All of us learned about the Declaration of Independence in school, but there is an often overlooked line towards the bottom of the document that is rarely discussed. As one of many justifications for severing ties with Great Britain, the Americans railed against the king, saying:
“He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation” (1).
This single line contains the seed of a remarkable story, and one that sprouts some basic questions - just who were these “foreign Mercenaries” the Americans were furious about, and why were they coming to fight in North America?
Who were they?
The “foreign Mercenaries” mentioned in the Declaration were German soldiers, but they are commonly known as Hessian Mercenaries. To understand who they were, it’s easiest to explain who they were not - they were not all Hessians, nor were they mercenaries. Mysterious indeed!
German soldiers that fought in the American Revolution came from six different principalities within the Holy Roman Empire, which later became Germany in 1871. Because the vast majority of German soldiers came from Hessen-Kassel, all German soldiers during the war were collectively (and inaccurately) labeled as Hessians, and the name stuck. The following chart lists how many soldiers came from each principality (2).
Principality | Troops sent to North America |
Hessen-Kassel | 16,992 |
Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel | 5,723 |
Hessen-Hanau | 2,422 |
Ansbach-Bayreuth | 2,353 |
Waldeck | 1,225 |
Anhalt-Zerbst | 1,160 |
Total | 29,875 |
Below is a map of the Holy Roman Empire in 1789, illustrating the dozens of small principalities ruled by princes, dukes, and landgraves. The six principalities that sent German troops to North America from 1776-1783 are indicated on the map.
So it’s inaccurate to call these German soldiers Hessians, and we also can’t call them mercenaries. The term mercenary had and continues to have a negative connotation, and it fits more of a soldier-of-fortune model, where a person agrees to fight for a profit in excess of what was promised to them. However, all German soldiers during the American Revolution served as legitimate soldiers in organized military units of a prince’s army. German princes then “rented” these armies to Great Britain for a hefty price tag. German soldiers received the same pay as British troops, no more and no less. As official soldiers in their princes’ armed forces serving under British command, these men are more accurately described as “auxiliary troops” rather than mercenaries (3).
Where did they fight?
If you put your finger on any random location of the American Revolution, German auxiliary troops were very likely there. They set foot as far north as Canada and Nova Scotia, in each of the 13 colonies, as well as Florida, Louisiana, Mexico, Cuba, and Jamaica (4).
Every major campaign saw the use of German soldiers, from New York to Saratoga to Yorktown. Though many did die in combat, the vast majority of German soldiers perished from disease or accidents, as seen in the chart below (5).
Total Number of German Troops, 1776-1781 | 30,000 |
Died in combat or from wounds | 1,200 |
Died from accident or disease | 6,300 |
Survived the War | 22,500 |
When compared to the number of British soldiers, German troops made up about 1/3 of all British forces in 1778, reaching as high as 37% by 1781 (6). This helps to explain why the American Revolution lasted from 1776-1783. Had the British fought only with their own soldiers, it would have been impossible for them to have carried on the conflict for that long. Even though the British lost, the use of German soldiers allowed them to prolong the war.
What happened to them?
At the end of the war, most German soldiers gathered in New York and Quebec to prepare for the long voyage home. What’s interesting is that of the 22,500 who survived, records indicate that only 17,500 boarded ships back to Europe. This was not a clerical error - the missing 5,000 chose to remain in the United States and build a new home in a country that they had initially fought to destroy (7).
The story of German soldiers in the American Revolution is a truly remarkable one. Telling this story will take us to well known locations such as Washington crossing the Delaware, but also to far flung corners of the conflict in West Florida and the Mississippi River Valley. I invite you to join me on this journey by reading my series of articles called The Hessians (8). Let’s discover together, who were these people? Why were they here? What did they do?
Overall, The Hessians shall seek to tell the story of the American Revolution from a German perspective, so that we might better understand how these soldiers perceived themselves and their roles within the larger story of the United States.
Achtung! Feuerbereit!
Stay tuned for our next article, which will explain the details of why and how Great Britain was so desperate for soldiers, and why German princes were willing to provide them.
Sources & Notes
Declaration of Independence
Figures in this chart come from Lowell, Edward. The Hessians. 2016 Edition. 17.
Atwood, Rodney. The Hessians. Cambridge University Press, 1980. 22-23.
Map accessed from the West Point Digital History Center
Lowell, 178-179.
Atwood, 257.
Crytzer, Brady. Hessians. Westholme Publishing, 2023. 274-275.
Even though the term “Hessians” is inaccurate to describe all German soldiers in the Revolution, since it was what they were called at the time, I will use that name for the title of my series.
This is awesome! I had no idea that the American revolution was essentially fought by non-Brits!
Fascinating! Such an informative and eye opening article about a subject most Americans know very little of, myself included. Thank you for your detailed research, especially how the war was prolonged because of the Hessian soldiers. I learned a great deal from reading your post.