Note 26 — Chapter XIII
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It is to the presence of these Waldecks at the siege and capture of Pensacola, that we are indebted for the only detailed account we possess of those events. The Waldeck regiment was one of the many mercenary bodies of German troops which Great Britain hired to conquer her revolted colonies. On the return of the commands to Germany, after the close of the war, each commander was required to make to his government a detailed report of its experiences. In 1863, Max Von Elking published, at Hanover, two volumes containing the substance of those reports, entitled:
[“Die deutschen Hülfstruppen im Nordamerikanischen Befreiungskriege, 1776 bis 1783.”]
The German Troops in the North American War of Independence, 1776 to 1783.
Those of the Waldecks extended from the day the regiment was completed at Corbach, where it was reviewed by the widowed Princess of Waldeck, and her court ladies, on May 9, 1776, up to the return of its small remnant in 1783. The princess entertained them, and furnished them besides 100 guelden for a jollification—doubtless out of the hire she received for the hapless creatures. The remark of a courtier, that he would see “all those who came back riding in carriages,” indicates the delusive hopes with which it was sought to inspire them. Nevertheless, it was thought prudent by the Princess, that the departing mercenaries should, to prevent desertion, be guarded during their journey to the Weser, where they were to embark, by the Green Regiment of Sharpshooters. The regiment consisted of 640 men, under the command of Colonel Von Hanxleden. Stuernagel was the Field Preacher, or chaplain, to whose journal Von Elking makes many references.