Webster's Unabridged: mercenary; a professional soldier serving in a foreign army for pay. Of course, the entry goes on to point out that the service is primarily for pay. That word "mercenary" doesn't bother me, hopefully all soldiers are paid--but it's the "serving in a foreign army" that makes B. Franklin's statement stick, since the German troops "took the king's shillings." And that's okay, the German soldiers wanted the better pay, and once here the "new" land looked good enough to many to leave the Fatherland for a fresh start here. Thank God my Hessian was one of them! And I just learned that Christian Schaffer, my ancestor, was from Bad Nauheim, Hesse. He was a POW at the Reading, PA Hessian Camp and was 15 years old when captured. Is anyone else on the List researching Schaffer? Jeri