This diary captures the firsthand experiences of Hans Ephraim von Stamford, a Hessian officer, during the ill-fated campaign of 1792. Written amidst the march and the aftermath of battle, his entries preserve the raw impressions of a soldier witnessing the collapse of the Allied war effort against Revolutionary France.
Stamford, a veteran of the American War of Independence, belonged to the seasoned Hessian regiments whose discipline stood in stark contrast to the disarray of their coalition allies. His observations reveal the gradual shift from confidence to despair as superior tactics succumbed to the relentless fervor of the French levies.
Carried in the breast pocket of his uniform, the small leather-bound book bears the marks of the unforgiving autumn rains of 1792. Despite faded ink and hurried abbreviations, this faithful reproduction allows modern readers to glimpse the realities of war through the eyes of a soldier who endured it.
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