Collections : [University of Michigan William L. Clements Library]

This collection is comprised of seventy muster rolls and 15 additional letters and documents of the German regiments employed by the British to fight in the American Revolutionary War.

This collection is comprised of seventy muster rolls and 15 related letters and documents of the German regiments employed by the British to fight in the American Revolutionary War. Most of the rolls are from 1781 and 1783 and include lists for soldiers captured at Yorktown. The rolls contain details such as the rank and names of the Hessians, casualties, and remarks, such as "sick in the Barracks." These rolls are certified by British commanding officers.

• Anhalt Zerbst army under Riedesel, Regiment Prinz Friedrich, Grenadier Battalion von Mengen, Regiment von Riedesel, Regiment von Specht.
• Hesse-Cassel. Grenadier Battalion vacant Graff; Grenadier Battalion von Loewenstein,Company von Biesenrodt, Company von Mondorff, Company von Wachs; Grenadier Regiment d'Angelelli, Leib Conmpany; Regiment von Bunau, Leib Company; Regiment Erb Prinz (4 folls for this list names of Hessians captured at Yorktown), Company von Cochenhausen, Company von Fuchs; Regiment von Lossberg, Jr., Company von Baurmeister, Company von Biesenrodt, Company von Romrod, Company von Wilmowsky, Leib Company.
• Hesse-Hanau. Artillery detachment under Pausch.
• Waldeck. Third Regiment, Company von Alberti, Company von Horn, Company von Penzel.

In addition to muster rolls is a copy of the treaty executed in 1776 between the Duke of Brunswick and George III for hiring German mercenaries. Also enclosed is a barrack account for the first regiment of Anspach troops during the winter of 1777-1778; several receipts, including three accounts submitted to the Great Britain Army Victualing Office (1786); an account of payments to foreign troops in America; and a statement from a surgeon named Pralle of the Bath infantry, certifying that several men belonged to Major General de Rhetz' regiment (1781). Documents are in English and German.

The King's American Regiment orderly book (308 pages) contains the regiment, brigade, and general headquarters orders kept by an anonymous officer in a New York Loyalist unit from December 1776 to November 12, 1777. Entries contain details on the regiment's organization and staffing, recruitment and provisioning, and on troop movements and military engagements.

The King's American Regiment orderly book (308 pages) contains the regiment, brigade, and general headquarter orders kept by an anonymous officer in a New York Loyalist unit from December 1776 to November 1777. Entries consist of details on the regiment's organization and staffing, recruitment and provisioning, promotions and appointments, courts martial and discipline, and on troop movements and military engagements. Headquarters and troop locations include camps in Long Island and in the Hudson River Valley: Flatbush, Jamaica, New Paltz, Oyster Bay, Flushing, Jericho, Kingsbridge, New York City, Turtle Bay, Staten Island, and Verplank's Point. General orders describe troop activities and provide member counts of several other regiments in the area, including the 7th, 26th, 35th, 38th, 52nd, 57th, 63rd, 71st, 2nd Battalion of DeLancey's Brigade, Regiment of Waldick, Prince of Wales Royal American Volunteers, General Tryon's Regiment, and Anthony Brown's Brigade, among others.

• March 16, 1777: Dismissal of all "negroes, mollatoes, and other Improper persons who have been admitted into these corps…[and to] prevent such Abuses in the future."
• July 8, 1777: Appointment of Major General Vaughan as commander of the British troops at Kings Bridge and was ordered to Canada
• July 10, 1777: Command of New York Island assumed by Lieutenant Henry Clinton
• August 24, 1777: Description of skirmishes and battles at Valentine's Hill, Satauket, and a surprise rebel invasion of Staten Island, which the 52nd Regiment, the Regiment of Waldick, and provincial corps defeated with "great Slaughter"
• September 6, 1777: The burial of Ensign McNeil of Colonel Campbell's regiment, and a description of the ceremony
• September 11, 1777: Incident of seven provincial soldiers who "broke into Abraham Purchases's house, last night about 12 oclock, abused the family, stole some fowls, and a Quantity of Potatoes out of his garden"
• September 21, 1777: Henry Clinton's orders against plundering civilian houses, and "the money arising from the Sale of Said articles, be transmitted to the Mayor of New York, to be applied to the relief of Poor in the Work house of that City."
• October 4, 1777: Reference to the Battle of Saratoga "remember that our Brother Soldiers Under the Commander in Chief, and Lieut Genl. Burgoyne, are undergoing the severest fatauges, which a little Exertion on our side may Considerably lighten"