Читать книгу History Of German Immigration In The United States - George von Skal - Страница 8

We have seen that during colonial times the Germans were always found on the side of the common people and sturdily opposed all at tempts of the aristocratic element to curtail the liberties granted by the crown, but they were always loyal to the Government. In the war against the French and the Indians the French had counted on the assistance of the Germans, especially of those in the Mohawk valley who had been so cruelly treated by the English, but they remained true to their Government. They had to pay dearly for it, for in November, 1757, a party of Frenchmen and Indians, under Captain Belletre, appeared, burned all the houses and barns, killed or maimed the cattle, massacred the settlers, their women and children and carried many of them into captivity. In the following spring the attack was repeated, but in the meantime the settlers had erected a fort and defended their lives successfully under the leadership of Nicolaus Herckheimer, of whom we will hear more later on. Their houses were, however, again burned to the ground. The Germans in Pennsylvania furnished many volunteers for the war. Of the officers of the provincial militia more than one-third were Germans. Conrad Weiser, the younger, commanded a battalion of whom two-thirds were Germans, and Nicholas Wetterholt's regiment was composed of his countrymen entirely. Another regiment, commanded by General Bouquet, a Swiss whose real name was Straus, consisted entirely of German officers and men. But there is no doubt that the necessity of defending life and home against a cruel and unrelenting foe had as much influence upon the position taken by the Germans as loyalty. They had no love for the English, nor had they any cause for it. Outside of Pennsylvania they had been badly treated wherever they settled, the promises made to them had been broken, and the attempts to deprive them of their liberty as well as of the fruits of their industry had never ceased. So the great movement for liberty and for independence found them in a receptive mood and fully prepared.

Another factor must be taken into consideration. The German immigrants and their children still loved their Fatherland. They had left it to escape oppression, persecution and tyranny, but in their hearts lived the wish to see the Fatherland delivered from the conditions that made the German people so miserable. To see the great German Empire restored to its old power and importance was a dream they cherished. When they heard of the deeds of Frederick the Great of Prussia, when they read how he had taken a firm stand for religious liberty and had vanquished the princes and princelings who had oppressed them, their hearts went out to him. He became immensely popular all through the German colonies. Taverns bearing his name were found in almost every village where Germans lived and his portrait had a place in every dwelling. They saw in him the great liberator, the unrelenting foe of oppression in every form, as indeed many Americans of his time did. They took inspiration from him and his deeds, and their yearning for freedom, their readiness to fight and if need be to die for it became stronger as they followed his triumphant career. Taking it all in all, no part of the population of the colonies was more ready for the Revolution and for the complete separation of the colonies from England, than the Germans.

