Who Were the Hessians? (October 1776 and August 1777)

To get to know the Hessian soldiers, we will consider them at two different moments during the American Revolution.  Notice that the Liberty's Kids video below depicts events that occurred in 1777.  A year earlier, Hessians made their presence known in a number of battles.  During the Battle of White Plains, one particular soldier lost his life.  Read the Headless Horseman legend from 1776.

Introduction

The Hessians were a group of soldiers from Germany. They were well trained and disciplined on the battlefield.  We might tend to be confused by the Hessian presence in a war between the United States and England.  The fact is, the Hessians were mercenaries for hire, and England hired them to assist in their war against American independence.

Liberty's Kids

Distinctive Headgear

The Hessian helmets are one of the first things we notice when we see them in paintings or reenactments.  They were both decorative and protective, but perhaps more importantly, they intimidated the enemy - in this case, the ragtag American soldier.

Have a look at the front and rear views of the metallic plates from a helmet.  The plates in those images were found in a British military supply ship at the bottom of the Delaware River in 1915.  Notice the intricate design.

Now it's your turn.  Use the same bullet shape of the Hessian helmet, but make it to represent our school, our town, our state, or our nation today.  What symbols will you include?  What other flourishes will finish your design?

The Headless Horseman

Were you aware that the infamous Headless Horseman is supposedly the apparition of a Hessian solder?  Read the ​Wikipedia entry below.  Then consider a retelling of the story through the eyes of Wishbone.  Wrap up your study with your own visit to Sleepy Hollow.

The legend of the Headless Horseman begins in Sleepy Hollow, New York, during the American Revolutionary War. Traditional folklore holds that the Horseman was a Hessian artilleryman who was killed during the Battle of White Plains in 1776. He was decapitated by an American cannonball, and the shattered remains of his head were left on the battlefield while his comrades hastily carried his body away. Eventually they buried him in the cemetery of the Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow, from which each Halloween night he rises as a malevolent ghost, furiously seeking his lost head.

Wishbone Retelling

Sleepy Hollow, NY