Page:The Hessians and the other German auxiliaries of Great Britain in the revolutionary war.djvu/49



soldiers whom the German princes let out to England for the suppression of the American rebellion were brought together in various ways. In Hesse-Cassel the country had been cut up into districts, each of which was to furnish a given number of recruits to a certain regiment. Officers were, however, instructed to bring as many foreigners as possible into the service, in order to spare their own districts, whose inhabitants would always be at hand, to be called in case of need. It was announced in the army regulations that regimental chiefs, or captains, would best recommend themselves to favor, by striving to enlist foreign recruits. Forcible recruiting was forbidden; but this rule was probably intended to apply only to natives. It certainly does not seem to have diminished the activity of the recruiting officers, and probably no such rule existed in the smaller states. In Anspach no subject could leave the country, or marry, without permission. It is to be noted that in this case the country did not mean Germany, but the territories of the Margrave, and that the foreigners whom the Landgrave of Hesse wished to see recruited were the