Margaret, You do know a Hessian was not a patriot. A Patriot was a person living in the colonies 1775 -1783 who wanted independance from England. A loyalist was a person living in the colonies (both of what is considered American Colonies and Canadian Colonies ) who were loyal to the English Crown. YOUR " I doubt my ancestors were with the Deux Ponts or that's the way the family would have remembered them--as French-speaking patriots vs Hessians in the American Revolution. " Nelda Nelda http://freepages.folklore.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~bonsteinandgilpin/