ABSTRACT
Introduction In early 1776, King George III of England hired 20,000 soldiers from his German brethren to help suppress the growing rebellion in the American colonies. Th e majority of these troops were supplied by Friedrich II ruler of Hesse-Cassel in northern Germany, hence the name Hessians. Th e Hessians represented about one-third of King George’s troops in the Americas. Outsourcing the war to foreigners had its benefi ts; being able to keep a reserve force in England to protect against his French nemesis Louis XVI was one. It also had its drawbacks; for one, it gave the American leadership a powerful propaganda tool to infl ame patriotic passions.
