Hello Bob. Hello Nelda. Boy, I think I'd be more likely to take argument about the use of the word "mercenary" than I would about the word "Hessian". Imagine - a simple 500 word essay penned by Benjamin Franklin while in France seeking military support from a former enemy (who not but a few years before murdered and massacred colonial men, women, and children at places like Fort William Henry without a second thought) turned volunteers and conscripts alike into mercenaries. You can still hear the ring of Franklin's sword, ere pen, as he scribes the word "mercenary" on parchment battlefield. /R Stephen Washington, DC >-----Original Message----- >From: Bob Brooks [mailto:rcbrooks@pivot.net] >Sent: Tuesday, May 24, 2005 09:44 PM >To: AMREV-HESSIANS-L@rootsweb.com >Subject: Re: [HESSIAN] the term Hessian > >Nelda -- > >YOUR term may be Hessian but please don't call it OUR term because to many, >the term "Hessian" is/was intended to be derogatory. > >I believe there were two reasons that "Hessian" became synonomous with >"German" when discussing the auxilary soldiers employed by the British and >deployed to North America. > >First, when the "Hessians" landed at New York in 1776, they were all true >Hessians coming from Hesse-Cassel (except one regiment of true, non-resident >mercenaries recruited by/in Waldeck) consequently all the American >newspapers called the Germans "Hessians" so the name stuck. Meanwhile the >troops from Brunswick and from Hesse-Hanau were sent to Canada, far from the >population centers of North America. > >Second, when the final count was in, something like 70% (plus or minus) of >all the German auxilary troops deployed to North America came from either >Hesse-Casel or Hesse-Hanau. > >The first of the continguent from Ansbach-Bayreuth didn't arrive until the >Philadelphia campaign had begun in 1777 so they, too, were called >"Hessians" when they arrived. The first continguent from Anhalt-Zerbst went >to Canada in 1778 after Burgoyne's army had surrendered and major fighting >had ended in that theatre and the second large deployment in 1782 from >Anhalt-Zerbtst only made it to Halifax where they spent a year in garrison >before returning home. > >As a historian, I prefer to refer to the sponsoring German state to identify >the specific military units, viz-- Hesse-Cassel, Brunswick, >Ansbach-Bayreuth, Hesse-Hanau, and Anhalt-Zerbst (listed here in declining >order of quantiy of troops supplied). > >It really doesn't matter what generic term you you call the German auxilary >troops. Purists will take exception to generic terms and generalist get >annoyed by purists. > >Just don't call them "mercenaries" unless you are referring to the 3. >englisch-waldeckisches Soldregiment, a true mercenary regiment of >non-residents. > >Bob Brooks > > > >==== AMREV-HESSIANS Mailing List ==== >Please stick to our published subject - Hessian Soldiers of the >American Revolution, not WWII or the Civil War. No other Immigrants. >You can search the archives for a specific message or browse them, going from one message to another. >To search: http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/?list=AMREV-HESSIANS >To browse: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/AMREV-HESSIANS-L > >============================== >Search the US Census Collection. Over 140 million records added in the >last 12 months. Largest online collection in the world. Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13965/rd.ashx > >