When the call to arms was sounded the Germans were ready. They had long prepared for it and drilled in every township. Pastor Helmuth of the Lutheran Church at Lancaster writes on February 25, 1775, that the whole country was ready for war, that every man was armed and that the enthusiasm was indescribable. Even the Quakers and Mennonites, whose creed forbade them to bear arms, came forward and renounced their creed in this time of great emergency. It is a significant fact that the first company of militia to arrive at Cambridge in 1775, after the battle of Lexington, came from York County, Pa., and was composed entirely of Pennsylvania Germans. The commander was Captain Henry Miller and the company had marched five hundred miles to reach its destination. But Pennsylvania did not stand alone; from Georgia to the Mohawk valley every German settlement sent its young men to fight for liberty. One of the most dramatic incidents was furnished by Johann Peter Mühlenberg, the eldest son of Heinrich Melchior Mühlenberg, who has been mentioned as the organizer of the German Lutheran Church in America. Johann Peter had been sent to Germany to study theology but his fiery temperament chafed under the restrictions placed upon him. He ran away from the seminary at Halle where he had been sent by his father and apprenticed himself to a merchant at Lübeck. This life did not suit him any better and he listened willingly to the promises of fame and glory held out by one of the many English recruiting officers who plied their questionable trade in Germany. He became a private in a regiment of dragoons and soon earned the sobriquet "Devil Pete" by his recklessness and daring. But his regiment was sent to America and his father purchased his release. Johann Peter seemed to have quieted down; at least he finished his studies, passed the examinations and became pastor of the German Lutheran Church at Woodstock, Va. But the change was only apparent and probably executed more to please the father than from inclination. The young minister spent more time in the forests and on the mountains hunting game than at church work and became a firm friend of George Washington and Patrick Henry. When the movement for independence began he entered into it with heart and soul and served as president of the Council of Safety and as member of the convention at Williamsburg which elected delegates for the first Continental Congress. Finally, in January, 1776, he assembled his congregation and from the chancel told them that the time had arrived when every citizen must serve his country to the best of his ability; that he believed he could do more in the field than in the church, and that for this reason he had accepted a commission as colonel to raise a German regiment and asked all men who could bear arms to follow him. With these words he threw off his priestly gown and stood before the congregation in full regimentals. He then left the chancel, took a position in front of the church doors and gave orders to sound the drums and swear in recruits. Lieutenant-colonel Baumann and Major Helffenstein stood at his side. A tremendous wave of enthusiasm swept over the multitude; fathers who were too old to go to the war pushed their sons forward and wives their husbands and before the day closed three hundred men had enlisted. A few days later Mühlenberg had a regiment of four hundred and fifty men, more than most regiments numbered. He did splendid service in Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, in the battles of the Brandywine and Germantown. At the end of the war he was made a major-general and served as vice-president of the Executive Council of Pennsylvania, did valiant work to induce the Pennsylvania Legislature to ratify the Federal Constitution, became a member of Congress, United States senator and later, until his death in 1802, internal revenue collector at Philadelphia.

How great the enthusiasm was among the Germans is shown by an incident of almost humorous aspect. At Reading three companies of militia had been formed who drilled diligently. The old men of the town did not want to be left behind and formed another company to which nobody under forty years of age was admitted. The commander was ninety-seven years old, had served forty years in the Prussian army and taken part in seventeen battles. The drummer was eighty-four years old. Whether this troop ever saw active service is not known. The German butchers guild of Philadelphia passed resolutions demanding independence for the colonies in 1774 before the question whether the colonies should separate from England had been decided in the affirmative. A splendid figure, worthy of being remembered, was the baker, Christoph Ludwig, at Philadelphia. He had been born in 1720 at Giessen in Germany and had learned his trade from his father. When he was seventeen he enlisted and fought with the Austrians against the Turks and later under the great Frederick against the Austrians. Then he became a sailor and passed several years of his life in the East Indies. In 1754 he settled in Philadelphia, started a bakery and amassed considerable wealth. When the Revolution broke out he was fifty-five years old, but he threw himself into the movement with the ardor of a young man. He served on almost all the Revolutionary committees and when the convention of 1776 proposed a popular subscription in order to raise money for the purchase of arms, and when there was hesitation as to the advisability of such a step, Ludwig arose in his seat and said: "Mr. President, I am only a poor baker, but I am willing to start the list with two hundred pounds sterling." This action ensured the success of the undertaking. On May 5, 1777, Ludwig was appointed baker-in-chief for the army. As such he showed his honesty by pledging himself to furnish one hundred and thirty-five pounds of bread for every hundred pounds of flour, while his predecessors had given only one hundred pounds of bread. The army inspectors had not known, though the bakers probably knew, that the weight of the moisture contained in the bread must be deducted. Washington appreciated Ludwig's services highly and never failed to receive him when he came to Philadelphia; in fact, the lowly baker was repeatedly invited to the great man's table.

