Page:The Hessians and the other German auxiliaries of Great Britain in the revolutionary war.djvu/216

 196 themselves gardens and poultry yards. The officers bought good riding horses. In one settlement a small theatre was erected by the English soldiers, and satirical pieces were played, in which the captives made fun of their captors, until it was found necessary to forbid the American militia forming part of the audience. General von Riedesel returned to New York on parole in the autumn of 1779, and was shortly afterwards exchanged. His health had suffered much from exposure, low spirits, and a slight sunstroke received in Virginia. After he was exchanged he returned to Canada, where he remained in the service of the King of England until the end of the war, but he never again met the Americans in the field.