Page:The Hessians and the other German auxiliaries of Great Britain in the revolutionary war.djvu/58



FROM GERMANY TO AMERICA.

first German troops to start for America were the Brunswickers. These marched from Brunswick on February 22d, 1776, two thousand two hundred and eighty-two strong, and were embarked at Stade, near the mouth of the Elbe. The second division of Brunswickers embarked at the end of May—about two thousand men. The first Hessians set out from Cassel early in March, and were shipped at Bremerlehe, near the mouth of the Weser. The second division was embarked in June. Together they numbered between twelve and thirteen thousand men. They were for the most part excellent troops and well equipped, for the Landgrave's little army was one of the best in Germany.

The march from Brunswick or Cassel to the port of embarkation was a comparatively simple matter. The troops passed from the territory of their own prince into the Hanoverian dominions of the King of England, and these reached to the sea. The Prince of Waldeck sent his regiment through Cassel without trouble. The Prince of Hesse-Hanau, the Margrave of Anspach-Bayrcuth, and the Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst had a longer road and more difficulties before them.

The town of Hanau lies above Frankfort, on the river Main, about thirty miles from Mainz, where that