One of the most heroic figures of the war of the Revolution was Nicolaus Herckheimer, who has already been mentioned as the leader of the German settlers in the Mohawk valley during the French War. These settlements formed the frontier between New York and the Indian territory and a wall which protected the white in habitants of the colony against the attacks of the savages. The English authorities did not take great pains to help the settlers in their fights with the Indians, in fact they let them shift for themselves as we have seen. The Germans of the valley of the Mohawk, therefore, formed four companies of riflemen who had to hold themselves ready at all times to defend the settlements against the Indians. Herckheimer was their commander. When the Revolution broke out the whole population of that section hailed it with delight and offered to serve against the English Government. Herckheimer was appointed commander of the militia of western New York with the title of brigadier-general, by the convention which had taken charge of the colony. At first it did not seem as if Herckheimer would have to do much more than protect the border against Indian raids, but it developed soon that he was destined to play a very important role in the war for liberty.

In the summer of 1777 General Bourgoyne started from Canada with a large army to reach New York by way of Lake Champlain and Lake George. At the same time Admiral Howe was in and around New York with another large army. The presumption was natural that an attempt would be made to unite these two armies. Now Washington knew very well that he could never succeed if he did not prevent the union of the British forces, not only in this case but during the entire war. All his maneuvers and the selection of all his positions and winter camps were always done with one object in view: to be able at any time to strike at an enemy advancing against the line of the upper Hudson, whether he came from the seacoast or from Canada. He was well aware of the fact that his cause was lost if two hostile armies operating from those points could unite and thus divide the colonies into two halves unable to communicate with each other. This was exactly what Bourgoyne had planned and Washington expected. Neither could know that Howe would leave New York and go to Philadelphia instead of pushing north to join Bourgoyne. But both knew that the question whether the army coming from Canada could reach the valley of the lower Hudson might decide the war. Washington had sent his best generals and troops to stop Bourgoyne's advance, but the Englishman had so far overcome all resistance. He had reached Fort Edward and waited there for news from Howe. When this failed to arrive he determined to advance as soon as his right wing under General St. Leger would reach him. St. Leger had started from Montreal and, landing at Oswego, had reached the portage from Lake Oneida to the Mohawk and thereby the direct and easy road to Albany. Had he been allowed to continue his march he would have protected Bourgoyne's right flank successfully, at the same time threatening the left flank of the American army. But at the upper Mohawk Fort Stanwix had been erected and this was held by seven hundred Americans under Colonel Gansevoort. At the beginning of August St. Leger appeared before the fort with seven hundred regulars and over one thousand Indians led by Chief Josef Brant. He asked Gansevoort to surrender but the American refused, he and his men knowing the importance of holding their position as long as possible. The very next day they received the welcome news that Herckheimer with the German militia was on the way to succor them. He had collected his force of four battalions, all together