Page:The Hessians and the other German auxiliaries of Great Britain in the revolutionary war.djvu/210

 the thin walls, the rain came through the roofs, the snow lay in drifts on the floor. Wood and straw were but scantily furnished, and the uniforms that had been worn through a hard campaign in the wilderness hung in rags on the freezing soldiers. They cut off the tails of their coats to make patches for the rest of their clothes. Even in the hospital it was freezing cold. Hope and disappointment followed each other in the breasts of the prisoners as the negotiations for their return to England were renewed or broken off. Once, during the year of their stay, came the hope of a rescue, and preparations were made by the Germans to welcome the friendly fleet, and by the Americans to march off their captives to quarters farther inland. But the greatest suffering, perhaps, of the prisoners was the monotony of their confinement. There was nothing to do, for a little drilling without guns can hardly be called an occupation. We recognize in the journals and letters of the officers the petulance of inactivity. There were quarrels with the American guard. In this respect, however, the Germans fared somewhat better than the English. The care of Riedesel to preserve discipline among his men was recognized, and