The small German states of the Holy Roman Empire had professional armies, which their ruling princes sometimes hired out for service with other armies as auxiliaries. The use of German troops to suppress a rebellion in the British colonies angered American activists, and one of the 27 colonial grievances against King George III in the Declaration of Independence was "transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries". The Hessians were led by Wilhelm von Knyphausen, entering British service as entire units, fighting under their own German flags, commanded by their usual officers, and wearing their existing uniforms. The term Hessians is used by Americans to refer to all German troops fighting on the British side, a form of synecdoche, as 65% came from the German states of Hesse-Kassel and Hesse-Hanau, while the remainder were leased from other small German states. Around 30.000 German soldiers fought for the British during that conflict, a quarter of the troops sent to British America. Hessians were contracted by the throne of Great Britain and others in several 18th-century European wars, including the Irish Rebellion of 1798, but are most widely associated with the American Revolution. By this distinction, the troops which served in the American Revolution were auxiliaries. Well enough ado about nothing, here are a few photo's of what I have done so far (by the way you would think these bad boys would paint up faster because you can see everything better, not so, more area to cover with paint certainly slowed me down).Hessians were German soldiers who most notably served as auxiliaries to the British Army during the American Revolutionary War.Īlthough characterized in American popular narratives as mercenaries, jurists of the time drew a distinction between auxiliaries and mercenaries: auxiliaries served their prince and were sent to the aid of another prince, while mercenaries served a foreign prince as individuals. Then fell off the band wagon until recently when I have begun reading "1776" by David McCullough, which so far has been a superb read. I had actually gotten these figures last year or so when I was reading "Washington's Crossing" by David Hackett Fischer.
It should be fun, but like all my projects of late will see what happens. My idea is to recreate the battle of Trenton, using Sharpes Practice using the AWI supplement (This land Divided, and With Fire and Sword). I just love the orange facings (maybe because it's my favorite color) and red lining on this Prussian blue uniform. The unit I am painting up is Fusilier Regiment Von Lossberg during 1776. I have to say that at the end of the day I was in high spirits and though I am a terribly slow painter, I placed paint on 20 of these bad boys. I had set my alarm to arise early, took care of my dogs, had a hearty breakfast, and then sat down for the next several hours slapping paint on some Hessian 40mm AWI figures by Trident (Miniature Service Center in California carries them).
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