Hessians in the Rev. War - Chapters V-VII



CHAPTER V.
FROM GERMANY TO AMERICA.

The first German troops to start for America were the Brunswickers. These 
marched from Brunswick on February 22d, 1776, two thousand two hundred and 
eighty-two strong, and were embarked at Stade, near the mouth of the Elbe. 
The second division of Brunswickers embarked at the end of May - about two 
thousand men. The first Hessians set out from Cassel early in March, and 
were shipped at Bremerlehe, near the mouth of the Weser. The second 
division was embarked in June. Together they numbered between twelve and 
thirteen thousand men. They were for the most part excellent troops and 
well equipped, for the Landgrave's little army was one of the best in 
Germany.

The march from Brunswick or Cassel to the port of embarkation was a 
comparatively simple matter. The troops passed from the territory of their 
own prince into the Hanoverian dominions of the King of England, and these 
reached to the sea. The Prince of Waldeck sent his regiment through Cassel 
without trouble. The Prince of Hesse-Hanau, the Margrave of Anspach-
Bayreuth, and the Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst had a longer road and more 
difficulties before them.

The town of Hanau lies above Frankfort, on the river Main, about thirty 
miles from Mainz, where that river falls into the Rhine. The district of 
which Hanau was the capital was at this time governed by the heir-apparent 
of the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, as an independent county. The prince was 
not on good terms with his father, and was unwilling to send his troops 
through the territories of the latter, for fear of desertion. The soldiers 
were therefore shipped on boats and sent down the Rhine. The three 
spiritual electorates, the lands of the Elector of the Phalz, the free 
city of Cologne, and other less important districts bordered on that 
stretch of the river which the modern tourist passes in his steamboat 
between breakfast and dinner-time. Any one of the little states might make 
trouble if its permission for the passage of troops were not obtained, and 
after running the gantlet of them all, there was danger of still more 
serious hinderance when the flotilla came to Rhenish Prussia. Difficulties 
had already arisen between the local authorities and the English 
recruiting officers, and although the first regiment from Hanau, in the 
spring of 1776, was allowed to pass unmolested, trouble was brewing.

A detachment of chasseurs and recruits started from Hanau on March 7th, 
1777. On the 8th the boats were stopped at Mainz, and eight men were taken 
from them. The archbishop claimed these either as his own subjects or as 
deserters from his service. The English government refused to interfere, 
and the complaints of the Prince of Hanau were unheeded. On March 25th, at 
S'Gravendael, in Holland, seven men sprang overboard, and three of them 
escaped, with the help of sympathizing peasants.

Meanwhile, two regiments of Anspach and Bayreuth, with one hundred and one 
chasseurs and forty-four artillerymen (in all twelve hundred and eighty-
five men), had marched from Anspach on March 7th, 1777, and were embarked 
at Ochsenfurth, a pretty little walled town lying on the Main about a 
hundred miles above Hanau, and belonging at that time to the Bishop of 
Wurzburg. The men were embarked towards evening, and their boats remained 
at anchor through the night. The poor country lads were unused to their 
crowded quarters, shivering with cold, and sickened by the smell of the 
boats, in which, in their simplicity, they thought they were to sail to 
America. Their grumbling grew at last into a mutiny, a poor, helpless 
mutiny, without a plan, without a leader. At daybreak some of the soldiers 
of the Anspach regiment, whose boat lay near the bank, laid a plank to the 
shore and walked over it. They then dragged other boats to land, and in an 
hour the miserable crowd of cold and hungry men was on shore, storming 
with anger and refusing to yield to the threats and promises of its 
officers. These acted prudently. They sent for food and wood to warm and 
feed the starving mutineers. Unfortunately the inhabitants of Ochsenfurth 
brought drink as well. The insubordination increased. The soldiers began 
to wander away; but the chasseurs still obeyed orders. They were posted on 
the surrounding hills and told to fire at deserters, "to frighten them." 
The rioters returned the fire. Several men were wounded. The burghers of 
Ochsenfurth shut their gates and drew up their drawbridges to keep 
themselves out of harm's way. Towards evening the soldiers began to get 
sober again, and were finally brought back into their ranks, some scores 
of them having succeeded in escaping. The Bishop of Wurzburg sent hussars 
and dragoons to help quell the riot. He was afterwards officially thanked 
by the English government.

Meanwhile an express had been sent to warn the Margrave at Anspach. The 
Margrave was startled. Here were twelve hundred men, with eighteen 
thousand good English pounds, and next winter's little journey to Paris, 
all in danger of making off at once. His Most Serene Highness threw 
himself into the saddle, forgetting his watch and neglecting his carpet-
bag; (he had afterwards to borrow some clean shirts of his princely 
neighbor of Hanau). He rode quickly through the night, and early morning 
found him at Ochsenfurth. The regiments were drawn up and the Margrave 
passed from man to man. He inquired into their grievances, and promised 
forgiveness to all who would go to America. He announced that any man 
might then and there leave the service, forfeiting his home, all his 
property, and the princely favor. No one stirred. The soldiers were re-
embarked and taken down the Main. The Margrave accompanied them. The story 
that he sat in one of the boats, with a cocked rifle, ready for future 
deserters, seems to want authority.

The flotilla arrived at Mainz. About thirty officers and men had been sent 
by the Bishop-Elector to visit it and take off deserters. They were 
recalled, however, on account of the presence of the Margrave, and of the 
two Hessian princes who were with him. The Elector prepared a grand dinner 
for these distinguished guests, but they did not venture to accept it, and 
only sent an officer to demand that the bridge should be opened, 
threatening to blow it up in case of refusal. The bridge was opened in the 
night, without the formal consent of the Elector, and the boats went on 
their way. From this point, the voyage down the Rhine was unhindered, and 
the troops were mustered into the English service in Holland. Each 
regiment received a present of 100 ducats from the Margrave, and extra 
rations during the journey.

The Margrave had accomplished his purpose and could return with a light 
heart to Anspach. He set out for Paris on the 16th of October following, 
with his good friend Lady Craven, having arranged that a new body of about 
three hundred recruits and chasseurs should start down stream at the end 
of the month, taking with them uniforms for his regiments. He had taken 
the trouble to write to his uncle, the great Frederick of Prussia, asking 
that the passage of these troops might be permitted; but he looked on this 
request as a mere formality, and travelled off without waiting for an 
answer (Elliot, the English Ambassador at Berlin, had sent a like request, 
which also was refused. Elliot states in a letter to Suffolk that the 
German princes had felt obliged to ask the permission of the court of 
Berlin before letting out their soldiers to Great Britain, and that they 
had obtained this permission. Kapp, "Friedrich der Grosse und die 
Vereinigten Staaten," pp. 63-65.) He was destined to be disappointed. His 
ministers at Anspach received and opened in due time the following letter, 
written, as was usual with diplomatic correspondence, in the French 
language:

"Potsdam, this 24th October, 1777.
"MONSIEUR MY NEPHEW! - I own to your Most Serene Highness that I never 
think of the present war in America without being struck with the 
eagerness of some German princes to sacrifice their troops in a quarrel 
which does not concern them. My astonishment increases when I remember in 
ancient history the wise and general aversion of our ancestors to wasting 
German blood for the defence of foreign rights, which even became a law in 
the German state.

