Chapter VIII: The Pennsylvania Germans in History

Political Influence of the Germans.--Not an office-holding
Class.--War between England and France.--German
Indifference.--Efforts to Anglicize the Germans.--The Germans During
the Revolution.--Favor Independence.--Germans Organize.--Prominent
in Furnishing Troops.--Mainstay of the Army.--Germans a unit for
Independence.--They raise a Battalion, before Independence is
Declared.

While the Germans never had any particular affection for English rule, they nevertheless were always loyal to the authorities, notwithstanding they were strong enough during several decades before the Revolution, by making an alliance with the Quaker element to have wrested the colony from British control. Such an alliance would not have been difficult by reason of the well-known hostility of the Quakers to the proprietary rule. But the Germans never had any ambition in that direction. They cared little for political power, being content to cultivate their fields, and enjoy the blessings of civil and religious liberty, which was denied them in the land of their birth. They did not aspire to political honors, and their names seldom appear in the official lists of the provincial government. Their almost exclusive use of the German language, also disqualified them from holding office. They however by reason of their numbers exerted an important influence in the colony, especially in the election of members of the Colonial Assembly, as well as with regard to other elective officers, inasmuch as their votes were in all cases cast as a unit for a single favorite candidate. The only issue raised at the elections in those days was the one, whether the representative of the proprietory government should succeed, or the opposition candidate should carry off the honors. The latter usually won, wherever the German vote predominated. Sauer’s German paper was the only newspaper circulated among the Germans for many years, and it controlled their political actions throughout. It was conducted on similar lines to those of the partisan newspapers of to-day. It was thoroughly anti-English in sentiment, and indulged in vehement appeals to the prejudices of the Germans by making them believe, that it was the purpose of the English to enslave them; compelling their young men to become soldiers, thereby bringing up the horrible recollections of the military bondage from which they fled in their native land. Sauer’s paper taught the Germans to believe, that the English were seeking to put burdens upon them, as great as those which they had borne in the old country. The inculcation of such beliefs, coupled with their numerical strength alarmed the English, and caused them to fear, that the Germans would at a time not remote, give them not only laws of their own making, but make the colony a German province.

The English distrust of the Germans was heightened by the fact that about the middle of the eighteenth century, while Great Britain was at war with France for the conquest of Canada, the Germans were reluctant, and in some instances absolutely refused to serve as soldiers, manifesting no small amount of hostility to the British cause; while the French looked to them for aid and encouragement in their struggle with the British. The Germans made no secret of their sentiments, that it did not matter much to them under whose authority they lived, so long as they were not molested in the enjoyment of their property, and their personal freedom.

But later when the conditions had changed, and the French became the aggressors, in threatening the colonies by making war against them, the Germans made up for their former indifference, by enlisting in large numbers to defend the colonies against their hereditary enemies.

Various schemes were proposed to overcome the influence of the Germans by the English. Among other things it was suggested, to disfranchise them, from having any voice in the election of members of the Colonial Assembly, pending a period during which they should be taught the English tongue. For that purpose it was proposed to support Protestant ministers and school teachers among them, to the end that they should become English. The schemes suggested were never carried into execution; so the Germans failed to become Anglicized, and the descendants of thousands of them continue to be German at this day.

To arrest the coming of so many Germans in some degree, the Assembly passed a tax of twenty shillings a head on each newcomer, but it had no effect in preventing them from coming.

The large influx of Palatines gave James Logan, the secretary of the province much apprehension and annoyance. He feared that their numbers would in time result in the colony being lost to the British crown. Logan’s apprehensions were prophetic! All the colonies were wrested from the crown in later years, and no people rendered more invaluable services in that behalf, than the Germans of Pennsylvania.

The prejudice of the English against the Germans was shared by even so eminent a statesman and philosopher as Benjamin Franklin. From a letter written by him to Peter Collinson an English botanist and natural philosopher, in 1753, it would seem as if the latter had been also apprehensive about the large German immigration in Pennsylvania, and had conveyed his views to Franklin in a letter to which the latter replied as follows:

“I am perfectly of your mind, that measures of great temper are
necessary touching the Germans, and am not without apprehensions
that, through their indiscretion, or ours, or both, great disorders
may one day arise among us. Those who come hither are generally the
most stupid of their own nation, and as ignorance is often attended
with great credulity, when knavery would mislead it, and with
suspicion when honesty would set it right; and few of the English
understand the German language, so that they cannot address them
either from the press or pulpit, it is almost impossible to remove
any prejudice they may entertain. The clergy have very little
influence on the people, who seem to take pleasure in abusing and
discharging the minister on every trivial occasion. Not being used to
liberty, they know not how to make modest use of it. They are under
no restraint from ecclesiastical government; they behave however,
submissively enough at present to the civil government, which I wish
they may continue to do, for I remember when they modestly declined
intermeddling with our elections; but now they come in droves and
carry all before them, except in one or two counties. Few of their
children in the country know English. They import many books from
Germany, and, of the six printing houses in the province, two are
entirely German, two half German, half English, and but two are
entirely English. They have one German newspaper, and one half
German. Advertisements intended to be general, are now printed in
Dutch, (German) and English. The signs in our streets, (Phila.,) have
inscriptions in both languages, and some places only in German. They
begin of late, to make all their bonds and other legal instruments in
their own language, (though I think it ought not to be), are allowed
good in courts, where the German business so increases, that there
is continued need of interpreters, and I suppose in a few years,
they will also be necessary in the Assembly, to tell one-half of our
legislators, what the other half says. In short, unless the stream
of importation could be turned from this to other colonies, as you
very judiciously propose, they will soon outnumber us, that all the
advantages we have, will, in my opinion, be not able to preserve our
language, and even our government will become precarious.”

