From a letter of a Hessian officer, dated Chatham, 21 January
I am fortunate to be able to write from a country where the distance is not as great as America.
Our embarkation in New York took place on the 21st of November. The last division included the Jägers, Donop, and Jung-Losberg, as well as parts of the artillery and the Grenadier Battalion of the Erbprinz regiment. General von Wurmb was present with part of the Erbprinz regiment. The complete evacuation of the city took place on the same day.
Three English regiments were still present and embarked that same morning. The remaining ships arrived one after another. We received orders to proceed to Chatham, where we arrived on the 5th of January and were quartered in the barracks here. At present, Grenadiers are stationed here.
A full description of the voyage to Halifax would take too much time, and I cannot at present recount the many dangers we were exposed to during this winter journey.
The ship on which Battalion von Linsing was embarked, together with Colonel von Romrod’s regiment (Prince Carl), three companies of artillery, and twelve officers of the Grenadier Battalion, was a supply transport vessel. The Erbprinz and Donop units, as well as the remainder of the regiment, were also aboard.
This ship, although armed, was not under convoy command and therefore sailed independently. The other ships were under separate command. As a result, the vessels became dispersed during the voyage.
We followed orders to proceed to Chatham and arrived there on the 5th of January, where we were quartered in the barracks.
Many ships, including those under Colonel von Wurmb, General von Gosen, and Colonel Seyboth, were at first believed lost. However, they safely arrived in Portsmouth, where the Hessian headquarters is located. Colonel von Wurmb unexpectedly also arrived there with his Jägers and was quartered.
Only one hospital ship is still missing, and it is unfortunately believed that it no longer exists.
The reason for the dispersion of the regiments is that, during the severe storms—too great to describe—they were forced to seek whatever harbor they could find.
How long our stay here will last cannot yet be determined; it will depend mainly on the weather.
