daniel griffin Posted December 4, 2013 Share #1 Posted December 4, 2013 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted December 4, 2013 Share #2 Posted December 4, 2013 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 More sharing options...
uberguido Posted December 4, 2013 Share #3 Posted December 4, 2013 That is a great find dan, as a PA boy its even cooler, its amazing to see it thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenchbuff Posted December 4, 2013 Share #4 Posted December 4, 2013 Fantastic piece Dan! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RustyCanteen Posted December 4, 2013 Share #5 Posted December 4, 2013 Now that is an amazing find! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brig Posted December 4, 2013 Share #6 Posted December 4, 2013 That's my area of PA they marched through...nice pick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knd643 Posted December 4, 2013 Share #7 Posted December 4, 2013 Thats really cool. Great find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarbridge Posted December 4, 2013 Share #8 Posted December 4, 2013 Great Helmet.Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patriot Posted December 4, 2013 Share #9 Posted December 4, 2013 Excellent find! Don Troiani hasn't by any chance seen this, has he? You should contact him... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sundance Posted December 5, 2013 Share #10 Posted December 5, 2013 Pretty darn nice. What is on the inside? Any type of liner? I suppose anything that's not metal is long gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
439th Signal Battalion Posted December 5, 2013 Share #11 Posted December 5, 2013 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 More sharing options...
Patchcollector Posted December 5, 2013 Share #12 Posted December 5, 2013 Outstanding piece! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry K. Posted December 5, 2013 Share #13 Posted December 5, 2013 Outstanding piece! My Great, Great, Great Grandfather was there with Washington on that cold day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KurtA Posted December 5, 2013 Share #14 Posted December 5, 2013 Probably the rarest item ever to be posted on the Forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RustyCanteen Posted December 5, 2013 Share #15 Posted December 5, 2013 Probably the rarest item ever to be posted on the Forum. And it isn't a 'painted' helmet either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torch03 Posted December 5, 2013 Share #16 Posted December 5, 2013 Fantastic piece! Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutiger83 Posted December 5, 2013 Share #17 Posted December 5, 2013 Amazing! Now this is a helmet that I think is really nice! ...Kat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m1ashooter Posted December 5, 2013 Share #18 Posted December 5, 2013 Great find. Trenton was an important battle during our first war of independence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony V Posted December 5, 2013 Share #19 Posted December 5, 2013 Daniel Excellent Score ! Just remarkable Congratulations. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KurtA Posted December 5, 2013 Share #20 Posted December 5, 2013 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 More sharing options...
teufelhunde.ret Posted December 5, 2013 Share #21 Posted December 5, 2013 in a word "STUNNING"! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdk0911 Posted December 5, 2013 Share #22 Posted December 5, 2013 man that is a cool piece of history - excellent find!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobgee Posted December 5, 2013 Share #23 Posted December 5, 2013 WOW! That is one fine piece of American history!!!!!! Thanks for sharing. Bobgee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Michael Posted December 5, 2013 Share #24 Posted December 5, 2013 WOW! Speechless. Thanks for sharing. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Michael Posted December 5, 2013 Share #25 Posted December 5, 2013 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 More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
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 accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now