Waldeck made a treaty to rent troops to Britain on 20 April 1776. Prince Friedrich Karl August of Waldeck kept three regiments ready for paid foreign service. The first of these regiments, with 684 officers and men, sailed from Portsmouth in July 1776 and participated in the New York campaign. During the campaign the Waldeck regiment captured wine and spirits belonging to American General Lee and were embittered towards the British General Howe when he made them empty the bottles by the roadside.