Now On View: New Artifacts Explore the Hessians' Role in the Revolution

During the Revolutionary War, the British government hired 30,000 German-speaking troops—called "Hessians"—to serve in America. They came from six small European states known as "principalities" where aristocratic leaders ruled as sovereigns.

Revolutionary Americans portrayed Hessians as cruel and inhuman. But most of the German soldiers were a lot like the Americans. In peacetime, many of them were farmers with families. They relied on each other amidst the difficulties of war. Their officers considered themselves enlightened and wrote thoughtful accounts of their American service.

Hessian soldiers served from as far north as Quebec to the Gulf of Mexico. Hiring of troops from foreign states was common in the 1700s. The British had recruited German auxiliaries for service in several other conflicts before the Revolutionary War.

Now on view, new artifacts on display in the Trenton and Princeton gallery explore the Hessians and their role in the war.

Portrait

This portrait shows an unidentified officer from the principality of Waldeck. Friedrich Karl August, Prince of Waldeck, raised one regiment to serve in North America alongside the British army. This newly raised unit, called the 3rd Regiment, fought in New York before being sent to the Gulf Coast of North America. There, many of the soldiers died of disease, while others were killed or captured fighting Spanish troops in what is today Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.

Flag Fragment

This piece of silk is among a handful of surviving fragments of the 15 Hessian flags that the Continental Army captured at the Battle of Trenton on December 26, 1776. It may have been cut from the black and white flag of the Fusilier Regiment von Knyphausen. Connecticut soldier Elisha Bostwick described one of the captured flags as being made of "the richest black silk" with "devices upon it & the lettering in gold leaf," remnants of which are visible here.

Halberd Head

This weapon, carried on the end of a long pole, is called a halberd. Halberds were carried by officers as weapons and signs of rank. This example was uncovered from a plowed field near Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the early 1900s. It is engraved with the leaping horse of Brunswick, a principality whose troops served in Canada and northern New York.

Saber (Sword)

This sword bears the coat of arms of Margrave (or prince) Christian Freidrich Karl Alexander of Ansbach-Bayreuth. Soldiers from the principality began arriving in America in 1777. They would take part in campaigns around New York, Philadelphia, Rhode Island, and Virginia.