The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1915-02-06
When the Germans Fought Battles
Under the Flag of Great Britain

arc now locked in a death struggle. n
was not SO very long ago that German
troops fought under the banner OF
england. In the period of the Ameri-
can revolution, when the spirit Of
democracy was abroad in the earth,
many German states were still in the
dark ages of despotism. and the sub
1ects Of their rulers were slaves, to
DC brought and sold like cattle, In
England there was no particular en-.
thusiasm about the rebellion in
America, and Englishmen manifested
no eagerness to cross the seas to
tight men Of their own blood. In the
crisis the London government turned
to Germany, where the rulers still
sold their subjects to other nations.
and made q profit on every man who
was slain.
One OF the most remarkable docu.
ments In existence Is a letter from
the ruler OF Hesse.Cassel to Baron
Won Hohendorff. the commander in
chief Of the Hessian troops who had
been sold to England for service in
America. This communication bears
date Of February 2, 1777, but It Is
almost impossible to believe that sucn
an exhibition of utter heartlessness
could have been displayed SO late as
1888 years ago.
The sovereign prince of Hesse had
entered into an arrangement whereby
he received from S75lto Sis per man
for the 16,9s2 soldiers sold to Eng
land. with the added provision that
the price waste be $3.50 for each man
killed in battle. It was therefore to
the financial advantage Of the Hessian
ruler that his men be slain, and he
was not backward in expressing the
hope that the fatalities OF his Ameri-
can army would be large.
In the letter in question the Prince
expressed great Joy at the welcome
intelligence that out, Of the 1850 Hes
SLAMS engaged In the battle Of Tren-
ton 1850 fell, but added that he was
greatly annoyed by the fact that the
statement given him by the English
minister showed casualty list OF
only 1,455. He expressed a hope that
the larger figure was correct, and CON
Guided his letter asfollows:
Remember that out OF the 300
Spartans who defended Thermopylae
not one returned to tell the tale. ]
would be happy I'LL could say the
same Of my brave Hessians. Tell Ma
tor Mindorff that l am exceeJ ngly
displeased with his conduct because
he saved the 800 men who fled from
Trenton. During the entire campaign
ten Of Mindorff's men have fallen
Hesse was not the only German
state to sell its soldiers. England at
that period also purchased 5;723 men,
from the Duke Of Brunswick, 2,422
from the Prince of Hanau, 1874 from
the Count Of Ansbach, 1,125 from the
Prince of Waldeck and 1,060 from
the Prince OF Anhalt.zerbst, in addi.
ton to the 1899 Hessians. OF these
the records show that 1883 were
killed.
In the United States opprohrium
still attaches to the nameIofs Hessian.
which was a-plied to all the German
troops sent to America, and .hired
Hessian" Is still a favorite simile to
express the lowest infamy. While the
heartless rulers who profiteds from the
slaughter of their subjects cannot be
too harshly characterized, the men.
themselves were little better than.
slaves, who could not do otherwise
than their masters directed! Torn
iruthlessly from their homes, with
scarcely time to say goodbye to their
loved ones, the Hessians were driven