"But I perceive that my patriotism is running away with me; and I return 
to your Most Serene Highness's letter of the 14th, which excited it so 
strongly. You ask for free passage for the recruits and baggage which you 
wish to send to the corps of your troops in the service of Great Britain, 
and I take the liberty of observing that if you wish them to go to 
England, they will not even have to pass through my states, and that you 
can send them a shorter way to be embarked. I submit this idea to the 
judgment of your Most Serene Highness, and am none the less, with all the 
tenderness I owe you, Monsieur my Nephew, your Most Serene Highness's good 
uncle,

FREDERIC."

The ministers were perplexed. They thought it too late to keep back the 
troops, and hoped to gain their end by negotiation. In this they did not 
succeed. The soldiers were stopped on their passage down the Rhine, and 
after spending a month in their boats, lying, for the most part, off the 
little town of Bendorf, which belonged to the Margrave of Anspach, were 
finally brought back to winter at Hanau. Their sufferings while crowded on 
board the boats in the months of November and December, and only allowed 
occasional exercise on shore, must have been great; but there were but few 
desertions, for a cordon of troops lined the bank to prevent them. About 
two hundred and fifty recruits from Hanau lay alongside of the Anspachers, 
similarly detained, and these suffered much from fever.

The whole party of five hundred and thirty-four men marched in February 
and March, 1778, overland to the coast, and was shipped in April for 
England and America. The passage was a long one, and these men, who had 
left Anspach early in November, 1777, were not landed in New York until 
September, 1778.

The sudden refusal of Frederick the Great to allow the passage of troops 
told most of all on the Zerbst regiment. In order to pass round the 
Prussian dominions, this body was obliged to march through seven different 
states and free cities. The result was disastrous. In the village of 
Zeulenrode a deserter chased by a corporal sought refuge in an inn. The 
corporal, in his anger and excitement, shot after him through the window 
and killed the innkeeper's wife, who was sitting quietly in the room. The 
peasants were enraged, and a riot shortly afterwards occurred, in which a 
lieutenant was mortally injured. Moreover, the Prussian recruiting 
officers saw their chance to pick up a few men, and once on the route 
there was a skirmish with them and bloodshed. Three hundred and thirtyfour 
men deserted in the course of ten days, leaving only four hundred and 
ninety-four under the banners. The colonel succeeded, however, in 
enlisting about one hundred and thirty recruits, to take the place of the 
deserters, and six hundred and twenty-five men were thus shipped on April 
22, 1778, at Stade. Making a quick passage, they arrived before Quebec 
towards the last of May; but they had not come to the end of their 
troubles. The commander of the place had received no orders concerning 
them, and would not allow them to land. For three months the poor fellows 
had to lie on shipboard in the St. Lawrence, before instructions could be 
received from England.

Frederick the Great has left in his memoirs his own account of his reasons 
for his conduct on this occasion.

"The King of England, who from caprice or obstinacy maintained Bute's 
system, stiffened himself against the obstacles which arose under his 
feet. With little consideration for the misfortunes which fell on his 
people, he became all the more ardent in the execution of his designs; and 
in order to obtain a superiority of force over the Americans, he had 
negotiations carried on with all the courts of Germany to obtain what 
little help they could still furnish. Germany already felt the evil 
consequences of sending so many of her men into those distant climes, and 
the King of Prussia did not like to see the Empire deprived of all its 
defenders, especially in case of a new war; for in the troubles of 1756, 
Lower Saxony and Westphalia alone had set on foot an army with which the 
progress of the French had been stopped and disorganized. For this reason 
he made difficulties for the passage of the troops of the princes allied 
to England when they had to pass through Magdeburg, Minden, and the 
district on the Lower Rhine. That was but a weak revenge for the bad 
attitude which the court of London had assumed towards him concerning the 
city and harbor of Dantzic. Nevertheless, the king did not care to push 
matters too far, for long experience had taught him that one always finds 
a host of enemies in the world, without taking the trouble to raise them 
wantonly against oneself." ("OEuvres de Frederic le Grand," vol. vi. p. 
117.)

These troublesome measures of Frederick were but temporary, and in 1778 
the business returned to its old channels. The war of the Bavarian 
Succession had then broken out, and Frederick was inclined to be more 
conciliatory towards England. The whole relation of the King of Prussia to 
our Revolutionary War is hardly worth the attention that has been bestowed 
on it. It would appear that Frederick, owing to his dislike for the 
British, and on grounds of general policy, gave orders to his ministers to 
treat the American agents, Arthur and William Lee, with politeness, though 
he was prevented by his political judgment from according them the 
smallest advantage. "I propose," wrote he to his brother Henry, on June 
17th, 1777, "to procrastinate in these negotiations, and to go over to the 
side on which fortune shall declare herself." ("OEuvres Frederic le
Grand," vol. xxvi. p. 393.) Seeing, however, in the autumn of 1777, a good 
opportunity to vent his spite against the English, to express his contempt 
for what he considered a disgraceful business, to diminish the drain of 
men from Germany, and, perhaps, to do a good turn to the Americans, with 
whom he sympathized as the enemies of his enemies, he adopted the measures 
above described. It is possible that Frederick was also influenced by a 
personal dislike for "Monsieur his Nephew," who had long before embraced 
the Austrian side in German politics.

As for the importance to America of the hindrance thus thrown in the way 
of the mercenary princes, it seems to me that Kapp overrates it. It may 
possibly have been the want of the reinforcements thus delayed and the 
uncertainty of obtaining more men in the future that prevented Sir William 
Howe from destroying Washington's army at Valley Forge, and completely 
stamping out the rebellion. But such a consequence of the delay in 
receiving fifteen hundred men, and of the abandonment of a scheme for 
obtaining a few thousands more from Wurtemberg, seems to me too remote for 
serious consideration. Is there any reason to suppose that Sir William 
would have made a better use of the fifteen hundred German soldiers he 
expected than of the twelve or fifteen thousand he had already? The great 
king, as we have seen, confined himself to small annoyances. One 
authoritative word from him might probably have sufficed to put a stop to 
the whole disgraceful business. (Kapp's "Soldatenhandel," pp. 147-177; 
Kapp's "Friedrich der Grosse und die Vereinigten Staaten," part i. passim. 
Frederick subsequently encouraged the French court to enter into the 
American alliance, "Bancroft," vol. x. chap. iii. In January, 1778, 
Schulenberg, Frederick's minister, wrote to Arthur Lee that the King of 
Prussia would not delay to acknowledge the independence of the United 
States so soon as France should have done so (Kapp, "Friedrich," etc., p. 
52). This promise was not fulfilled.)

