Facts about the Hessians |
Hessians Fact 1 | German rulers hired out some of their regular army units to Great Britain to fight against the Patriots in the American revolution. | |
Hessians Fact 2 | The Hessians were mercenaries meaning soldiers who were hired to fight in a foreign army for remuneration, rather than out of loyalty and patriotism | |
Hessians Fact 3 | The Hessians were German military conscripts - not volunteers | |
Hessians Fact 4 | The Hessian soldiers had been forced into the military and had limited military experience - many Hessians who made up the foot soldiers were old or criminals and fought mainly for a daily food ration
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Hessians Fact 5 | The Hessian soldiers came in entire units with their usual uniforms, flags, weapons and officers | |
Hessians Fact 6 | The first army units of Hessian soldiers that arrived in America totalled over 18,000 soldiers - this number increased to over 30,000 | |
Hessians Fact 7 | The Hessian soldiers, made up about a quarter of the British fighting force in America | |
Hessians Fact 8 | The Hessian soldiers first landed at Staten Island on August 15, 1776 | |
Hessians Fact 9 | Their first engagement was in the Battle of Long Island but the Hessians also fought in many other battles in the Revolutionary War including: The Battle of Fort Washington The Battle of Long Island The Battle of White Plains The Battle of Savannah The Battle of Trenton Battle of Guilford Courthouse
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Hessians Fact 10 | The Americans encouraged Hessians to desert and join the large German-American population. | |
Hessians Fact 11 | The Continental Congress authorized the offer of 50 acres of land to individual Hessian soldiers to encourage them to desert. (They also offered 50 - 800 acres of land to the British soldiers, depending on rank, to encourage the British troops to desert). | |
Hessians Fact 12 | Any Hessian deserters were executed or beaten by an entire company | |
Hessians Fact 13 | Stats and Facts about the Hessian soldiers: 4972 settled in North America | |
Hessians Fact 14 | Stats and Facts about the Hessian soldiers: 6354 died from illness or accidents | |
Hessians Fact 15 | Stats and Facts about the Hessian soldiers: 1200 were killed in action | |
Hessians Fact 16 | Stats and Facts about the Hessian soldiers: 17,313 returned home to Germany | |
Hessians Fact 17 | 1,000 Hessian soldiers were captured as prisoners at the Battle of Trenton | |
Hessians Fact 18 | The Hessian soldiers included hussars, three artillery companies, and 4 battalions of grenadiers | |
Hessians Fact 19 | The infantry were sharpshooters, musketeers and fusiliers WHO were armed with smoothbore muskets. The Hessian artillery used three-pounder cannons | |
Hessians Fact 20 | Hessian commanders refused to take the soldiers who were criminals or sick back to Germany. | |
Facts about Hessians |