Johannes Schwalm (1749-1834), one of the Hessian soldiers contracted for by George III to fight American revolutionists during the Revolutionary War, was imprisoned twice by the Americans, and remained in the United States when the war was over. He married Margaret Resh in 1785 and settled in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. Descendants lived in most of the United States.

This unique diary, written by one of the thirty thousand Hessian troops whose services were sold to George III to suppress the American Revolution, is the most complete and informative primary account of the Revolution from the common soldier's point of view. Johann Conrad Döhla describes not just military activities but also events leading up to the Revolution, American customs, the cities and regions that he visited, and incidents in other parts of the world that affected the war. He also evaluates the important military commanders, giving readers an insight into how the enlisted men felt about their leaders and opponents. Private Döhla crossed the Atlantic Ocean in 1777 as a private in the Ansbach-Bayreuth contingent of Hessian mercenaries. His American sojourn began in June 1777 in New York. Then, after several months on Staten Island and Manhatten, the Ansbach-Bayreuth regiments traveled to the thriving seaport of Newport, Rhode Island, where they spent more than a year before the British forces evacuated the area. The Ansbach-Bayreuth regiments returned briefly to the New York New Jersey area before they were sent to reinforce the English command in Virginia. Eventually Döhla participated in the battle of Yorktown—of which he provides a vivid description—before enduring two years as a prisoner of war after Cornwallis's surrender. Bruce E. Burgoyne has provided an accurate translation, helpful notes for scholars and general readers, and an introduction on the Ansbach-Bayreuth regiments and the history of Johann Conrad Döhla and his diary. This first edition of the diary in English will delight all who are interested in the American Revolution and the thirteen original colonies.

Between 1776 and 1783, Britain hired an estimated 30,000 German soldiers to fight in its war against the Americans. Collectively known as Hessians, they actually came from six German territories within the Holy Roman Empire. Over the course of the war, members of the German corps, including women and children, spent extended periods of time in locations as dispersed and varied as Canada in the North to West Florida and Cuba in the South. They shared in every significant British military triumph and defeat. Thousands died of disease, were killed in battle, were captured by the enemy, or deserted. Collectively, they recorded their experiences and observations of the war they fought in, the land they traversed, and the people they encountered in a large body of letters, diaries, and similar private and official records. Friederike Baer presents a study of Britain's war against the American rebels from the perspective of the German soldiers, a people uniquely positioned both in the midst of the war and at its margins. The book offers a ground-breaking reimagining of this watershed event in world history.

During the American Revolution (1775–83), German auxiliary troops provided a vital element of the British war effort. Some 30,000 German troops served in North America, continuing a long-established relationship between Britain and various German principalities. These troops were widely referred to as mercenaries, implying that they sold their services individually, but they were in fact regular troops hired as a body by the British. Initially feared by the American population, the German troops came to be highly respected by their opponents. Their role in the fighting would inform the tactics and methods of a generation of German officers who returned to Europe after the war, many of whom went on to hold senior commands during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. The largest body of German troops was from Hessen-Cassel. The only German contingent to be employed as a unit under its own general officers, they were clothed and equipped in the style of Frederick the Great's Prussians and were trained in much the same way. Many had seen active service during the Seven Years' War (1756–63) and served under career officers; they were well-disciplined and competent but showed little overt enthusiasm for the British cause. The troops of Hessen-Cassel would participate in every major campaign of the conflict, with the specialized skills of the famous Jäger being particularly in demand. Fully illustrated, this lively study examines the organization, appearance, weapons, and equipment of the Hessen-Cassel troops who fought for King George in the American Revolution.