The march of the auxiliaries from their national headquarters to the sea 
can have been, at least after the first year, no cheerful or martial 
spectacle. The poor fellows travelled partially armed, escorted by picked 
men. The villages in which they slept were surrounded by a double chain of 
sentries (MSS. of Regiment von Mirbach, in the Cassel Library.) If they 
went by the river Weser, a certain number of them had at most times, even 
when Prussia was not unusually troublesome, to march round her territory 
at Minden. We have seen how they were treated on the Rhine. For it was a 
peculiarity of these troops, that a regiment of them could hardly pass 
through any part of Germany where the authorities had not some claim on 
some of the soldiers.

Seume, the captive poet, has left a graphic description of his experiences 
on shipboard. The men were packed like herring. A tall man could not stand 
upright between decks, nor sit up straight in his berth. To every such 
berth six men were allotted, but as there was room for only four, the last 
two had to squeeze in as best they might. "This was not cool in warm 
weather," says Seume. Thus the men lay in what boys call "spoon fashion," 
and when they were tired on one side, the man on the right would call 
"about face," and the whole file would turn over at once; then, when they 
were tired again, the man on the left would give the same order, and they 
would turn back on to the first side. The food was on a par with the 
lodging. Pork and pease were the chief of their diet. The pork seemed to 
be four or five years old. It was streaked with black towards the outside, 
and was yellow farther in, with a little white in the middle. The salt 
beef was in much the same condition. The ship biscuit was often full of 
maggots. "We had to eat them for a relish," says Seume, "not to reduce our 
slender rations too much." This biscuit was so hard that they sometimes 
broke it up with a cannon-ball, and the story ran that it had been taken 
from the French in the Seven Years' War, and lain in Portsmouth ever 
since. The English had kept it twenty years or so, and "were now feeding 
the Germans with it, that these might, if it were God's will, destroy 
Rochambeau and Lafayette. It does not seem to have been God's will, 
exactly." Sometimes they had groats and barley, or, by way of a treat, a 
pudding made of flour mixed half with salt water and half with fresh 
water, and with old, old mutton fat. The water was all spoiled. When a 
cask was opened "it stank between decks like Styx, Phlegethon, and Cocytus 
all together." It was thick with filaments as long as your finger, and 
they had to filter it through a cloth before they could drink it. They 
held their noses strong while they drank, and yet it was so scarce that 
they fought to get it. Rum, and sometimes a little beer, completed their 
fare.

Thus crowded together, with close air, bad food, and foul water, many of 
them insufficiently clothed, these boys and old men, students, 
shopkeepers, and peasants tossed for months on the Atlantic. Much of the 
suffering of the voyage was doubtless inevitable, and many of the recruits 
were already inured to hardship. But much of what they underwent was the 
result of wanton carelessness or grasping avarice. What shall we say of 
the British Quartermaster's Department, which sent these men to sea 
without proper food or drink? What of the Duke of Brunswick, who 
despatched his subjects to Canada without shoes and stockings that would 
hold together, and without overcoats? Men have often borne such hardships 
cheerfully for a cause that they understood and loved. But these poor 
fellows suffered in a quarrel that was not their own, and simply to 
provide means to pay the debts, or minister to the pleasures of their 
masters. It is well for us to know something of their sufferings; to know 
what despotism means.



CHAPTER VI.
THE BATTLE OF LONG ISLAND, AUGUST, 1776.

The first division of Hessians, some eight thousand strong, passed Sandy 
Hook on August 15, 1776, and landed at Staten Island amid salvoes of 
artillery and musketry. The division was under the command of Lieutenant-
general Philip von Heister, a tough old soldier of the Seven Years' War. 
It is related that when Landgrave Frederick II called him to command the 
Hessian expeditionary force, he did so in these terms: "Heister, you must 
go along to America." "Very well, your Most Serene Highness, but I take 
the liberty of making a few requests." "And what may they be?" "First, my 
debts must be paid, my wife and children must be taken care of until I 
come back, and if I should fall, my wife must have a pension." When the 
Landgrave had smilingly assented, Heister cried out: "Now your Serene 
Highness shall see what this old head and these bones can do."

The army collected on Staten Island under the command of Sir William Howe 
numbered, after the arrival of the Hessians, between twenty-five and 
thirty thousand soldiers. It was supported by a fleet under Sir William's 
brother, Lord Howe. The opposing army of Washington was composed of some 
thirteen or fourteen thousand men, not more than six thousand of whom had 
any military experience, and whose officers were taken from civil life.

The Hessians were much struck with the appearance of wealth and plenty 
which they found on Staten Island. The colonists lived in comfortable 
houses surrounded by gardens and orchards. Their light red wagons drawn by 
two small horses excited the wonder of the Germans. A colonist on Staten 
Island lived as comfortably as a German country gentleman, and it seemed 
extraordinary to the Hessians that people should revolt against a 
government under which they enjoyed so many blessings. Many of the 
Americans had fled from their homes on the approach of the Hessians, and 
those who remained were at first inclined to be surly when troops were 
quartered upon them; but when they saw that strict discipline was 
enforced, and that only regular requisitions were made, the fugitives 
returned, and relations of tolerance, if not of cordiality, were soon 
established. The British government still hoped to reconcile the colonists 
to the rule of the mother country, and strict orders had been given to 
prevent all excesses.

No sooner did Sir William Howe find his army collected than he prepared to 
attack the Americans. The British advance guard, under Sir Henry Clinton, 
with the Hessian chasseurs and grenadiers, commanded by Colonel von Donop, 
crossed the Narrows to Long Island on August 22, 1776. A diary, published 
in a magazine at Frankfort-on-the- Main in the following year, gives a 
graphic account of this operation and of those that followed:

"August 22. - We weighed anchor and lay close over against Long Island. 
The ships of war came within range of the shore and pointed their cannon 
at the beach. At eight in the morning the whole coast swarmed with boats. 
At half-past eight the admiral hoisted the red flag, and in a moment all 
the boats reached the shore. The English and Scotch, with the artillery, 
were first disembarked, and then the brigade of Colonel von Donop (the 
only Hessians there.) Not a soul opposed our landing. This was the second 
blunder of the rebels since I have been in America. Their first mistake 
was when we disembarked on Staten Island, for they might then have 
destroyed a good many of our people with two six-pounders, and now they 
might have made it very nasty for us. We marched on, equally undisturbed, 
through Gravesend, and reached Flatbush towards evening. Three hundred 
riflemen had been there a little while before us. We sent a few cannon 
shots after them, set out our pickets, and slept quietly all night. I got 
two horses as booty, one of which I sent to the colonel and gave the other 
to my St. Martin for a pack-horse.

