A Defence of the Hessians is a historical and argumentative work that seeks to justify and reinterpret the role of German auxiliary troops—commonly called “Hessians”—who served in British pay during the American Revolutionary War.
The text addresses the long-standing controversy surrounding the use of soldiers from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, who were hired by Britain under subsidy agreements. In American revolutionary rhetoric, these troops were often portrayed as “mercenaries,” and the work directly responds to that characterization.
A central theme is the argument that Hessian forces were legitimate auxiliary troops operating under formal treaties between sovereign states, rather than irregular or lawless mercenaries. The work emphasizes that such military contracts were a normal feature of 18th-century European warfare.
The author also highlights the professional discipline and battlefield performance of Hessian units, noting their training, organization, and effectiveness in several major campaigns of the war, including operations around New York and other theaters of British operations.
In addition, the work engages with the moral and political debate surrounding foreign troop usage, countering American revolutionary criticism by situating Hessian service within the broader norms of dynastic and state warfare in the 18th century.
