Hessen-Kassel Military

Wednesday, January 28, 2026

The Ordeal of Captain Roeder: From the Diary of an Officer in the First Battalion of Hessian Lifeguards During the Moscow Campaign of 1812-13

The Ordeal of Captain Roeder: From the Diary of an Officer in the First Battalion of Hessian Lifeguards During the Moscow Campaign of 1812-13

The Ordeal of Captain Roeder: From the Diary of an Officer in the First Battalion of Hessian Lifeguards During the Moscow Campaign of 1812-13 is a personal narrative and translated diary of Captain Franz Roeder (1774–1840) edited and translated into English by Helen Roeder. Originally published in 1960 in London and New York by Methuen and St. Martin’s Press and later reprinted by Routledge (including a 2015/2016 edition of 258 pages in the Routledge Library Editions: Military and Naval History series), this work presents Roeder’s first-hand account of the First Battalion of Hessian Lifeguards during Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812–1813.

The book combines Roeder’s original diary with narrative framing by Helen Roeder to bring to life the grueling march to Moscow, the brutal Russian winter, the hardships of combat and retreat, and the heavy toll these events took on the Napoleonic Army, particularly the Hessian contingent. It includes chapters detailing the march, encampments, engagements, captures, imprisonment, and eventual return, making it both a compelling personal story and an important historical document on one of the most infamous campaigns of the Napoleonic Wars.

The Hessian Lieutenant Left His Name By Bennett, Gertrude Ryder

The Hessian Lieutenant Left His Name

By Bennett, Gertrude Ryder

The Hessian Lieutenant Left His Name by Gertrude Ryder Bennett is a historical study published in 1976 by Golden Quill Press and consists of 272 pages. The book centers on a tangible trace of the American Revolutionary War: an inscription left by a Hessian lieutenant on a window pane of a Dutch Colonial farmhouse in Brooklyn where Hessian officers were once quartered. Using this physical artifact as a point of departure, Bennett reconstructs aspects of Hessian presence in occupied New York, combining local architectural history, archival research, and broader discussion of German auxiliary troops in British service. The work blends microhistory with Revolutionary War scholarship, emphasizing how individual soldiers and small, material remnants can illuminate the wider experience of the Hessians in America.

Die Hessen in Amerika 1776-1783 by Auerbach, Inge

Die Hessen in Amerika 1776-1783 by Auerbach, Inge

Die Hessen in Amerika 1776–1783 by Inge Auerbach, published in 1996 by the Hessische Historische Kommission Darmstadt and the Historische Kommission für Hessen, is a substantial scholarly study comprising 423 pages with illustrations and maps. Issued as volume 105 of the series Quellen und Forschungen zur hessischen Geschichte, the book offers a source-driven examination of the Hessian auxiliary troops who served in North America during the American Revolutionary War. Rather than focusing solely on battlefield operations, Auerbach situates the deployment of Hessian forces within the political, military, and economic structures of the 18th-century German states, analyzing subsidy treaties and contemporary debates over so-called mercenary service. Drawing extensively on newspapers, pamphlets, letters, and soldiers’ personal accounts, she explores both American perceptions of the Hessians and the soldiers’ own experiences of unfamiliar landscapes, warfare, and civilian society. The study also addresses the broader consequences of the war for the Hessian territories after 1783, integrating military history with cultural and transatlantic analysis.

Saturday, June 7, 2025

Diary of Johann Christoph Doehlemann, Grenadier Company, Ansbach Regiment, March 1777 to September 1778

Diary of Johann Christoph Doehlemann, Grenadier Company, Ansbach Regiment, March 1777 to September 1778

2008 Journal of the Johannes Schwalm Historical Association Volume 10, ISBN No. 0939016-35-4.

Transcribed by Karl Walther, translated by Henry J. Retzer. Travel to the seacoast, ocean crossing, arrival at New York harbor, action in New Jersey, march to Philadelphia, and sailing back to New York.

The Unknown Marburger

The Unknown Marburger

2008 Journal of the Johannes Schwalm Historical Association

Volume 10, ISBN No. 0939016-35-4he Hessians: Journal of the Johannes Schwalm Historical Association.

The "Unknown Marburger"-Another Portrait of Jaeger Colonel von Wurmb Is Found, by Joern Meiners. A detective story of identifying a recipient of the Pour la vertu militaire order in a painting owned by the University of Marburg. The portrait is featured on the cover of the journal.

Tuesday, May 13, 2025

Correspondences From the Admiral Commanding the British Naval Base at Portsmouth to the Secretary of the Admiralty.

Portsmouth Admiral's Letters, 1780

Great Britain, The National Archives, Kew. Admiralty, Class 1 (ADM 1), vol. 965 (January-February 1780), vol. 966 (March-April 1780), vol. 969 (September-October 1780).

This collection of documents is composed of the correspondences from the admiral commanding the British naval base at Portsmouth to the Secretary of the Admiralty. They cover such topics as the transportation of German troops to America.

Also see:

Londahl-Smidt, Donald M. “Correspondence Between the Admiral Commanding at Portsmouth and the Secretary of the Admiralty Concerning German Troops, Part 1: March-June 1776.” The Hessians: Journal of the Johannes Schwalm Historical Association. 11 (2008)
Londahl-Smidt, Donald M. “Research Notes, 2013-2014.” The Hessians: Journal of the Johannes Schwalm Historical Association. 17 (2014): 36.
Londahl-Smidt, Donald M. “Research Notes, 2016-2017.” The Hessians: Journal of the Johannes Schwalm Historical Association. 20 (2017): 69.