Hesse-Kassel and British Army
After the war broke out in 1775, the British government realized that it would need more troops than it could raise on its own to fight the war, so it sought to hire troops from willing third parties in Europe. All of these hired troops came from German principalities of the Holy Roman Empire. The single largest contingent, with more than 12,000 arriving in North America in 1776, came from the Landgraviate of Hessen-Kassel. The garrison that was quartered at Trenton was a brigade of about 1,400 men, almost all from Hesse-Kassel, under the command of Colonel Johann Rall. The brigade was composed of three regiments, each of which had an artillery company attached. Also included in the brigade were a company of Hessian Jäger (basically light infantry) and a small company from the British 16th (Queen's) Light Dragoons.
The Hessian regiments were named for their formal commanding officers. Since many general officers were also commissioned as colonels of regiments, they were often not present with the regiment, or were busy with their other duties even if the regiment fell under their higher-level command. Since Rall commanded the entire brigade, his regiment's operations were directed by its lieutenant colonel, as were the regiments of Lieutenant Generals Wilhelm von Knyphausen and Friedrich Wilhelm von Lossberg, the second and third ranking general officers in the North American forces of Hesse-Kassel after Lieutenant General Leopold Philip von Heister.
The information in this table is based primarily on the reports of surviving Hessian officers submitted during inquiries into the disaster demanded by Frederick II, the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, with some estimates provided by David Hackett Fischer and other historians. The reported strengths do not include the 28 regimental officers. The casualty figures are from an official Hessian return (a formal report on the unit's strength) that also does not include officers. Officers killed or who died of their wounds included Col. Johann Rall and Maj. Friedrich von Dechow, the acting commander of the Knyphausen regiment.
| Hessian and British units | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit | Commander | Unit size | Casualties | Notes |
| Rall's Brigade | Lt. Col. Johann Rall | 1,354 | 17 killed 78 wounded 868 captured |
|
| Grenadier Regiment Rall | Lt. Col. Balthasar Brethauer(acting) | 512 | 12 killed 10 wounded 290 captured |
This regiment was the "regiment of the day" and had consequently been on alert. It was part of a counterattack to recover some Hessian guns that had been abandoned, during which Rall went down with a mortal wound. |
| Fusilier Regiment von Lossberg | Lt. Col. Francis Scheffer (acting) | 345 | 4 killed 55 wounded 260 captured |
Lossberg's regiment managed to regroup with Rall in an orchard east of town, and participated in the counterattack to retrieve the Hessian guns. It suffered the highest number of killed and wounded; "lost in this affair 70 killed and wounded". |
| Fusilier Regiment von Knyphausen | Maj. Friedrich Ludwig von Dechow (acting) | 429 | 1 killed 13 wounded 310 captured |
This regiment attempted to escape to the south across the Assunpink Creek, but was blocked first at the bridge and then in attempts to ford the creek. Fifty of its men swam across the icy creek and reached Princeton ten hours later. |
| Artillery | Lt. Friedrich Fischer | 6 guns total; personnel are counted with their assigned regiments | Casualties are counted with their assigned regiments | Many of the artillerymen escaped across the Assunpink Creek bridge after abandoning their guns early in the battle. |
| Lt. Johann Engelhardt | ||||
| Jägers | Lt. Friedrich von Gröthausen | 50 estimated | Stryker does not report any casualties for this unit. | This company retreated across the Assunpink Creek bridge after skirmishing with the van of Sullivan's division. |
| British 16th (Queen's) Light Dragoons | None listed | 18 estimated | Stryker does not report any casualties for this unit. | This company was stationed near the Assunpink Creek bridge and escaped across it early in the action. |
| Totals | 1,382 | 22 killed 83 wounded 891 captured |
Unit size includes 28 officers not counted in rank and file. Casualties include the following officer casualties: 5 killed, 5 wounded, 23 captured. Captured includes the wounded; the entire Hessian officer corps was captured or killed. | |
Read more about this topic: Order Of Battle Of The Battle Of Trenton
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