"The Battle of Bennington – How a Little-Known Frontier" Topic

…Clash Altered the Course of the Revolutionary War

"DURING THE afternoon of Aug. 16, 1777, the skies finally cleared over the small town of Hoosick, New York after two days of heavy rain.

Eyeing one another across a few hundred yards of open ground, several hundred Hessian troops in the service of Great Britain and a contingent of Rebel New Hampshire militia commanded by General John Stark checked their powder, loaded their muskets and prepared to do battle…"
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Amicalement
Armand

They weren't Hessians. They were Brunswick troops.
So immediately they show that they don't know what they're talking about. No need to read further.
Overly dramatic bilge water.

An interesting article, Tango. I cannot imagine having to hack roads out of dense forests and then move 130 artillery pieces and supporting trains along them.

Wasn't "Hessian" the generic term for a German mercenary regardless of origin?

Wasn't "Hessian" the generic term for a German mercenary regardless of origin?

Only from the 1790's on, among the ignorant. And it's inexcusable in a site that presents itself as serious history.

From The Journal of the American Revolution" 8/19/04

Landgrave Fredrick II of Hesse-Cassel was the son in law of King George II, giving him a valuable family tie to the Hanovers.[4] The Landgrave's ancestors had been involved in every major conflict Great Britain found itself in with its roots going back to the Nine Years War (1688-97).[5] It is also worth noting that the British brought in soldiers from other parts of the Holy Roman Empire as well, those being the principalities of Brunswick, Anspach-Bayreuth, Waldeck, and Anhalt-Zerbst, as well as Hesse-Hanau.[6] However, because of the Landgrave's peacetime buildup of troops, political ties, and reputation, Hesse-Cassel was the main source of troops, hence the colonists donning them with the broad nickname ‘Hessians.'

Looks like a lot of ignorance out there.

"and a contingent of Rebel New Hampshire militia "

Including one of my distant relatives… :-)

Bennington was a definite success, but it didn't alter the course of the war by itself. The entire campaign did as a British army was forced to surrender and opened the door for French intervention and alliance.

Bennington was a setback in a flawed campaign.
With Howe swanning off to Philadelphia, instead of linking up with Burgoyne, his whole campaign was rendered pointless.
The Bennington expedition was supposed to garner supplies, including mounts for the Brunswick Dragoons. No, they did not clomp through the wilderness wearing 20 pound dragoon boots. That's a silly myth from the early days, designed to make the British and Brunswick army look bad. In reality, foraging for food and cattle was more urgent.
The expedition failed, Burgoyne's army lost around 10% of its strength and they garnered no supplies.
It was merely one more failure in a flawed campaign. It didn't turn the course of the war, but it's a fun battle to game as I did. I even included the famous, probably mythical Band.

There's a lot of mythology associated with Bennington. Some may be true, some not.

What, some random blog spammed to TMP isn't correct? Alert the authorities!

But … they were Hessians or not?… (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

No. They were not Hessians. They were Brunswickers.

ok

Amicalement
Armand

Braunschweig.

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If you slip into calling the Brunswick troops with Burgoyne "Hessians", there is some contemporary support from the Northern Army. In writing to Washington on August 19, 1777 Schuyler reported the following numbers of prisoners captured at Bennington: "1 Lieut. Colo. 1 Major, 5 Captains 12 Lieutenants 4 Ensigns, 2 Cornets, 1 Judge Advocate 1 Baron, 2 Canadian Officers & 3 Surgeons, 37 British Soldiers, 398 Hessians, 38 Canadians & 151 Tories". There were a few men from Hesse Hanau present but the bulk of those "Hessian" prisoners were Brunswickers.

Bill N, great find! Schuyler probably knew the difference, but perhaps the broader term would have been used anyway, for propaganda purposes. The Kiss rule (Keep It Simple, Stupid) applies when writing for a mass audience.

I know a good source when I steal it doc. founders.archives.gov is a great source for annotated primary documents with a decent search engine doc.

Thanks, I will remember that.

The inaccurate term 'Hessians' for all of the assorted Germans hired by the British to fight in North America has been done since the greater majority of the Germans came from Hesse Cassel.

There are quite a few good books on the German mercenaries available:

-Diary of the American War by Johann Ewald.

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-Georg Pausch's Journal.

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-The Hessians: Mercenaires from Hessen-Kassel in the American Revolution by Rodney Atwood.

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Enemy Views: The American Revolutionary War as Recorded by the Hessian Participants by Bruce Burgoyne.

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Order Book of the Hesse-Cassel von Mirbach Regiment by Bruce Burgoyne.

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The 3d English-Waldeck Regiment in the American Revolution by Bruce Burgoyne.

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-A Hessian Diary of the American Revolution by Conrad Dohla.

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-Hessians: Mercenaries, Rebels, and the War for British North America.

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-A Hessian Officer's Diary of the American Revolution by Johann Ernst Prechtel.

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-The Hessians by Edward Lowell which also includes The Voyage of the First Hessian Army by A Pfister and Popp's Journal by Stephen Popp.

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The German units in Burgoyne's army as of 1 July 1777 were:

Left Wing commanded by Major General Friedrich Adolph von Riedesel.

1st Brigade commanded by Brigadier General Friederich J Specht:

-Battalion companies of the Brunswick infantry regiments Rhetz, Specht, and Riedesel.

2d Brigade commanded by Brigadier General WR von Gall:

-Battalion companies of the Brunswick infantry regiment Prince Frederic.

-Hesse-Hanau Infantry Regiment Erbprinz.

Corps de Reserve commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Heinrich Breymann:

-Brunswick Grenadier Battalion.

-Brunswick Light Infantry Battalion von Barner.

-Brunswick Dragoon Regiment Prinz Ludwig.

Artillery:

Captain Georg Pausch's brigade of Hesse-Hanau artillery comprised of six 6-pounders and two 3-pounders

The Hesse-Hanau Jagers (342 all ranks) were assigned to St Leger's command. The strength of the German troops assigned to Burgoyne's command was 3,217 minus the 650 left in Canada.

Source: The Battles of Saratoga by John Elting, pages 87-89.

They were Brunswick troops.

Not all of them. There was a 'brigade' of Hesse-Hanau artillery as well as a Hesse-Hanau infantry regiment. And the Hesse-Hanau jagers were also in theater, though not assigned to Burgoyne.

I cannot imagine having to hack roads out of dense forests and then move 130 artillery pieces and supporting trains along them.

Wasn't most of the artillery moved by water which is why the lakes and the Hudson river were used by Burgoyne and his army?

Burgoyne's artillery consisted of 138 long guns, howitzers, and mortars, and all but 48 were either sent north by water back to Canada or remained at Fort Ticonderoga after that place was captured. The ordnance was loaded on the warship Royal George for transportation to Canada.

Interestingly, few of the guns in the army ever went into action at all.

Source: The Battles of Saratoga by John Elting, pages 20 and 87.
Burgoyne's artillery consisted of the following pieces:

-16 heazvy 24-pounders.
-2 light 24-pounders.
10 heavy 12-pounders.
8 medium 12-pounders.
1 light 12-pounder
26 light 6-pounders
17 light 3-pounders.
6 8-invh howitzers.
6 5.5-inch howitzers.
2 13-inch mortars.
2 10-inch mortars.
6 8-inch mortars.
12 5.5-inch mortars.
24 4.4-inch coehorn mortars.