"August 23. - This morning early we were attacked on the right wing of the 
advanced guard. We brought up a cannon and drove them back. It rained 
bullets. Captain Congreve and one Constable were wounded by my side, and 
an Englishman was shot through. In the afternoon they attacked on the left 
side of the village and set fire to several houses, and we drew back into 
the village. Lieutenant von Donop, who stood on the left wing, was wounded 
in the breast; the ball glanced from his rib. I advanced on the right 
wing, where I occupied a big garden, with one hundred and fifty men, 
chasseurs and light infantry. As the enemy had fallen back from here, I 
relieved Lieutenant von Donop. The rebels were placing cannon on the 
highway, and our Scotch Highlanders had to make a battery across the road, 
with embrasures for two cannon. I had to cover the work, and so came to 
the advanced posts, where, however, I was little disturbed.

"August 24. - A hot day. The rebels approached twice, fired howitzers and 
used grape and ball, so that all our artillery had to come up. At noon I 
slept a little while, and was waked by two cannon-balls which covered me 
with earth. The rebels have some very good marksmen, but some of them have 
wretched guns, and most of them shoot crooked. But they are clever at 
hunters' wiles. They climb trees, they crawl forward on their bellies for 
one hundred and fifty paces, shoot, and go as quickly back again. They 
make themselves shelters of boughs, etc. But to-day they are much put out 
by our green coats (The chasseurs wore green coats with crimson 
trimmings.), for we don't let our fellows fire unless they can get good 
aim at a man, so that they dare not undertake anything more against us.

"August 25. - We barricaded ourselves in the village; and to-night our 
chasseurs were to take a good rest. About two o'clock the rebels roused us 
from our slumbers; we quickly quieted them, however, with two cannon and a 
few rifle-shots. To-day we were attacked again, but after several of them 
had bitten the dust they drew off. Long Island is a beautiful island, an 
Arcadia; a most delightful region, full of meadows, corn-fields, all kinds 
of fruit-trees and pleasantly built houses. There were still a great many 
cattle there, although the rebels had taken many away with them. Most of 
the inhabitants had fled from the houses (For a particular description of 
this part of Long Island see " Schlozer's Briefwechsel," vol. ii. p. 103 
et seq., by Lieutenant Hinrichs of the chasseurs.) The rebels advanced in 
force. General Cornwallis wanted Colonel Donop to retire, but the colonel 
stayed where he was and intrenched himself.

"August 26. - During this day we had much trouble, and at night were 
continually awakened by alarms from the outposts. This was not caused by 
attacks of the rebels, but mostly by deserters who wanted to come to us; 
and when the English and the [Hessian] grenadiers heard them approach they 
at once fired by platoons, if they did not get an immediate answer. To-day 
General von Heister came over to us with six battalions (Of Hessians. 
According to Bancroft these regiments crossed on the 25th. For an account 
of the curious and complicated nomenclature of the Hessian regiments, and 
of the different regiments engaged in different battles, see Appendix A.)

"August 27. - Our colonel had been promised that he should make the first 
attack, and he heard that the English were to attack to-day, but he had 
not received any orders either last evening or this morning. About ten 
o'clock we were all put under arms (the colonel having then spoken with 
General von Heister), and about eleven we were all in order of battle. On 
our left and right the English advanced on the flanks, and destroyed those 
that we drove back. On the left wing, where I commanded the advanced 
guards (thirty chasseurs and twenty grenadiers), stood Colonel Block, with 
his battalion. Behind me I had Captain Mallet with one company, as a 
reserve. In the centre Captain von Wrede attacked, and had the battalion 
von Minnigerode behind him. On the right Captain Lory pressed on, 
supported by the three remaining companies of Linsig's battalion" 
[Battalion von Linsingen].

In describing this arrangement of the troops, the writer refers only to 
the brigade in which he served. The Hessians, forming the centre of the 
British force, were posted on the Flatbush road. The right, under Clinton 
and Lord Percy, with Sir William Howe, had started early in the morning 
and succeeded in turning the left wing of the American position, near 
Bedford, and in getting in its rear. On hearing the cannon on his right, 
Heister ordered the Hessians to advance. The battle was substantially lost 
and won before the first shot was fired, the Americans having been 
outflanked. The latter saw themselves in danger of being cut off from 
their fortifications, and fled. A few of them were drowned in Gowanus 
Creek while trying to escape. Two whole regiments would probably have been 
captured but for the bravery of General Stirling, who selected five 
companies of Marylanders, with whom he covered the retreat of the rest. Of 
these five companies only eight men escaped death or capture. We return to 
our Hessian officer and his narrative.

"My chasseurs were so eager that I had hardly got into the wood when I 
found myself alone with my command. I came into the middle of the rebel 
camp, where they still were, saw on my left their great camp, on my right 
a fortification, and fifty or sixty men were forming in column before me. 
But we left them no time and beat them completely. Many were shot and 
still more taken prisoners. I did not lose a single man, so much had the 
rebels come to be afraid of the chasseurs. Things went equally well on the 
other wing. We lost few men, and, except one chasseur, who was shot in the 
village, not a single one was killed. On the other hand, we made on the 
first day more than five hundred prisoners, among whom were General 
Stirling and one other general, and Colonel Johnson was shot. General 
Stirling is one of the most important rebels, who, sword in hand, forced 
the people to fight against their king. As long as we had no horses, the 
prisoners were harnessed in front of the cannon, and they were afterwards 
sent aboard the ships of war. In two days we had taken eleven hundred men. 
The rebels looked ragged, and had no shirts on. Our Hessians marched like 
Hessians; they marched incorrigibly, and the English like the bravest and 
best of soldiers. They, therefore, lost more men than we. This was a lucky 
day for us. The rebels had a very advantageous position in the wood, and 
we had a very bad one in the village of Flatbush. At first they made good 
use of their position, burned down a house and set fire to the barns upon 
our outposts. But when we attacked them courageously in their hiding-
places, they ran, as all mobs do." ("Die Neuesten Staatsbegebenheiten," 
1777, Frankfurt a. M., pp. 110-116. The letter, of which the above is the 
largest part, would seem to have been written by an officer of chasseurs, 
probably either Major von Prueschenk or Lieutenant von Grothausen.)

