Hessian Soldiers

Background
The term Hessian Soldiers generally refers to German auxiliary troops hired by Great Britain to fight in the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783) alongside British troops. At the commencement of the war, King George III of Great Britain needed additional troops to increase his fighting power. Former allies were contacted for help, and, following a common practice at the time, auxiliary troops from foreign countries were hired. The following six principalities within the Holy Roman Empire signed treaties with Great Britain to provide troops for the war: Hesse-Cassel, Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Hesse-Hanau, Ansbach-Bayreuth, Waldeck and Anhalt-Zerbst. Over the course of the war, a total of about 30,000 troops came to North America. More than half of these came from Hesse, which led to all auxiliary troops being refereed to as Hessians, regardless of their true state of origin. It is estimated that of the roughly 30,000 Hessians who came to America, about 6,000 either deserted or were discharged and remained in the United States and Canada after the war. About 2,500 settled in Canada, the majority in Quebec and some also in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and present-day Ontario. The remainder settled in the United States, anywhere from the Canadian border south to Florida. Many settled in German-speaking areas in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, and the Carolinas.

Online Records

 * German Auxiliaries Muster Rolls, 1776-1786 9bulk 1781-1783) at William L. Clements Library - images; includes select muster rolls and other documents
 * at FamilySearch — images; includes muster rolls

Hesse-Cassel, Hesse-Hanau, and Waldeck Troops Brunswick Field military parish registers
 * U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s at Ancestry - index, ($)
 * Hessian Troops in America (HETRINA)
 * 1776-1783 Baptisms, marriages, burials, marriages index B-S and burials index A-Z 1776-1783 at Archion - images, ($); Infantry regiment von Riedesel
 * 1776-1783 Baptisms 1778-1781, baptisms index B-W 1776-1783 at Archion - images, ($); Infantry regiment von Riedesel
 * 1776-1783 Prince Friedrich Regiment with six companies: Baptisms, marriages and burials 1776-1783 at Archion - images, ($); includes companies von Stammer, Praetorius, von Hille, von Tunderfeld, Dietrichs, and von Zielberg.
 * 1776-1777 Dragoon Regiment: Baptisms, burials, communicants and marriages 1776-1777, von Berner Battalion: Baptisms, burials and marriages 1776-1777 at Archion - images, ($)

Genealogies and Biographies Compiled by Others
Biographies and research summaries of many soldiers can be found in the following resources:


 * Johannes Schwalm Historical Association Registry of Researched Soldiers; includes brief biographies of soldiers who remained in North America
 * American Revolution Hessian (AMREV-HESSIAN) mailing list; list of soldiers researched by members

Soldiers who settled in Canada
 * PDF (Personal Data Files) On Hessians; a selection of files of information about individual soldiers compiled by Johannes Helmut Merz
 * DeMarce, Virginia Easley. The settlement of former German auxiliary troops in Canada after the American Revolution Sparta, Wisconsin: Joy Reisinger, c.1984..
 * Merz, Johannes Helmut. The Hessians of Upper Canada. Hamilton, Ontario: German Canadian Historical Book Pub., c.1997..
 * Merz, Johannes Helmut. The Hessians of Nova Scotia Hamilton, Ontario: German Canadian Historical Book Pub., c.1994..

Name Lists
Soldiers who settled in Canada
 * DeMarce, Virginia Easley. An annotated list of 317 former German soldiers who chose to remain in Canada after the American Revolution. DeMarce, 1981..
 * Merz, Johannes Helmut. Register of German military men who remained in Canada after the American Revolution. Hamilton, Ontario: German Canadian Historical Book Pub., 1997. . Digital version at FamilySearch Digital Library.