eight hundred men, as soon as he had heard of St. Leger's approach. On the evening of August fifth, he reached the point where the Oriska joins the Mohawk River and the present village of Oriskany is situated. From here he sent messengers to Fort Stanwix and decided to advance as soon as he knew that Gansevoort could support him by a simultaneous attack upon the enemy. This prudent and wise determination did, not, however, please the younger and less experienced element among his command. They wanted to attack in the early morning regard less of the dangers connected with a fight against large numbers and in a dense forest where the enemy could not be seen. Herckheimer resisted their urging as long as he could, but when some of the rashest among them said he had become afraid of the Indians in his old age, he reluctantly consented to the advance. Events unfortunately proved that his judgment had been correct. After the long and slim column had entered the forest on a narrow path it was suddenly beset on all sides by the Indians assisted by a detachment of regulars. Herckheimer ordered his men to hide behind the trees and succeeded in getting them together in some kind of order. A short hand-to-hand fight convinced the Indians that victory could not be won as easily as they had believed. Herckheimer was wounded by a shot through the knee that shattered his leg. He ordered his men to place him on a saddle under a large tree and from this position encouraged them and gave his orders as if nothing had happened to him. About noon a thunderstorm with a heavy fall of rain interrupted the bloody work for some time and gave Herckheimer the opportunity to place his men in a large circle and close together. He also gave orders that two men should be behind each tree because the Indians had waited until a volunteer had fired his rifle when they jumped on him and scalped him. His men obeyed him willingly now. Late in the afternoon heavy firing was heard from the direction of Fort Stanwix. The garrison had made a sortie and was on its way to join Herckheimer. The enemy, already discouraged by the strong resistance of the Germans, fled precipitately. The day was won and Herckheimer's judgment was vindicated. But a high price had been paid. Two hundred of the militia men were either dead or so severely wounded that they could not be removed. Many more had been captured by the Indians. Whole families were wiped out. Nine members of the Schell family were left on the battlefield, two of the Wohlleben, several Kast, Demuth, Hess, Kaumann, Vetter, Orendorff, etc. Herckheimer himself lived but a few days longer; he did receive the congratulations General Schuyler sent him but died soon after. The city of Herkimer was named after him and the state of New York erected a monument in his honor. He had rendered the American cause a service, the value of which can hardly be estimated high enough. Oriskany was the first successful engagement in the efforts to resist the advance of Bourgoyne; Herckheimer's victory discouraged the British troops and the Indians who left their allies in large numbers, and made it possible for Gates to advance against Bourgoyne without running the danger of being attacked in flank and rear. The surrender at Saratoga would have been impossible without the victory of Oriskany; it is even a question whether Bourgoyne could have been prevented from reaching New York. Washington himself said that Herckheimer brought about a change in the situation in the northwest when it seemed hopelessly dark, and when every quality of leadership seemed to be absent. And he added: "General Herckheimer served and gave his life to his country because he loved it, and not because he desired preferment, fame or riches."

