Bruce E. Burgoyne

Waldeck Soldiers of the American Revolutionary War Bruce E. Burgoyne

f all the Hessian units employed by England during the American Revolutionary War, none traveled more widely than the 3rd English-Waldeck Regiment. This contingent of men served in the New York-New Jersey area, West Florida, and the Mississippi River area. They were held prisoner at various times in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New Orleans, Louisiana. Some deserters joined the American army and served under George Roger Clark in the Illinois country. In addition, the unit traveled to Jamaica, Cuba, Mexico, and Nova Scotia. This book contains brief biographies of every man who served from the eighteenth-century German principality of Waldeck as members of the 3rd English-Waldeck Regiment. There were 1225 men in the unit of which 470 have been identified as native Waldeckers. Of the total, about 500 returned to Waldeck after the war, 250 stayed in the New World as deserters or after being released from the regiment, and the others died in America, primarily of disease. These alphabetically arranged "mini-bios" contain the following information when available: birth date and place; year of travel to America; area traveled in America; highest rank attained; number of years of previous military service; whether the soldier was killed, died, deserted, remained in America, or returned to Germany. Personal information includes when available the soldier's height, parents' names, father's occupation, the soldier's occupation, religion, baptism and/or confirmation date, wife's maiden name and where she was from, and number of children. Also included are a brief history and organization of the regiment; a chronology of the events in which the regiment was involved; a list of alternate spellings of names; an index of names which differ from soldiers' surnames; bibliography; and maps of Pensacola, Florida, the New York area, and Waldeck.