Page:The Hessians and the other German auxiliaries of Great Britain in the revolutionary war.djvu/64

 52 men, who had left Anspach early in November, 1777, were not landed in New York until September, 1778.

The sudden refusal of Frederick the Great to allow the passage of troops told most of all on the Zerbst regiment. In order to pass round the Prussian dominions, this body was obliged to march through seven different states and free cities. The result was disastrous. In the village of Zeulenrode a deserter chased by a corporal sought refuge in an inn. The corporal, in his anger and excitement, shot after him through the window and killed the innkeeper's wife, who was sitting quietly in the room. The peasants were enraged, and a riot shortly afterwards occurred, in which a lieutenant was mortally injured. Moreover, the Prussian recruiting officers saw their chance to pick up a few men, and once on the route there was a skirmish with them and bloodshed. Three hundred and thirty-four men deserted in the course of ten days, leaving only four hundred and ninety-four under the banners. The colonel succeeded, however, in enlisting about one hundred and thirty recruits, to take the place of the deserters, and six hundred and twenty-five men were thus shipped on April 22, 1778, at Stade. Making a quick passage, they arrived before Quebec towards the last of May; but they had not come to the end of their troubles. The commander of the place had received no orders concerning them, and would not allow them to land. For three months the poor fellows had to lie on shipboard in the St. Lawrence, before instructions could be received from England.

Frederick the Great has left in his memoirs his own account of his reasons for his conduct on this occasion.