The most prominent German in the War of the Revolution was, without question, Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben. We are, indeed, justified when we say that his services to Washington and the American cause were of greater importance and value than those of any other foreigner serving in the American army, not excepting General Lafayette. As an individual Steuben did far better and more valuable work than the Frenchman, whose importance was based on the fact that he represented a whole nation and brought the aid and enormously valuable assistance of the French Government. Lafayette became the exponent of all that France did for the United States, and upon him were showered the expressions of the gratitude the. American people justly felt for his country. A dashing figure, of undaunted courage, though lacking in experience, with many amiable traits which were more prominent than during the later years of his life, he fully deserved the love and admiration extended to him. But for the practical services he rendered as an individual we look in vain in the annals of the great struggle. Steuben played an entirely different part. He had very little opportunity to show his ability as a general in the field, he did not look for glory or admiration but worked hard and unceasingly and found contentment and happiness in strict and unremitting devotion to duty. Thus it came about, as it is always in this world, that Lafayette became a popular hero and received in numerable proofs of the appreciation felt for him while Steuben had to wait many years before Congress gave him a pension sufficient to pass his remaining years in peace and comfort, and is all but forgotten by the American people.

Friedrich Wilhelm August von Steuben was the son of an officer who had served in the Russian and the Prussian armies. Hardly seventeen years old, the son entered the army of the Great Frederick in 1847, soon after the close of the second war with Austria. When the Seven Years War broke out, Steuben was first lieutenant, and took part in the battles of Prague and Rossbach. During the year 1758 he served as volunteer in General von Mayr's Free Corps, one of those detachments which were so frequent in former wars. They did not belong to the regular army, acted independently and were meant to harass the enemy in his flank and rear by appearing suddenly at the most unexpected places and disappearing again as quickly. After the death of his commander he was appointed adjutant-general to General von Huelsen, took part in the battles of Kunersdorf and Liegnitz and the operations against the Russians, was taken prisoner by them but soon set free. The close of the war found him an aide-de-camp to the King and quarter master-general of the army. For a time he had commanded a regiment but the King was forced to economize after peace had been declared and, like many other officers, Steuben was reduced to the rank of captain. This and other reasons which have never been fully explained, induced him to resign his commission, although the King had given him many proofs of his favor. During the next ten years Steuben served as court-marshal to the Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen and after that for three years in a similar capacity to the Margrave of Baden. But his ambition could not be satisfied by the quiet life at one of the many small German courts. He traveled extensively and made repeated efforts to procure a commission in the Austrian army. In this he did not succeed and made up his mind to go to England. On his way there he visited Paris and did not want to let the occasion pass without calling on an old friend, the French minister of war, Count St. Germain. The Count immediately tried to persuade him to go to America and join the Colonial army. After much hesitation which was justified, for Paris was full of French and other officers who had gone to America with letters of recommendation and even promises from the American agents, but had been refused commissions and had returned penniless Steuben decided to follow St. Germain's advice, in spite of the fact that the American agents, Deane and Franklin, refused to pay even his traveling expenses. Franklin said he would try to induce Congress to give to Steuben a large tract of land, but this promise seemed so vague that Steuben declined it and preferred to offer his services without stipulating any reward. After his arrival at Boston he wrote letters to the Congress and to General Washington in which he said that he had given up all his offices and his income in order to gain the honor, if need be with his blood, to become one of the defenders of liberty. He asked for commissions for himself and his companions, but stated expressly that he expected no reward of any kind until he had shown by his services that he had earned it.

He arrived at an opportune moment. Washington was in camp at Valley Forge with an army that lacked practically everything necessary for active warfare. It was the darkest time of the whole war. The American army had neither sufficient clothing, nor ammunition, nor provisions. It had dwindled to five thousand men, many of whom were sick, insufficiently clad or without arms. The discipline was lax and there was nothing like uniformity in drill and tactics. Each colonel drilled his regiment in the way he found best, and quite a number of them possessed little or no knowledge of military science. After a few conversations with Steuben, Washington was convinced that he had found in him the man for the hour. He ordered him to take temporary charge of the duties of the inspector-general, a very wise move, because it did not arouse the natural jealousy of the American officers which a permanent appointment would have done. Steuben took charge immediately, drew up rules and regulations and a complete military code, and compelled the regimental commanders to interest themselves in their men. He not only supervised the drill, but formed a corps of one hundred and twenty men under the pretext that a special bodyguard for the general-in-chief was necessary. This corps he drilled in person and its proficiency soon aroused the ambition of every colonel to show equal results with his men. This was exactly what Steuben had intended and expected. In his diary he describes at length the methods he pursued and one cannot withhold the greatest admiration from the man who, without any knowledge of the conditions and the language of the country, immediately perceived how he had to proceed, what parts of the European systems could be adopted and how this army, officers as well as men, had to be handled in order to make it a homogeneous and effective body that could meet the well-drilled Britishers in compact formation on their own ground.

The results of Steuben's work were seen quickly. On April 30, 1778, a little more than six weeks after the German had begun to drill the army, Washington asked Congress to give him a commission. In his letter he said: "It would be an injustice if I were to continue leaving the services of Baron von Steuben unmentioned. His ability and his military accomplishments, as well as the untiring energy which he has shown since he entered our service, compel me to state that he is a distinct gain for our army, and I recommend him to the special attention of Congress." Steuben was accordingly appointed major-general and inspector-general of the army.

