved their life. he does say in his diary, he writes, we were happy we were off these miserable ships and on god's earth. if america was god's earth. so, while this is all happening, during this time period, as most of you probably know, that british had already launched their campaign into the southern colonies, the rebellious colonies. between 1778 and 1781, british troop transports departed from new york for the south, the carolinas, georgia, virginia on

several occasions. each of them included germans, thousands of germans served in the south. hundreds of them occupied savannah and charleston, for example, well after the defeated yorktown. my next document takes us further south, takes us to west florida. on the left is a printed pamphlet. we have several printed records of the journey from new york to pensacola, west florida. there was east and west florida at the time, west had remained loyal to britain as well. it's another, like canada, another loyal province. those troops sailed down in late 1778, stopped over in jamaica, and arrived in pensacola. the regiment that participated in this was the entire valve dike regiment. they were identified

as you go with some british troops, maybe another 600 or so under a british general, of course. you go to west florida, just to defend it from spanish aggression. because the spanish wanted west florida back. the regiment in total consisted of approximately 770 individuals, including 35 women and 15 children. those are the people that boarded those transports when they went down south. it was the only german regiment that was sent as far south, and the only one that fought against the spanish. it turned out to be a devastating mission. when the small fleet of transports sailed through the waters of the gulf of mexico on new year's day day, 1779, the author of this pamphlet essentially could

hardly believe it. three years previously, he wrote, in 1776, he had celebrated a joyous new influencers, europe. exactly one year later, in 1777, he had phantom selves in winter quarters on another continent, in new jersey, having a grand time. few days after, that unfortunately, he was captured by the americans. when 77 turned into 78, he was terribly ill. still a prisoner of war. here, he was now. january 1st, 1779, after another year had gone by. he was healthy, he was free and he was sailing towards pensacola. as he wrote, who would have believed years ago that i would be wandering around this part of the world? and what a world it was. in january, the troops arrived in pensacola, a town numbering no more than maybe 200 or so

buildings. much of it had been destroyed by hurricane a few months earlier. though, small it was the seat of a provincial government, and important trading post that boasted the best port in the gulf. the spanish called it the arrogant guardian of the gulf of mexico, that offered the english, quote, the best refuge they have for their ships and the key to these seas. spain was eager to get it back. within weeks of arriving in pensacola, the germans were wondering what they were doing in this remote part of the world. it was nothing but a desert, as they said, inhabited what they described as savages, the term germans used at the time was -- native americans. why were they being sacrificed, when they could be used somewhere else in north america? why would britain care about what they

called the siberia of america? which is an ironic term for florida. the regiment suffered terribly from disease. many men deserted eventually or were captured, only a handful actually died in combat, which was common during the war overall. the greatest killer's disease. in the meantime, spanish forces were moving in against british outposts along that mississippi, north of new orleans. german troops were dispatched from pensacola to assist in the defense. however, the spanish took one british for it after another, virtually unstoppable. in may, 1781, pensacola surrendered to the spanish forces and west florida was lost. by that time disease,

desertion in captivity had reduced the regiment to approximately 250 soldiers. remember, they had left with more than 770. the hessian officer johansson -- was in south carolina at the time, learned about their fate a short time later. an entry in his diary captured that sense of grief about the loss of so many of his compatriots and what seemed to him to be among the remotest places of the world. as he put it, how german bones are scattered around in this war. the prisoners that had been captured in the war before the surrender at pensacola where first held in new orleans went into a spanish service, some undoubtedly settled in cuba, florida or louisiana. the troops that have

surrendered at pensacola were sent to new york under the treaty with spain, on spanish vessels. the last person on one of the embarkation lists was identified as a black woman. like the other woman with the waldeck, she remained unnamed. most, likely she was employed by the regiment as an individual officer or a servant. however, the records do not reveal anything about her other than that she was black and that she was free. this brings me to my final records. on the left, you see braunschweig garrison church records, dated 1877. it documents the baptism of flight five black drummers who accompanied the german troops to germany at the conclusion of the war. the baptisms were sponsored by officers that were

veterans of the war, including general otto vaughan--. the register notes that the baptism and confirmation attracted an unusually large crowd. the record also notes that four of the five men were born in america, and one was born in africa. for the duration of the war, military units in america actively recruited black men as musicians, laborers, servants and, in rare instances, also privates. black men and women also served the regiment in less formal roles, including personal servants, laborers and cooks. on the right, here you see a master role of a artillery company in brooklyn at the time, in 1781. note, this is an unusual document, because usually it's hard to identify black members of the core. and this particular, case

they are clearly identified in the record as black. we have here one servant and three tremors. the commander of this particular company was -- he read a journal, an interesting guy. he survived the war, he was a part of the convention army and later released and was asked by the hereditary princess ruler to send an account of the troops in america. he was extremely frustrated because after saratoga, when many of these troops were captured, he had no idea where they were in north america. he actually called what we know as the convention army, he called the confusian army. they're so confused. here, you have like 14 people, that's it. this company, it's tiny. anyway, what he did though, is in the summer, right around the time this was completed, he wrote a letter to his ruler in hanover, really excited about

announcing that almost all of hessian the regiments had hired black men for various roles. including especially musicians and laborers. in a letter to his ruler, he enthusiastically described that special uniforms that he had designed for these black tamborra's. this is not a hand of a regiment but it's representative of the ways these black drummers were dressed. the way he put it, he planned it all out. they would wear red hats, decorated with white and blue bands, intertwined feathers, silver buttons, collars were bright red with white braids, pled with white pants and short-lived and coats. this was entirely consistent with contemporary use in units. he believed with that black musicians outfitted and exotic uniforms added considerable prestige to the hand out

