[…] while over 60 percent of the “Hessians” came from Hessen, the other 40 percent hailed from all over the western and central Holy Roman Empire — roughly where Germany is today.
Also, these troops, Hessians and others, weren’t quite mercenaries. This is a tough one to swallow, and this misconception is even included in the Declaration of Independence. Don’t believe me? Imagine you are a soldier in the 1980s U.S. Army, serving in West Germany during the Cold War. You are stationed there because of longstanding agreements and alliances. The United States and the West German government have a financial understanding that helps provide for your stationing there. Are you a mercenary?
The situation was very similar for the German-speaking soldiers who fought in the American War of Independence, They had a longstanding relationship with Great Britain, stretching back decades. As a result of the Hanoverian succession in 1714 (the British royal family was drawn from Hanover), their leaders had marriage ties with Great Britain. Horace Walpole, a British politician from the 1730s, referred to the Hessians as the Triarii of Great Britain: its reliable last line of defense. These soldiers did not personally or corporately take on contracts from the British; they were members of their state militaries. Their governments were paid a subsidy by the British in order to fight in their wars.
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The princes of the western Holy Roman Empire lived in an incredibly dangerous world during the 18th century. Their territories were small, rural principalities, trapped between the military giants of France, Austria, and Prussia. As a result, from the 1670s on, 100 years before the American Revolution, these princes used subsidy contracts to build themselves larger armies. This preserved their independence. These subsidy contracts were a standard feature of European politics, diplomacy, and conflict resolution. They allowed the princes to better protect their small domains. None of the princes who formed subsidy contracts with Britain during the American War of Independence were doing something radically new or greedy. Instead, the money from subsidy contracts was often poured back into the army, in order to create a larger military to protect these small nations from the French.
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During the War of Independence, the Hessians once again behaved better than their British counterparts. Although there was a surge of fear about Hessian brutality early in the war, after the first few years of the fighting, American civilians believed that the subsidy troops treated them better than British soldiers did. The American soldier and future vice president Aaron Burr wrote of Hessian atrocities: “Various have been the reports concerning the barbarities committed by the Hessians, most of them [are] incredible and false.” Hessian troops committed crimes in America, there is no doubt. What is clear is that these crimes were not excessive for an 18th-century conflict.
During the War of Independence, the Hessians once again behaved better than their British counterparts. Although there was a surge of fear about Hessian brutality early in the war, after the first few years of the fighting, American civilians believed that the subsidy troops treated them better than British soldiers did. The American soldier and future vice president Aaron Burr wrote of Hessian atrocities: “Various have been the reports concerning the barbarities committed by the Hessians, most of them [are] incredible and false.” Hessian troops committed crimes in America, there is no doubt. What is clear is that these crimes were not excessive for an 18th-century conflict.
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The American army was justly pleased with the results of Washington’s counter-offensive. They had restored the army’s pride. This is sometimes used as shorthand for the story of American soldiers patriotically reenlisting after the battle. In this telling, victory on the battlefield motivated soldiers to stay. This is partially true. Washington and his subordinate commanders were desperately negotiating with their men to stay on and fight. But they still had a lot of convincing to do, even after the victory at Trenton.
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Lazy or essentialist thinking about “who we are” or who the enemy is rarely leads to accurate results. Instead, America’s enemies frequently make choices and policy decisions that make sense when they are understood in context. Far from being brutal drunken mercenaries, the Hessian soldiers George Washington faced down in December 1776 were professional soldiers with history and values of their own. Washington’s bold and innovative operational planning put them into a difficult situation, where despite their tactical acumen, they were captured.
From the article:
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