The American Revolutionary War was not a simple conflict between a people fighting for
independence and a government trying to
maintain control over a distant territory. England was an empire and the colonies in America were not its only territories. The problem
was that, although England had a sizeable army, England could not use her entire army to fight in America as all of her territories had
to defended.
In the mid 1770's King George III of England saw a need for additional troops to be sent to America to restore royal rule. To fill the ranks of
the army needed, King George turned to his allies for help. The King had his cabinet entered into treaties with the Landgraves from the
Germanic states of the Holy Roman Empire. Approximately 16,992 soldiers from Hesse-Kassel served in America, with the total number for
all the States at approximately 29,875 troops. This figure made up as much as 1/3 of the total forces the British had in North America during
the Revolutionary War.
A part of this force were highly trained individuals that were familiar with movement through forests and the use of rifles, unusual in 18th
century warfare where smoothbore muskets were commonly used. They were known as Jägers and were formed into elite units. The British
wanted 1000 Jägers to be included for the war but it is unlikely there were ever more than 500-700 in service.
The first Jäger troops arrived at New York in August 1776 under Gen. Von
Heister with additional units arriving in October 1776 under
Gen. Knyphausen. By 1777 there were five foot companies and one mounted company of Jägers in North America which were formed
into a single Korps, although they normally operated in small groups of not more than 30 Jägers. The 2nd Jägers Company, under
Capt. Ewald, arrived in New York on 14 October 1776 and saw their first action on the 23rd of October. As with
most of the Jägers, they saw action in every campaign in the war and can be documented in most actions of the Southern Campaigns.
The 2nd Company, Hesse-Kassel Jäger Korps re-enactment group was founded in 1995 as a non-profit educational organization designed
to provide information to the public about the Jägers and camp life in the 1770 - 1780's. The primary
focus of the unit is on the actions of
the 2nd Company of the Hesse-Kassel Jäger Korps during the American Revolutionary War. Membership of the unit comes from throughout
the southeast and primarily attend events of the Southern Campaign of 1780 and 1781. The group is open to any and all provided they have
a deep interest in history and a desire to share their knowledge.
This website is meant to provide the public with a better understanding of the actions of the Hesse-Kassel Jäger Korps throughout the
American Revolution as well as the day to day life of the men and women of the military. Within the pages of this site you will find information
about the actions, places and people that made history. Information can be found about our group, the events we attend and
the equipment used by the original Jägers and this group, as well as information for those that would be interested in joining the unit.
And lastly, additional resources and reading material for anyone needing more information than we have provided.
We certainly hope that the public finds this website to be very informative and gain a greater respect for the history of this country. We would
like to encourage those that are able to attend one of the events the Hesse-Kassel Jäger Korps participates in to see first hand how things
were during the birth of this country.
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