Dear Friends on the AMREV-Hessian list, I am a descendant of Christian Mueller, who many of us believe was a Hessian who was perhaps captured at Trenton and settled in Bedford County, PA. But it is not information about Mueller that I am writing. I am a 4th grade classroom teacher in Harrisburg, PA. Our social studies curriculum is PA history. I enjoy creating lessons based on interesting stories that make history come alive for young people, such as the story of Henry "Box" Brown, a slave who mailed himself to Philadelphia and freedom. I call my lessons "Time Trunks" and put items in the trunk to help tell the story. If possible I also like to include primary documents, which I type up and distribute to the students. I would like to create a Time Trunk lesson telling the story of the Battle of Trenton. I found an interesting piece of information on the website: ExplorePAHistory.com, that I think would make a good story to include in my trunk lesson on the Battle of Trenton. I have cut and pasted it below. It is about the Hessian commander, Col. Johann Rall: "The Hessian commander at Trenton, Col. Johann Rall, spent the day and almost the entire night at the tavern, playing cards with fellow officers and relaxing. At one point, a servant apparently handed the colonel a message from a courier, but Rall either failed to read the note, or discounted it. Several hours later, as the Hessian colonel lay dying of battle wounds, those caring for him discovered the crumpled message in his pocket. It warned that American troops were on their way to Trenton." Do any of you know any more information about this event or what exact text of the note? Any suggestions of items I could put in the trunk to tell the story? Thanks for your input. Nikki Byer

One of the History channels has a documentary on this. Ed