This author enjoys a unique and pre-eminent position in the study
of Hessian records of the American Revolution, having translated
literally thousands of pages of the journals and writings of Dohla,
Prechtel, Waldeck, Pausch, Von Feilitsch, Bartholomai, Piel,
Wiederhold, Rueffer, "J.R." Steuernagel, and many other Hessian
soldiers. To this impressive list he now adds the writings of
Lieutenant Friedrich Julius Von Papet, a young Brunswick officer
whose journal spans the period from May of 1776 to October of 1783.
"One of the most significant and important effects of the English
employment of Hessians during the American Revolutionary War was
the retention of English control of Canada. General John Burgoyne
had taken most of the British] military strength from Canada for
his command when he marched against the American colonists in 1777.
However, even after France entered the war on the American side],
the residents of that former French colony were not strong enough
to openly resist the military control exercised by a small English
and Hessian command. As a result, England retained Canada under the
terms of the Treaty of Paris in 1783." Troops from Hesse-Cassel,
Waldeck and Ansbach-Bayreuth were sent to Howe's command, as well
as some troops from Hesse-Hanau and Anhalt-Zerbst, while troops
from Hesse-Hanau, Brunswick and Anhalt-Zerbst provided the forces
sent to Canada, together with some troops from Hesse-Cassel which
were sent from New York to Canada later in the war. The Brunswick
troops, numbering 4,300 men, sailed for America in two divisions,
one departing in late March 1776, and the other, including Von
Papet, departing on 31 May 1776, two weeks after the start of this
journal. Von Papet was one of the Hessians (only 600+ officers and
non-commissioned officers) who remained behind in Canada when John
Burgoyne began his march against the American colonists in 1777.
Though only twenty-one years old, Von Papet was assigned the
important position of brigade major. Because he kept a diary
throughout his English service (all the way up to his return march
to Brunswick), we have a picture of the military, social and
cultural life in Canada at that time. As a very young man in a very
demanding position, Von Papet records the inner reactions among his
superiors with a noteworthy caution and understanding not to let
his position cause him harm. As there is a scarcity of information
concerning military affairs in Canada during the American
Revolution, Von Papet's journal provides much-needed insight into
why Canada never became a very large fourteenth American colony.
General
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