The editor of the Frankfort magazine, who publishes the above, remarks 
that many letters from Hessian officers have appeared in the newspapers; 
that these officers ascribe a great part of the credit of the victory to 
themselves, and that, in view of the well known valor of the Hessian 
soldiery, they undoubtedly deserve it, but that some of them make too 
little of the resistance and military knowledge of the Americans, "so that 
the honor of having gained a victory over an enemy numbering only one 
third as many as themselves almost suffers." The remark is certainly 
pertinent, and the odds do not appear to be overstated. Washington's army 
before the battle was occupying lines which extended from Kingsbridge to 
Flatbush. There were probably not more than eight thousand Americans on 
Long Island, while those actually engaged on the advanced lines numbered 
only four or five thousand, against twenty thousand Englishmen and Germans.


THE BATTLE OF LONG ISLAND

Sir William Howe, in his official report, sets the American loss in 
killed, wounded, prisoners and drowned, at three thousand three hundred 
men; but Bancroft believes this to be a gross exaggeration, and, relying 
on Washington's report and a careful inquiry, says that the total American 
loss did not exceed one thousand, of whom three quarters were taken 
prisoners. The English loss, according to Howe, was seventeen officers and 
three hundred and one non-commissioned officers and privates; the Hessians 
had two men killed, and two officers and twenty-three privates wounded.

"The enemy," writes Colonel von Heeringen, commanding a Hessian regiment, 
"had almost impenetrable thickets, lines, abattis, and redoubts in front 
of them. The riflemen were mostly spitted to the trees with bayonets. 
These frightful people deserve pity rather than fear. It always takes them 
a quarter of an hour to load, and meanwhile they feel our balls and 
bayonets." Among the prisoners taken by the Hessians were two generals - 
Sullivan and Stirling. Nothing can be more characteristic of the hatred 
and contempt felt at this time by the Hessian officers for the 
undisciplined troop of rebels to whom they were opposed, than Von 
Heeringen's account of these generals and of other officers of the 
American army. "John Sullivan was a lawyer, and previously a domestic 
servant, but a man of genius, whom the rebels will much regret. Among the 
prisoners are many so-called colonels, lieutenant-colonels, majors, and 
other officers, who, however, are nothing but mechanics, tailors, 
shoemakers, wig-makers, barbers, etc. Some of them were soundly beaten by 
our people, who would by no means let such persons pass for officers. 
Sullivan was brought to me. I had him searched and found the original 
orders of General Washington on him; from which it appears that he had the 
best troops under his command, that everything depended on his holding the 
wood, and that he was eight thousand men strong. The English have one 
hundred and fifty killed and wounded" [three hundred and eighteen, says 
Sir William Howe]. "This they owe more to their disorderly attack than to 
the valor of the enemy. It looked horrible in the wood, as at least two 
thousand killed and wounded lay there. Colonel John, of the rebels, is 
dead. A grenadier took him prisoner and generously gave him his life, only 
telling him to go back to the battalion which was following, for the 
grenadier was a skirmisher. The colonel wanted to murder him, slyly, from 
behind; secretly drew out a pistol, but only hit the grenadier in the arm, 
whereupon the latter treated him to three or four bayonet strokes."

"Among the officers taken I did not find a single one who had been in 
foreign service. They are nothing but rebels and citizens settled here. 
Tailor Graul would play a considerable part here." Colonel von Heeringen 
clearly considers it far more honorable to fight in other people's 
quarrels than in one's own. A man who had once been a mercenary could be 
more readily forgiven for being a rebel. "My Lord Stirling himself is only 
an echappe de famille, and does not pass for a lord in England. He looks 
as much like my Lord Granby as one egg does like another. General Putnam 
is a butcher by profession. I imagine him to be like Butcher Fischer at 
Rinteln. The rebels desert in great numbers, and it is nothing to see 
colonels, lieutenant-colonels, and majors come in with whole troops of 
men. The captured flag, which is made of red damask, with the motto, 
'Liberty,' appeared with sixty men before Rall's regiment. They had all 
shouldered their guns upside down, and had their hats under their arms. 
They fell on their knees and begged piteously for their lives. No regiment 
is properly uniformed or armed. Every man has a common gun, such as the 
citizens in Hesse march out with at Whitsuntide. Stirling's regiment, 
however, was uniformed in blue and red, three battalions strong, and 
mostly composed of Germans recruited in Pennsylvania. They were tall, fine-
looking fellows, and had extremely good English guns, with bayonets. This 
regiment met the English, and as the latter took them for Hessians in the 
bushes, they did not fire; but their error cost them Colonel Grant, 
several other officers, and eighty men. A volley was fired. The English 
gathered themselves together, attacked with the bayonet, knocked everybody 
head over heels, and those they did not massacre they took prisoners. In 
short, the whole regiment is ruined. The rebel artillery is miserable, 
mostly of iron, and mounted on ships' carriages."(Quoted in Eelking's 
"Hulfstruppen," vol. i. p. 37 n., from the Preussisches Militair-
Wochenblatt, 1833, Nrs. 863, 864.)

It is said that many times in this battle the English and Hessians did not 
give quarter when it was asked. Colonel von Heeringen says: "The English 
did not give much quarter, and constantly urged our people to do the 
like." The Americans are said also to have believed that the Hessians gave 
no quarter, and to have fought with peculiar desperation, after hope was 
lost, in consequence. The fact that neither side could understand the 
other may have tended to diminish the chance of surrender, and have 
contributed to swell the complaints that some of the Americans had 
treacherously attacked their captors after yielding. "They were," says 
Lieutenant Ruffer in his diary (Quoted in Eelking's "Hulfstruppen," vol. 
i. p. 45), "so timid that they preferred to be shot rather than to take 
quarter, because their generals and officers had told them that they would 
be hanged." Surely the most curious proof of cowardice ever alleged 
against any soldiers whatsoever.

After the loss of so important a position, and of so many men in 
proportion to the numbers of his little army, Washington thought it 
inexpedient to try to hold the works at Brooklyn, and seeing that the 
English fleet was preparing to occupy the East River and cut off his 
retreat, he abandoned Long Island on the night of August 29th-30th, and 
crossed over to New York, bringing off all his stores and cannon, except a 
few heavy pieces which stuck in the mud. A myth was current among the 
Hessians, to the effect that an order of Washington had been found in the 
deserted camp, stating that, whereas it was impossible to resist such 
cruel and terrible enemies as the Hessians, one must make the best of 
one's way off. Thus had the German troops seen their first battle in the 
New World. It had added to the contempt they had already felt for a 
rebellious and undisciplined enemy, a contempt which it was to take long 
years of war and of disaster wholly to eradicate (For the Battle of Long 
Island, see the authorities above quoted and the MS. journals of the 
Grenadier Battalion von Minnigerode, the Regiment von Lossberg (Heusser), 
and the same regiment (Piel). For the Evacuation of Long Island, see 
"Washington's Writings" (Sparks's ed.), vol. iv. p. 69.)