companies. it is challenging to determine whether likes blacks ended up as voluntary recruits or as plunder. the army routinely seized enslaved people during forging exhibitions and we have written evidence that black children were sent to germany during the war, often as gifts. moreover, some of them eventually deserted or they were returned to individuals who claimed them as their property. nevertheless, whether they were attached to german military units voluntarily or involuntarily, within formal or informal roles, from the beginning of the german corps presence in america, black women, men and children were up a familiar presence in their encampments. at least 200 of them, i think more, there needs to be more research done on this, at least 200 of them traveled with the

german corps to germany when the british evacuated that new nation in 1783. so, how does all of this broaden our understanding of the american revolutionary war? i suggest that an examination of this rich body of german authored records offers a fresh perspective of the american land, the people, the war as seen and experienced by these participants and outsiders. for the last move beyond the themes and geographic regions that you have typically been emphasized narratives of the conflict. and focus on the germans experience, for example, pulls in geographic regions that tend to be treated as peripheral to the war. such as canada and west florida. it offers, moreover, a fresh and, i think, quite insightful perspective of the american land, the people, customs and manners. it also

provides us with new interpretations of the american and british military and civilian leadership, including the suspected motives of the american rebels. it provides, finally, impressions and assessments of the americans, generally, and of course of the war. a war that was unlike any other military conflict they had known in europe. in the words of one hessian officer, it was, quote, a war that went against all humanity. thank you. [applause] i know that --

we're only joint fairly soon before the american revolution. those, guys did they consider themselves from different states or something? we did they just consider that they hadn't they had one prints and they were his guys? >> i mean, i think they were usually considered to belong together, so to speak, but there were two separate regiments. to what extent the natives saw themselves as being of one territory, i'm not sure. but in the war, when they're referred to and when we see records relating to, them they are usually considered to be together. >> thank you. as is

our tradition, we'll give the house the final question. i'm going to offer that to doctor philip mead. >> thank, you tyler. you talked a lot about the anxieties that the princes and the long groves had about sending their troops to america out of europe. but also the temptations of the income. what were the middle and long term effects for these choices by the german principalities? was it destabilizing? was it enhancing of their income, development? was this depopulation a significant problem? what does this tell us about german history? >> that's a good question. i think it was a big moneymaker. but it is complicated. so, the subsidy payments did help finance projects and in most

territories that were, i would say, benefited the territory generally. great example of this is the spas in hanau that were built with subsidy payments. there's a huge construction project essentially that employed a lot of locals and then becomes a tourist destination, basically. with the economic impact long term, longer term, was favorable. some of these territories were able to pay down debts and sort of pull back from the verge of bankruptcy. now, there were also, i mean, it's good for business, right? i mean, that when you see these records in d. c., how many businesses and merchants applied these troops. this is an incredible amount of stuff that they need. we have the people but the weapons, the uniforms, the prayer books and the paper that they write on, the food and all of that kind of stuff. there is a huge number of businesses involved, they are all profiting,

essentially. when you go more into the rural areas of the country, where the men were actually recruited from, there you see an increase of poverty and real suffering. that is something also in the archives we see, it is a lot of files of local officials, essentially, writing to their rule is. like, i hurt by sending so many young men abroad. so, i would say it's mixed. one final point,

some of you might know this i'm sure, but the subsidy traders were controversial. just because as i've been practice for 100 years or so, again, it's new that they're going to another continent. and the british opposition, particularly, is very upset about this. for, it's them on top of that it's a civil war. they are sent to america to fight against british subjects. so, this is the first time that we have serious criticism of this kind of arrangement. in britain and also continental europe, there are well known philosophers like mirabel, walter, the king of pressure, all critical of doing this kind of stuff. it's hard to reconcile with this sort of emerging sense of nationalism. to send your subject to fight in a foreign war. germans hired our troops for a few more decades to other countries. but by the second decades of the 19th century, it was basically over, doesn't happen anymore.

>> just a quick follow-up to that, does it change -- there's so much conversation about what is liberty in these documents. it seems to me. that is sort of striking from american historiography, which has long looked, that as you point out in the book, these troops as the symbols of the opposite of that. and i just wondered, did these accounts that get published throughout germany change the trajectory of the enlightenment in germany? of liberty conversation? is there a different response to what's coming in the french revolution that might be explained by this? big question, sorry. >> big question. change the trajectory. i would say, that when you read journals our famous poets of the, time they're all sympathetic to the americans for the most part, sympathetic to the american

cause. they like the idea of liberty and are fighting for their liberty. they also admired britain which, in comparison to germany, had for example freedom of the press and other liberties that most german states did not have. so, there is sympathy in that sense. i would say that the entry of the german troops complicates this. so, you have, for example, i referenced early on the deutch a chronicle. the editor was a big fan of the american revolutionary movement until germans were hired to put it down. until that, point he was like, what should i wish for? that the americans win, that they defeat these german soldiers? or should i hope for my fellow germans to win? so, it really presents a little bit of a dilemma for them but i would say the general view in at, least if you consider that

representative, the written journals, it sympathetic to the cause of liberty. >> thank you so, much professor friederike baer. it's a terrific book, but i hope you all get a chance to read it. thank you. >> thank you. [applause]

good evening. it's a packed house, which is great to