But the great test was yet to come; the question had to be decided how Steuben's reforms would influence the action of the troops under the fire of the enemy. He had not long to wait. On May 20, 1778, Lafayette had made a demonstration against the enemy and advanced a little too far. When Washington saw that Lafayette was in danger of being cut off he gave orders to advance in force. Within less than fifteen minutes the whole army was in position. This was a feat never before thought even possible. Steuben's work had accomplished it. But a still better demonstration of the value of his services was soon to be given. On June twenty-eighth the battle of Monmouth was fought. Although most of his generals, especially Charles Lee, advised against it, Washington decided to attack the British army under Clinton. He alone was confident that his army was now in a condition to cope with a well-drilled and disciplined body of troops. The result vindicated his conviction. When the advance guard under Lee had been repulsed and its retreat began to assume the proportions of a complete rout, Washington ordered Steuben to collect the fleeing soldiers and to restore them to order. Not only did Steuben succeed in this but all the other troops remained firm and were not in the least influenced by the spectacle Lee's detachment offered. This would not have been possible before the army had been reorganized by Steuben; the fleeing advance guard would have carried the others along and the engagement would have been lost. Washington acknowledged freely that the credit for the victory at Monmouth had to be ascribed to Steuben, in spite of the fact that the German had not been actively engaged in the battle itself. Even Alexander Hamilton, not a friend of General Steuben at that time, declared that he had been greatly surprised by the ease with which the fleeing regiments were reformed and the others kept in good order, and added that at that moment only he had grasped the value of discipline and military training. One year later another illustration of the excellence of Steuben's methods was furnished, when the American troops stormed Stony Point at the point of the bayonet without firing a single shot. When he began his work, the bayonet was looked upon with contempt by the Americans; like all insufficiently drilled troops they wanted to shoot as soon as they saw the enemy. He had taught them to remain cool and collected under the enemy's fire, and after Stony Point they acknowledged freely that his views were right.

We cannot follow General Steuben's career during the entire war. He served as inspector-general, as chief of the general staff and for some time in the South. He was in command in the trenches before Yorktown when Cornwallis offered to surrender. During all these years he had worked hard and used what time he could spare to perfecting the rules and regulations for the organization of the American army in war and peace. It was Steuben who first proposed the foundation of a military academy and when Congress erected the academy at West Point his plans were used to a great extent. When General Lincoln resigned as Secretary of War in 1783 nobody doubted that Steuben would be appointed his successor. His ability as well as his unselfish devotion to his new country had been sufficiently proven. But Congress selected General Knox who, though brave and an able commander, had never shown any special fitness for this office, on the absurd plea that so important a place should not be given to a man not born in America. A few months later Steuben resigned his commission, and the thanks of Congress were voted to him, coupled with the promise that his valuable services would be fit tingly rewarded. Congress also gave him a sword. This he received three years later, but he had to wait seven years before the pension promised to him was granted, in spite of the fact that Washington and others urged Congress to action. All of Steuben's efforts to get at least an accounting and reimbursement for the sums he had expended out of his own pocket were unsuccessful. For years he had to live in bitter poverty, in a cheap boarding house in New York, and without the assistance of some personal friends he might have starved. In 1790 Congress was at last induced to grant him a pension of $2,500 per annum. Several states had given him tracts of land, among them New Jersey, which offered him the confiscated possessions of a Tory named John Zabriskie. When, however, Steuben heard that Zabriskie was penniless, he transferred the gift to him. He accepted a quarter section of sixteen thousand acres from the state of New York near Utica. Here he erected a modest house, gave some of his land to former officers and rented another part to colonists. Giving considerable attention to agriculture, he lived there during the summer and passed his winters in New York City. He died on November 28, 1794. The cities of Albany and New York had made him an honorary citizen and he had been appointed a regent of the University of the State of New York.

Another German served as general in Washington's army, Johann Kalb, or, as he called himself, Baron Jean de Kalb. But he was more of a Frenchman than a German. He had been born in Germany, it is true, but emigrated to France when hardly more than a boy. His work as waiter did not please him and he decided to enlist, but as he did not care to serve as private he assumed the predicate of nobility and secured a commission as lieutenant in the regiment Lowendal de Kalb was a good soldier and fought in all the campaigns of the French army from 1743 to 1763. He then resigned and married the daughter of a wealthy merchant. He must have enjoyed the confidence of the French Government to a high degree for when the first news arrived that the British colonies in America were dissatisfied with, and might revolt against, English rule, de Kalb was sent to America to investigate the situation. On his return he reported that things were not ripe yet, but would be in a few years. When the Revolution broke out de Kalb went to America in the company of Lafayette. He was made a major-general and rendered valuable services. After heroic efforts to save the troops under his command from annihilation by an enemy many times stronger, he was killed in the battle of Camden, S.C., on August 16, 1780.

