The Ancient Barracks at Fredericktown: Where Hessian Prisoners Were Quartered During the Revolutionary War by Lucy Leigh Bowie (Frederick, Maryland, 1939) is a local historical study describing the use of barracks facilities in Fredericktown (present-day Frederick, Maryland) for the confinement of captured German troops during the American Revolutionary War.
The work focuses on the detention of prisoners taken from the forces commonly referred to as “Hessians,” drawn from the Electorate of Hesse and other German states serving under British command. These prisoners were held in interior American locations after capture in various campaigns, and Fredericktown served as one of several inland sites used for temporary or extended confinement.
Bowie’s account describes the physical structure of the barracks, their adaptation for military imprisonment, and the conditions under which prisoners were housed. It situates the site within the broader American wartime system for handling prisoners of war, including issues of supply, security, and local interaction between captives and civilian populations.
A notable aspect of the study is its reliance on local tradition, regional records, and earlier historical writings to reconstruct the presence of Hessian prisoners in Fredericktown. The narrative emphasizes the town’s role in the logistical infrastructure of the Revolutionary War rather than battlefield events, focusing instead on the post-capture phase of military operations.
Published in 1939 and printed at the Maryland State School for the Deaf, the work reflects early 20th-century American local history scholarship, which often sought to preserve regional sites and stories associated with the Revolutionary era. It contributes to the historical record by documenting one of the inland locations used to detain German auxiliary soldiers captured during the conflict.
