Ellen, First The Germanic soldiers were from standing armies .. so they had their own officers and equipment to include weapons and uniforms. I have never heard of them having buttons that had King George's engraved head on them, nor that they were ever referred to as Georges. Yes they did swear allegiance to King George, but the Germanic officers also reported back to their heads of city states/princes and Barrons ..who ever was in charge of them. The reason they were referred to as Hessians was because the largest amount of soldiers came from Hess Kassel, King George's brother-in-law's principlaity. Has any one looked to see if there was a Germanic soldier listed with a surname of George? Have you looked into the idea that your ancestor actually might have been English? the English National Archives (you can gooole for it.) has some military records and you could check with their military section. and you need to search the archives for the George surname nelda Nelda L. Percival http://freepages.folklore.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~bonsteinandgilpin/index.htm http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~bonsteinandgilpin/ Blogs:http://why-AIM.com - http://aircastles-lets-talk.blogspot.com http://hey-you-info.blogspot.com - http://AIM-2.blogspot.com > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > Date: Thu, 15 Dec 2011 14:50:13 +0000 > Subject: [AMREV-HESSIANS] Were Hessian soldiers commonly refered to as "Georges"? > > Hi, > My father told me his maternal grandmother had the last name of George. He said she was descendant of a Hessian soldier and as he served under King George (he said their uniforms had buttons with the head of King George engraved on them) they were called "Georges." Supposedly when my ancestor decided to stay in America he took the George as his surname because of this (and I'm sure a more Anglicized named helped). Has anyone ever heard of a reference anywhere to Hessian soldiers taking the surname of George? > Thanks, > Ellen McDonald > > > > > > > > > > > PLEASE CHECK ALL OF YOUR SUBJECTS! > ~~~~~~~~~ > FOUNDER: John H. Merz 1924-2006 Created 1998 > ~~~~~~~~~~~~ > http://freepages.military.rootsweb.com/~bonsteinandgilpin > ~~~~~~~~~~~~ > ADMINISTRATOR<Kerri> [email protected] > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message
Ellen, I found reference in "The Hessians and the Other German Auxiliaries of Great Britain in the Revolutionary War", by Edward J. Lowell, (Williamstown, MA: Corner House Publishers, 1975) which seems to indicate that some German soldiers did have uniforms that were supplied to them by the British. While this book is not a primary source, the author does reference many primary source documents, including Eelking "Hulfstruppen, vol. ii. p. 187 pertaining to deaths in Canada from exposure, but I don't know the source of the foregoing information. p. 119 of Lowell's book - "The Brunswickers in Canada "... The Brunswickers were reviewed and mustered into the English service by Colonel Faucitt, who was not pleased with the appearance of the soldiers. Many were too old, many were half grown boys. The uniforms of the first division were so bad that the English government was obliged to advance 5000 pounds to Riedesel to get his men a new outfit in Portsmouth. He was cheated by the English contractors, and when the cases of shoes were opened at sea they were found to contain ladies' slippers. For a Canadian campaign no overcoat had been provided. New uniforms for the first division were sent after them in the course of the summer." Mary ----- Original Message ----- From: "Nelda Percival" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2011 3:45 PM Subject: Re: [AMREV-HESSIANS] Were Hessian soldiers commonly refered to as "Georges"? > > Ellen, > First The Germanic soldiers were from standing armies .. so they had their > own officers and equipment to include weapons and uniforms. I have never > heard of them having buttons that had King George's engraved head on them, > nor that they were ever referred to as Georges. Yes they did swear > allegiance to King George, but the Germanic officers also reported back to > their heads of city states/princes and Barrons ..who ever was in charge of > them. > > The reason they were referred to as Hessians was because the largest > amount of soldiers came from Hess Kassel, King George's brother-in-law's > principlaity. > > Has any one looked to see if there was a Germanic soldier listed with a > surname of George? > > Have you looked into the idea that your ancestor actually might have been > English? the English National Archives (you can gooole for it.) has some > military records and you could check with their military section. > and you need to search the archives for the George surname > > nelda > > > > Nelda L. Percival > http://freepages.folklore.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~bonsteinandgilpin/index.htm > > http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~bonsteinandgilpin/ > > > > > Blogs:http://why-AIM.com - http://aircastles-lets-talk.blogspot.com > > > http://hey-you-info.blogspot.com > - > http://AIM-2.blogspot.com > > > >> From: [email protected] >> To: [email protected] >> Date: Thu, 15 Dec 2011 14:50:13 +0000 >> Subject: [AMREV-HESSIANS] Were Hessian soldiers commonly refered to as >> "Georges"? >> >> Hi, >> My father told me his maternal grandmother had the last name of George. >> He said she was descendant of a Hessian soldier and as he served under >> King George (he said their uniforms had buttons with the head of King >> George engraved on them) they were called "Georges." Supposedly when my >> ancestor decided to stay in America he took the George as his surname >> because of this (and I'm sure a more Anglicized named helped). Has >> anyone ever heard of a reference anywhere to Hessian soldiers taking the >> surname of George? >> Thanks, >> Ellen McDonald >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> PLEASE CHECK ALL OF YOUR SUBJECTS! >> ~~~~~~~~~ >> FOUNDER: John H. Merz 1924-2006 Created 1998 >> ~~~~~~~~~~~~ >> http://freepages.military.rootsweb.com/~bonsteinandgilpin >> ~~~~~~~~~~~~ >> ADMINISTRATOR<Kerri> [email protected] >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without >> the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > PLEASE CHECK ALL OF YOUR SUBJECTS! > ~~~~~~~~~ > FOUNDER: John H. Merz 1924-2006 Created 1998 > ~~~~~~~~~~~~ > http://freepages.military.rootsweb.com/~bonsteinandgilpin > ~~~~~~~~~~~~ > ADMINISTRATOR<Kerri> [email protected] > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message