This narrative would not be complete without mention of a picturesque figure that has become immortal under the name of Molly Pitcher. It seems almost an irony of fate that great generals should have been forgotten because they were not born on American soil, while this simple woman, also of German birth, is still remembered, and this only because the name the soldiers gave her induced people to believe that she was an American. Her real name was Maria Ludwig and she was in the service of Dr. Irvine of Philadelphia. When she left his service she married Wilhelm Heiss. He enlisted in the artillery when Dr. Irvine became colonel of the Second Pennsylvania Infantry. His wife went with him, cooked for the soldiers, nursed the sick and the wounded, and, during the frequent engagements, carried water to the firing line in a large pitcher. In this way she earned the name under which history knows her. In the battle of Monmouth the battery to which Heiss belonged suffered severely from the British fire. Most of the men, including Molly's husband, had been wounded and the rest showed signs of weakening. Thereupon the courageous woman sprang forward, grasped the rammer and started to load a gun. The spirits of the soldiers revived at this spectacle, they gave three cheers for Molly Pitcher, redoubled their efforts and forced the British to retire. It is reported that Heiss, whose wounds were not serious, was made a sergeant by Washington on the spot.

Two more names must be mentioned, not of warriors, but of men whose services were of great value to the young nation in the hour of its greatest need. One of them is Friedrich August Mühlenberg, a brother of the Reverend and General Johann Peter. He was also a minister of the gospel, but soon exchanged the chancel for the political platform. Of commanding ability, he was a member of the Continental Congress, president of the Pennsylvania convention which ratified the Constitution of the United States, Speaker of the Pennsylvania Legislature, and Speaker of the first and second United States Congress under Washington's administration. The other is Michael Hillegass, who was treasurer of the Continental Congress.

Enough has been said to show that the Germans did their full part and perhaps more to win independence for this country. They did then, as always afterward, prove their loyalty and devotion, their trustworthiness and their right to receive full and complete justice. If this was not, and is not now, given to them, they do not complain but find solace in the consciousness that they are doing their duty and do not require praise from others.

The history of this period would not be complete if we did not mention the Hessians, as the German troops fighting with the British army were generally called in America. They were by no means all Hessians but came from several of the small German principalities. It would be entirely wrong to draw from their presence the conclusion that the German people were in sympathy with England. These troops were sold by their rulers for cash, and compelled to fight for a cause which did not interest them in the least. They had no choice, and even the princes who sold them cannot be called allies of Great Britain. They were simply heartless tyrants who gave their helpless subjects to the highest bidder. If the American colonies had been willing and able to pay a better price there is no doubt that the Hessians would have been sold to them. These soldiers interest us because a goodly number of them remained in America after peace had been concluded. They were loyal and fought bravely whenever called upon, but naturally felt no enthusiasm. When they were captured by the Americans they considered that their duty was done and did not need very close watching as a rule.

Many of the prisoners were given into the custody of German farmers for whom they worked willingly and with whom they felt quite at home. There were so many of them that at one time the Congress seriously considered the advisability of forming a regiment composed of Hessians, for quite a number had taken such a liking to their new-found friends that they were willing to take up arms for them. The project was, however, abandoned. But when peace came not all the Hessians who had been brought to America returned. According to very conservative estimates at least five thousand of them remained. Some of them had intermarried with the families of German settlers, others had become used to the new country, and many did not care to go back to conditions that had become distasteful to them after they had learned to appreciate religious and political liberty. They settled mostly among the Germans in Pennsylvania, New York and the neighboring states. No distinct traces of them have remained.