CHAPTER VII.
FROM THE OCCUPATION OF NEW YORK TO THE TAKING OF FORT WASHINGTON, 
SEPTEMBER 15TH TO NOVEMBER 16TH, 1776.

There is not much to remind the present inhabitant of New York of the 
little city that lay at the south end of Manhattan Island a hundred years 
ago. It was a pretty place, with large, comfortable houses, built mostly 
of yellow brick. Within were low-studded rooms, with sanded floors, and 
high, painted wainscots. The sideboards, of solid mahogany, in the better 
houses, shone with pewter for every-day use; and there was often solid 
silver, for state occasions. The streets were crooked and had gutters in 
the middle, but were fairly clean, and bordered with trees. Before the war 
there had been over twenty thousand inhabitants, but many of these had 
fled on the approach of the contending armies. There were many Tories, 
especially among the rich.

At the time when Washington retreated from Brooklyn, New York was defended 
by a permanent fort, called Fort George, at the west end of the Battery, 
and by temporary works thrown up at various places along the shore. On the 
north, or landward, side, a barrier crossed Broadway near the Bowling 
Green, and there was another near the site of the present Centre Market.

Beyond the fortifications lay the country, "the most beautiful)" says a 
Hessian officer, "that I have ever seen." (Lieutenant Hinrichs, in 
Schlozer's "Briefwechsel," vol. ii. p. 108.) Corn-fields, meadows and 
orchards covered the charming land, and from the hill-tops the old 
colonial houses, each surrounded by its piazza and crowned with its 
balustrade, looked down on the smiling landscape. The Hessian lieutenant, 
in his enthusiasm, calls them palaces; and truly, there was a dignity in 
the best domestic architecture of the time that makes that name hardly 
inappropriate.

In spite of the anxiety of Washington and of Congress to keep possession 
of New York, the town was clearly indefensible. The British had complete 
command of the harbor, and a greatly superior force on land. Consequently, 
when, on the 15th of September, 1776, the royal troops landed on the 
island, the only care of Washington, who had for several days been 
removing guns and stores, was to bring off the rear-guard of his army 
before its retreat should be prevented by the British. The landing was 
effected under protection of English ships of war at a place called Kip's 
Bay, near East Thirty-fourth Street. My Hessian lieutenant calls it four 
miles from New York, but he overstates the distance. The Hessians, with 
the advance guard, were, as usual, the chasseurs and grenadiers under Von 
Donop. These marched immediately on New York, while the English light 
infantry and Highlanders hastened to occupy the Incleberg, now known as 
Murray Hill. The Americans, meanwhile, under old Israel Putnam, were 
making the best of their way up the roads nearest the North River, towards 
Bloomingdale.

No opposition was made to the landing of the British. The New England 
militia, who should have delayed that operation, behaved very badly, 
drawing on themselves the violent indignation of Washington. It is said 
that a part of the American army would undoubtedly have been cut off in 
consequence of this panic, had not Mrs. Murray detained Sir William Howe 
by her hospitable reception, and the attractions of her old Madeira. The 
worthy lady kept the British general in good humor for two hours, while 
her ragged and hungry countrymen escaped from his grasp. Never have the 
hospitalities of Murray Hill answered a better purpose.

On the 16th of September a smart skirmish took place in the neighborhood 
of Manhattanville. Some British light infantry and two battalions of 
Highlanders wore driven back, and were in a somewhat precarious position, 
when the omnipresent chasseurs and grenadiers advanced to their 
assistance, and some other German regiments were also put in motion. 
Washington, fearing that the enemy were sending a large body to support 
their party, as was indeed the case, ordered a retreat. Of the English, 
two hundred and eighty were killed and wounded; of the Americans, about 
sixty. This action, in which the latter behaved very well, and inflicted a 
comparatively heavy loss on the British, did much to bring back their 
confidence after the reverses and retreats of the preceeding days.

The British general had given strict orders to respect personal property, 
and presently the rich owners of country-houses, who had fled at the 
approach of the royal forces, leaving their possessions in charge of their 
servants, began to return. Lieutenant Hinrichs, of the Hessian chasseurs, 
who had received orders on the 15th of September to prevent depredations, 
had earned thereby the gratitude of the inhabitants. He was wounded in the 
skirmish of the 16th, and forced to look for quiet and good nursing. He 
took shelter with a widow named Oglyby (Ogilvie?) near Hornhook, on the 
East River, and had the satisfaction of seeing her whole family meet again 
after the separation caused by the perils of war. Grandfather, mother, and 
grand-children, together with the black slaves and their children, met and 
embraced with so much affection that our good-natured lieutenant was much 
moved, and passed a feverish night. It is needless to say that his hosts 
treated him with the greatest kindness. He recovered from his wound, and 
from others which he afterwards received in the course of the Revolution, 
and died a Prussian lieutenant-general in 1834.

The city of New York had been but five days in the hands of the British 
when, on the night of the 20th to the 21st of September, a fire broke out 
in a low drinking-house near Whitehall Slip. The weather had been dry and 
hot. A gale was blowing from the southwest. The fire spread with frightful 
rapidity. The east side of Broadway was burned as far up as Exchange 
Place. Then, the wind having veered to the southeast, the fire crossed 
Broadway above Morris Street, and extended to Barclay Street, burning old 
Trinity Church, but sparing St. Paul's. The fire was at last mastered, 
mainly by the exertions of soldiers and sailors. Bancroft is positive that 
this fire was not the work of incendiaries. Such, however, was not the 
idea of the British and Hessians at the time, and some modern historians 
believe their accounts. Sir William Howe states in his report that fire 
was set in various places. Donop is said by Eelking to have written in his 
diary that the conflagration was arranged by an American colonel named 
Scott, who had previously been a lawyer. This man had employed forty 
desperate fellows. who were provided with all sorts of combustibles, and 
who set fire to various houses belonging to Tories. According to this 
story, Scott was arrested, and the whole plan in writing was found upon 
him. In support of the opinion of those who believe that the fire was set 
by the Whigs, is the undoubted fact that several leading Americans had 
advised burning New York, and that the plan had even been proposed by 
Washington to Congress (Washington, vol. iv. p. 74.), which rejected it. 
On the other hand, panic and fury, stories of incendiarism, and acts of 
violence are almost invariable accompaniments of a great conflagration. 
Statements made at such a time should always be taken with the greatest 
caution. The story concerning Scott is, I believe, entirely unconfirmed. 
It is certain that sundry persons were killed by English soldiers during 
the progress of the fire, and Bancroft says that one poor man, who 
happened to be a Tory, was hanged by the heels until he died.

