07/05/2026
Food for thought!
"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."
These words in the declaration of independence, adopted by the so called "Continental Congress" 250 years ago today, are specifically referring to the German Auxiliaries who were hired to help Britain fight the growing rebellion in the colonies. Perhaps we are a little biased, but it does not seem to be a very accurate depiction of what was really happening in 1776.
For starters, the Germans were not mercenaries, which are individuals who fight for whoever will pay them. Instead they were "subsidientruppen" (support troops) who were regular members of their respective countries' militaries, and remained under the command of their own officers and sovereign, fighting as formal allies of Great Britain by treaty. The German soldiers received the same pay as the British, and the subsidy funds went to the government rather than directly to the Landgraf's pocket. Among other things, the subsidies were used to reduce taxes by 50% across the population and invest in a struggling textile industry. We'll discuss more on a later post about what was going on economically in Hessen-Kassel during this time!
The use of these auxiliaries was not, as the famous document implies, a particularly barbarous act of an uncivilized king. It was commonplace, and the colonies themselves had benefitted from it just a few decades earlier during the French and Indian war (called the Seven Years War in Europe). By hiring German troops to fight in continental Europe, Britain was free to send more regiments to North America to fend off attacks from the French and their native allies.
Britain wanted to end the war quickly to prevent furth chaos and rebellion; to do that she needed manpower. Hessen-Kassel and the other German nations were trying to recover from the desolation of the Seven Years War; to do that they needed money. Dynastic ties with the Hannoverian English kings and a long history of such alliances, coupled with a severe shortage of soldiers, made it seem like a no-brainer decision.
Were the Germans there to "compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny"? They certainly didn't think so, but if you read American newspapers you would see them being called "savage", "brutish", "barbarous", "lawless foreigners" who committed "massacres" and whose "sole object was plunder". A North Carolina member of the continental congress claimed "they spare neither men, women or children. Their General Heister says it is their way of warring, and can't be helped".
Compare that to what the orders, journals and letters actually said and you'll see a different picture. In the regiment von Mirbach order book it was commanded that "it is strictly forbidden...to break into houses for gain, and upon the least damage being reported, the colonel will hold the company responsible". From the Landgraf himself "for the sake of maintaining good order, as well as reducing the excesses and plundering, which has not entirely ceased, the lieutenant general will issue the strictest orders against that, and guilty persons are to be severely punished." General Heister, rather than excusing plundering and such crimes as "their way of warring" went out of his way to arrest a group of British light infantry who had pillaged a house and set fire to two others.
Once the Americans had experienced the Hessians up close the initial wave of propaganda began to fall apart. Aaron Burr wrote "Various have been the reports concerning the barbarities committed by the Hessians, most of them incredible and false". An American general wrote to the committee of safety that "I am not alone in assuring you that the inhabitants of Jersey of whom we had an opportunity of enquiring the Behaviour of the Hessian Troops declare that their Officers and Soldiers treated them in general with more Lenity, than those of the British Troops". Even Washington himself had kinder words for the Hessians than the British, remarking that American prisoners received "much kinder treatment from them, than from British officers and Soldiers".
Was there plundering and were there crimes? Absolutely. The recorded orders and punishments doled out to the perpetrators proves that it did happen, despite the efforts by German commanders. But were the Hessians particularly brutal and bloodthirsty? No, not really. So as you celebrate this 4th of July with Wurst and Hamburgers (both very German!), consider who writes the story and how both modern and historical groups have been demonized by other groups in power.
