Dear John, it is a well known fact that by May 1783, after the Peace treaty of Paris was signed, all prisoners were released and free to go, except those who had indentured themselves for three years in 1782. One source: Clifford Neal Smith - Mercenaries from Hessen-Hanau who remained in Canada and the United States after the American Revolution. Published by Westland Publications, McNeal, Arizona, 1976. Another: Bruce E. Burgoyne - A Hessian Diary of the American Revolution, by Johann Conrad Doehla. Published by University of Oklahoma Press, 1990. Plus the mail list archives of http://archiver.rootsweb.com/AMREV-HESSIANS-L Good luck, John Merz (btw. thanks for your contributions to our history) ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Ashbury" <wasps65@earthlink.net> To: "John Merz" <hessian@sympatico.ca> Sent: Saturday, August 28, 2004 5:41 AM Subject: Re: PML Search: Hessians- buying their 'Freedom'. > Could you please cite a source for your date of 1782? > Thanks, > John > > John W. Ashbury > (wasps65@earthlink.net) > > > > > From: "John Ashbury" <wasps65@earthlink.net> > > Sent: Friday, August 27, 2004 7:01 PM > > > ============================= > > > Source: MDFREDER-L@rootsweb.com > > > Subject: History Moment - 8-27 > > > > > > On August 27, 1783, orders were issued that Revolutionary War prisoners <SNIP>