On the 10th of October, 1776, General Howe embarked the greater part of 
his troops with the intention of again trying to cut Washington's line of 
retreat and shut him up in Manhattan Island. For four days the British 
were detained in the East River by an adverse wind, and only passed Hell 
Gate on the afternoon of the 14th. The fleet lay at anchor that night and 
started at six the next morning, but was detained by winds and tides, and 
did not reach Throg's Neck (or Frog's Point, as Washington calls it), 
until nightfall. Here Howe had previously landed his advance guard, but 
Washington had been beforehand with him, and had occupied the passes 
leading to the mainland. Howe consequently determined to push on and 
effect a landing at East Chester. This he succeeded in doing on the 18th 
of October, after a sharp skirmish. The British army lay on its arms that 
night, with its left wing protected by a creek near East Chester, and its 
right near New Rochelle. The Americans, meanwhile, were making the best of 
their way to White Plains, where they took up a strong position and 
intrenched it. just at this juncture the Second Division of Hessians 
joined the rest of the army. It consisted of three thousand nine hundred 
and ninety-seven men, commanded by Lieutenant-General Wilhelm von 
Knyphausen, and had left Cassel early in May. The Waldeck regiment, six 
hundred and seventy strong, came with this division, as also the second 
company of chasseurs, under Captain Ewald. Thus the German corps under the 
command of General von Heister was brought up to about thirteen thousand 
four hundred men. The new division was left to hold New Rochelle during 
the British advance on White Plains.

Captain Ewald and his second company of chasseurs had not long to wait 
before coming into action. On the 23d of October, while attempting a 
reconnaissance, they were met by a superior force of riflemen, and would 
have been driven back had not the Highlanders come to their assistance. 
One lieutenant and six men were wounded, of whom four afterwards died of 
their wounds. This is the German account in Eelking's book. I will now 
give that of General Washington's aide-de-camp in his report to the 
President of Congress: "On Wednesday there was also a smart skirmish 
between a party of Colonel Hand's riflemen, about two hundred and forty, 
and nearly the same number of Hessian chasseurs, in which the latter were 
put to rout. Our men buried ten of them on the field, and took two 
prisoners, one badly wounded. We sustained no other loss than having one 
lad wounded, supposed mortally." (Washington, vol. iv. p. 524. The MS. 
journal of the Grenadier Battalion von Minnigerode gives Ewald's loss at 
four killed, three wounded, and two missing. I have not found any mention 
of this skirmish in Ewald's "Belehrungen.") This is about as near as such 
reports usually come to each other.

On the 28th of October, Sir William Howe found Washington's army 
advantageously posted behind the village of White Plains. It numbered 
somewhat more than thirteen thousand men, of whom about fifteen hundred 
occupied Chatterton Hill, on the extreme right of the American position, 
and were separated from the main body by the river Bronx. Sir William 
determined to attack this right wing. One English and two Hessian 
regiments, supported by the Hessian grenadiers, forded the Bronx and 
scaled the steep and rocky sides of the hill. The regiment Von Lossberg 
was obliged to charge through a burning wood, and to face the heaviest 
American fire. Its loss in killed and wounded was not far from fifty men. 
The result of the contest might have been doubtful, had not Colonel Rall, 
commanding his own regiment and that named after Knyphausen, also forded 
the Bronx, outflanked the Americans, and assisted the troops which were 
making the attack in front. The river was deep, and the Hessian soldiers 
hesitated to enter it. Lieutenants Wiederhold and Briede dashed in first 
to set them an example. We shall hear more of the former of these officers 
(See Wiederhold's MS diary. Unless Ewald is mistaken, Wiederhold, although 
still a lieutenant, cannot have been very young at this time. He had 
already distinguished himself in 1762. - Ewald's "Belehrungen," vol. iii. 
p. 130.) The second fell a few days later at the taking of Fort Washington.

Some of the Americans fought fairly well on this occasion, against much 
superior numbers. They had an undoubted advantage of position, and made 
good use of it, inflicting a loss of about two hundred and eighty killed 
and wounded on their enemy. Howe mentions in his despatches the good 
service done by the English and Hessian artillery. Heister's adjutant-
general says that the Hessian field- pieces made such a "thunder-storm" 
that one could neither see nor hear. The Americans had but three small 
cannon on the hill (For the action at White Plains: Bancroft, vol. ix. pp. 
181-183; Eelking's "Hulfstruppen," vol. i. pp. 71-77; Washington, vol. iv. 
pp. 526-529; MS journal of the Grenadier Battalion von Minnigerode; of the 
Regiment von Lossberg (Heuser); Wiederhold's Diary.)

The American army at this time was largely composed of militiamen, sent by 
the various states for short periods of service. These militiamen were in 
great measure ill-armed and in rags, undisciplined, and commanded by 
officers who had but a few months before left the desk or the plough. 
While some of these improvised officers were persons of character and 
talent, others possessed no merit but their ability to raise men. The men 
thus raised would consider and treat such an officer as an equal, "and, in 
the character of an officer," says Washington, "regard him no more than a 
broomstick." (Washington, vol. iv. p. 113.) Some of the Americans had 
distinguished themselves by deeds of valor, but, like all raw recruits, 
they were subject to panics, often entirely unreasonable. These facts must 
constantly be borne in mind, or the story of the Revolution becomes 
incomprehensible. Sir William Howe, on the other hand, commanded a 
regular, disciplined soldiery, scarcely to be surpassed in Europe, and 
provided with everything desirable for the conduct of a war.

For three days after the engagement at Chatterton Hill the armies stood 
facing each other and strengthened their fortifications. On the night of 
the 31st of October, Washington retreated to a strong position above White 
Plains, and Howe on the morrow, after harassing the American rear guard, 
turned his attention to a new scheme.

On the highest point of New York Island, where a hill rises two hundred 
and thirty-eight feet above the level of the Hudson, the Americans had 
built a fivesided earthwork and called it Fort Washington. The fort 
mounted thirty- four cannon, but without casemates. The ground about it 
was well suited for defense, and was occupied by smaller works of no great 
strength. The whole formed a barrier across the upper end of Manhattan 
Island, preventing the English from making any expedition by land, and 
rendering winter quarters in New York neither safe nor comfortable.

On the Jersey side of the Hudson, on top of the Palisades, opposite Fort 
Washington, stood Fort Lee. Between them, Putnam had undertaken to build 
an impassable barrier, that should close the river against the British. 
The works were under the immediate command of General Greene. On the 
morning of October 9th, however, the obstructions had been broken through 
and the forts passed by two British ships of forty-four guns each, a 
frigate of twenty guns, and three or four tenders, which had captured or 
destroyed two American row-galleys on the river (Bancroft, vol. ix. p. 
174; Washington, vol. iv. p. 148.) In view of these facts, Washington 
wished to abandon the fort named after himself, which was in danger of 
being surrounded. Greene was of the opposite opinion, and Congress shared 
the delusion of Greene. The authority of the commander-in-chief was so 
limited that he did not succeed in making his own views prevail. Instead 
of being withdrawn, the garrison of Fort Washington was strengthened, 
until Lieutenant-colonel Magaw, who commanded it, had nearly three 
thousand men under his orders. The ground to be occupied was two miles and 
a half long - from a line a little south of the present Trinity Cemetery 
to the hills above Tubby Hook - and included a redoubt on Laurel Hill 
(Bancroft, vol. ix. p. 189.)

