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.
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