Jump to content

A Great Revolutionary War Find


Recommended Posts

daniel griffin

Some years ago I received a call from a great Pennsylvania picker tipping me off to an item at Kenny's Auction in Chambersburg Pa. The auctioneer had gone on a house-call at a local estate, he spotted an odd hat and asked the owner what she knew about it, she replied that it was a Revolutionary War "Hessian Helmet". I attended the auction and bought the pictured hat. In the Battle of Trenton the Hessian force of 1,400 was surprised and virtually destroyed by the Continentals, with about 20 killed, 100 wounded, and 1,000 captured as prisoners. General George Washington's Continental Army had crossed the Delaware River to make a surprise attack on the Hessian's on the early morning of December 26 1776. The captured Hessian's were paraded through Philadelphia, marched through Lancaster, York, Carlisle and down to Chambersburg.

 

 

 

 

rev1.jpg

rev2.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cool to see that: my 5th great-grandfather was a Hessian, a member of the Hessen-Hanau Erbprinz Regiment, and was taken POW after the decisive American victory at the Battle of Saratoga.


His group was being marched to Charlottesville, Virginia when he escaped in Maryland, married the daughter of an immigrant from Alsace, and went on to co-found the town of Claysburg PA, where a log house he built in about 1802 is still being used as a rental.


He would not have worn a helmet like that, but I have to say it would be a thrill to own anything Hessian from the Revolution.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

439th Signal Battalion

A sensational piece; thank you for posting. I think that many Americans today would be surprised to find out that their relative may have been British or Hessian soldiers who stayed here after the Revolution, like that which was mentioned from Mr. Hudson earlier.

 

Here in the south, especially in western North Carolina, there is a good chance that some of your Revolutionary kin were "Tories" and Loyalists.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

And it isn't a 'painted' helmet either. ;)

 

 

haha. (And if one ever shows up on Ebay, it will probably have a Medic Red Cross painted on it with D- Bail Airborne chinstraps. )

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A sensational piece; thank you for posting. I think that many Americans today would be surprised to find out that their relative may have been British or Hessian soldiers who stayed here after the Revolution, like that which was mentioned from Mr. Hudson earlier.

 

Here in the south, especially in western North Carolina, there is a good chance that some of your Revolutionary kin were "Tories" and Loyalists.

Yep I have no doubt. some of my family were from the Piedmont area, Harpe/Harp, and fought for the british.

 

Mike

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...