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A Hessian Report on the People, the Land, the War - Eighteenth Century America (1776-1780)A Hessian Report on the People, the Land, the War - Eighteenth Century America - As Noted in the Diary of Chaplain Philipp Waldeck (1776-1780). Bruce E. Burgoyne. Paperback, copyright (1995), 2003, Index, 191, 205 pages.
A largely unexploited source of information on life in colonial America is to be found un the diaries of those German soldiers who came to America as the so-called 'Hessians' during the American Revolutionary War. Many of those men had never before been outside their own small village prior to sailing to America as auxiliaries in the employ of the English crown. Upon their arrival they found workmen who considered themselves, 'gentlemen equal to the governor'; New York, a city which several described as 'oriental'; slaves for whom they had much compassion as, 'they are human beings like we are'; and Indians about whom they were endlessly curious. Of all the diaries, that of Philipp Waldeck, chaplain of the 3rd English-Waldeck Regiment, contains the most thorough and all-encompassing view of life in America, as his entire diary is a record of the richness of the budding American nation. His descriptions are interesting, detailed, and on a wide variety of subjects: churches, costumes, customs, economics, farming, fishing, Indians, religion, schools, slavery, wildlife, and nature in general. The range of subject matter seems to be more than one man could have recorded. Readers will be thankful that Philip Waldeck was up to the task. Surnames include: Alberti, Austin, Bachstaedter, Barrington, Baumbach, Baylor, Beck, Bringhausen, Brumhard, Burgoyne, Byron, Cameron, Campbell, Chatham, Chester, Cleeman, Clinton, Cornwallis, D'Estaing, Deborre, Dickson, Drax, Durnford, Edgecomb, Faucitt, Ferguson, Fink, Frensdorf, Galvez, Gates, Gellert, Grant, Greenberg, Grimm, Hancock, Hausknecht, Heister, Heldring, Hillebrand, Hohmann, Holmes, Hotham, Howard, Howe, Indian, James I (King of England), Johnstone, Jones, Keppel, Klee, Knipschild, Knyphausen, Lafayette, Lee, Leonhardi, Ludwig, MacDonald, Madiford, Malone, Marc, Mattern, Mille, Montgomery, Moore, Mueller, Muhlenberg, Niel, Noelting, Nosehor, Osstin, Otto, Parker, Pentzel, Peter, Pfister, Philipse, Pigot, Prell, Prieur, Prince of Waldeck, Reuter, Richard, Robertson, Robinson, Robotson, Schmidt, Sebisch, SLave, Smallwood, Stein, Steuernagel, Stieglitz, Stierlein, Stoecker, Strubberg, Stuart, Sullivan, Symonds, Teigtmeyer, Thalitter, Ungar, Ursall, Vaughan, Vaughn, Volcke, Vonbaumbach, Vonbischhausen, Vonborck, Vondalwigk, Vonhaacke, Vonhanxleden, Vonheister, Vonhorn, Vonkitzel, Vonknyphausen, Vonleliva, Vonloewenfels, Vonmirbach, Vonsalsburg, Vonseitz, Vonselig, Vonspiegel, Vonstein, Vonstreit, Vonvoit, Vonwilmowsky, Wagner, Walker, Wallace, Walrond, Washington, Wiegand. B0252 |