About

Between 1776 and 1783, Great Britain hired more than thirty thousand German soldiers to fight in its war against the American rebels. Collectively known as Hessians, the soldiers and accompanying civilians, including hundreds of women and children, spent extended periods of time in locations as dispersed and varied as Canada in the north and West Florida in the south. How did members of the German corps experience the American war? How did they describe the American land and the people? This presentation will pay special attention to the experiences of the German troops in the rebellious colonies in the South, including Georgia, the Carolinas, and Virginia. Drawing extensively from a large body of private and official records created by members of the German corps, it will provide a fresh perspective of this watershed event in world history.