It was on the 16th of November, 1776, that this fort was stormed by Sir 
William Howe's army. The attack was made simultaneously by four columns, 
advancing against four different points, but that which bore the brunt of 
the fighting, and to which the glory of the day belonged, was composed of 
Hessians under Knyphausen. This force crossed over to New York island by 
Kings Bridge at half-past five in the morning, and was divided into two 
columns, the right-hand one under Colonel Rall, the left under Major-
general Schmidt. In this column Wiederhold was with the advance guard. For 
a long time the Germans had to stand quiet, while the English columns got 
into position and began the attack. Meanwhile Cornwallis had taken the 
American battery on Laurel Hill. Earl Percy, with two English and one 
Hessian brigade, had threatened the American works on the south, and 
Colonel Sterling, with the Highlanders, had crossed Harlem River behind 
the force opposed to Percy, and threatened to cut off its retreat. In 
doing this the Highlanders had to charge up a steep bank, and lost about 
ninety men. Colonel Cadwalader, who commanded the Americans in this 
neighborhood, had been obliged to retreat, and his men, instead of 
rallying outside of Fort Washington itself, had rushed into the narrow 
enclosure, impeding the defensive operations of its proper garrison.

It was between ten and eleven o'clock. The moment for the Hessians to 
attack had come at last. They waded through a marsh, and climbed the 
precipitous, rocky hill on which the fort was built. In vain did the 
riflemen shoot them down. In vain did the artillery rain grape and ball 
among them. Knyphausen, himself, was continually in the thickest of the 
fight, "so that it is wonderful," writes Wiederhold, "that he came off 
without being killed or wounded." The ground was so steep in places that 
the men had to pull themselves up by the bushes. At last they reached the 
top, where there was a level space. "Forward, all my grenadiers!" cried 
Rall. The drums beat, the bugles blew, the men shouted Hurrah! Hessians 
and Americans were mingled in a mass, all rushing wildly towards the fort.

The outer works were taken, and their defenders driven back to add to the 
confusion in the main fort. Colonel Rall called one of his captains. 
"Hohenstein," said he, "you speak English and French; take a drummer with 
you, tie a white cloth on a gun-barrel, go to the fort and call for a 
surrender." "I did this at once," writes the captain, "but they kept 
firing at me and the drummer until we came to the glacis, where the rebels 
led us off with our eyes bound. They sent me a Colonel (Cadwalader.), who 
was second in command, to whom I made the following proposal: He should 
immediately march out of the fort with the garrison, and they should lay 
down their arms before General von Knyphausen. All ammunition, provisions, 
and whatever belonged to Congress should be faithfully made known. On the 
other hand, I gave him my word that all, from the commanding officer down, 
should retain their private property. Finally, a white flag should be 
immediately hoisted, to put a stop to all hostilities. The commander asked 
for four hours time to consider, which, however, I refused, and allowed 
him only half an hour to speak with his officers. When the half-hour was 
past the commander came himself, and his fate seemed hard to him. 
Thereupon he said: 'The Hessians make impossibilities possible.' I then 
said to him: 'General von Knyphausen is a hundred paces off. Come with me, 
on my safe conduct, and see if he will give you better terms.' He was 
contented with this and went with me."

To Knyphausen Magaw surrendered, in spite of a message from Washington, 
promising to attempt to bring off the troops, if he could hold out until 
night. The place, however, was untenable. The Germans lost fifty-six 
officers and men killed and two hundred and seventy-six wounded (MS 
journal of the Regiment von Lossberg (Heuser).) in the attack, the English 
more than one hundred and twenty. The Americans lost less than one hundred 
and fifty killed and wounded, but about twenty-eight hundred prisoners, 
among whom were some of their best soldiers. They also lost a good deal of 
artillery and many arms and accoutrements.

The quartermaster of the Grenadier Battalion von Minnigerode says, in 
speaking of this battle, that if it had not been for the prisoners, the 
loss of the Germans would have been far greater than that of the rebels, 
and that this is because of the manner in which the latter fight. They lie 
singly behind trees, bushes, stone walls, and rocks, shoot at long range 
and with certainty, and run away very fast as soon as they have fired. The 
Germans cannot shoot a third so far, and can still less catch them 
running, and the ground here is such that field artillery can seldom be 
brought up to an attack.

The Hessians are said to have given no quarter, during the charge, to the 
riflemen whom they found in the outworks and the woods. The Americans, 
many of whom must have seen this, were naturally uneasy at the time of the 
surrender. The popular imagination had made fiends of the Hessians. 
Captain von Malsburg relates that when he came into the fortress he found 
himself surrounded by officers with fear and anxiety in their faces. They 
invited him into their barracks, pressed punch, wine, and cold cakes upon 
him, complimented him on his affability, which seemed to astonish them, 
and told him they had not been led to expect such from a Hessian officer. 
They begged for his protection, and he, in return, lectured them on the 
sin of rebellion against their good king.

The garrison marched out between the regiments Rall and Lossberg, laid 
down their arms, and gave up their banners, which were yellow, white, and 
light blue. Knyphausen is said to have looked on these "with disdain." The 
attitude is characteristic of the Hessian feeling of the moment, and the 
American reader must find consolation in the fact that within six weeks 
the colors of the regiments Rall and Lossberg were in the hands of 
Washington's army.

The Hessians gained great credit by this action. Schmidt, Stirn, and Rall, 
and the troops under their command, were mentioned in general orders, and 
the captured fort was named Fort Knyphausen. No disgrace can attach to the 
Americans in the fort, who made a creditable resistance against great 
odds. The blame lies with those generals who insisted on holding the fort 
after the abandonment of the island by the main army under Washington, and 
after the obstructions in the Hudson had been passed by the British ships 
(For the taking of Fort Washington, see Washington's report; Washington, 
vol. iv. pp. 178-181; also, Bancroft, vol. ix. pp. 189-193; Eelking's 
"Hulfstruppen," vol. i. pp. 84-97; MSS Wiederhold's Diary, Journals of the 
Grenadier Battalion von Minnigerode, of the Regiment von Lossberg 
(Heuser), of the same (Piel), of the Regiments von Huyn and von Knoblauch.)