Some of the adverse criticisms in the foregoing letter are manifestly unjust; but as they were made to harmonize with English sentiment, there may have been an element of policy in them, as Franklin was at that time an attache of the proprietary government, and supplicant for royal favor. The letter also bears on its face its own contradiction in some essential particulars. The statement that the Germans “import many books from Germany,” which they are presumed to have read, does not bear out the statement that they were “the most stupid of their nation,” which contradiction is emphasized by the fact, as asserted by Franklin that out of the six printing houses in the province, the English had only two; the Germans two, and the remaining two were half German, and half English.

A people among whom printing houses, books, and newspapers abound, can safely be accredited with a fair amount of intelligence, although they may have obtained the inspiration of their knowledge from German books and German newspapers.

There is no doubt that Franklin thought better of his German fellow-citizens and compatriots, when in less than a quarter of a century later they stood shoulder to shoulder with him in the cause of American independence.

THE GERMANS IN THE REVOLUTION.

When the first murmurings of discontent, which later culminated in open revolt, were heard throughout the colonies, the Germans of Pennsylvania were among the first to place themselves in harmony with those ideas, which determined the colonies in favor of independence. Even some time before separation had been determined upon, the Germans were active among their countrymen in their efforts to promote that step. It required a great deal of resolution on their part to espouse such a policy at that time, with the formidable influences opposed to them. The government of the colonies was in the hands of the royal representatives of the British crown; these sustained intimate personal and social relations with leading colonists, some of whom supported the royal authority, while others were resisting British aggression, but were not decided in favor of separation at that early stage. The English ties of blood no doubt kept many patriots from favoring extreme measures, before independence was declared, but the Germans were not influenced by any such considerations. They had inherited a fierce hatred of oppression in their native country, and they had no sympathy with a temporizing policy, and declared in favor of independence long before the events of Lexington and Bunker Hill.

The Germans of Pennsylvania exerted a potent influence, not only in bringing their own colony to the side of independence, but they were actively employed in influencing their countrymen in the other colonies to take a similar step. They put themselves in communication with the German settlers everywhere, and urged upon them to espouse the cause of separation and freedom; and by the time that the first gun of the Revolution was fired, the Germans in all the colonies were in line against the British government. In Pennsylvania they became the mainstay in furnishing troops to fill the quotas of its regiments, and from their ranks came many officers who gained honorable distinction during the war. Many had been soldiers in their native country, where they fought against oppression, while others inherited the spirit of freedom from their fathers, who had felt the hand of persecution in other lands.

The historian has faithfully chronicled the distinguished services rendered by all classes during the Revolution, with the exception of the invaluable services of the Germans of Pennsylvania; their services have been dismissed with curt brevity. Even Bancroft in his history of the Revolution passes them by in the following words: “The Germans who constituted a large portion of the population of Pennsylvania were all on the side of freedom.”

The importance which was attached to the influence which the Germans might exert, in the event of hostilities between the colonies and the British crown is shown, upon the occasion when Franklin appeared before the British ministry, urging the repeal of the Stamp Act, and of other oppressive measures. He was asked how many Germans there were in Pennsylvania at that time. He replied that not less than one-third of the population, and probably more, as he had no means to tell accurately. He was then asked whether any of them had served as soldiers in the European wars; to which he replied, that they had not only been soldiers in Europe, but that many of them had served in the colonial wars. The ministry also wanted to know whether the Germans were as much dissatisfied with the stamp tax, as the English born citizens; to which his reply was that they were even more hostile to it. If this colloquy had any significance at that time, it must be construed to have meant, that the English had a wholesome dread of the Germans in the event of an open rupture, between the mother country and her colonies. Whatever the moving cause may have been, the Stamp Act was repealed.

As early as 1772 the German residents of Philadelphia, who at that time exercised a controlling influence in business and civic affairs, organized an association under the name of “The Patriotic Society of the City and County of Philadelphia.” The purpose of this society was to make ready for the struggle which the Germans regarded as inevitable. In 1774 after the threat had been made by the British ministry, of closing the Boston harbor, and indicating the intention of a resort to force, to crush the revolutionary spirit manifested by the Massachusetts patriots, a meeting was called by leading Germans of Philadelphia to consider the threatening situation, at which meeting a “Correspondence Committee” was appointed, the duty of which was to correspond with the Germans of other colonies, urging upon them to organize, so as to be ready for the conflict, which to their minds could not be much longer delayed.

In the Provincial Assembly which was held in the same year, to consider the condition of affairs, the German element was strongly represented, and their views received earnest and careful consideration. Among the Germans who occupied seats in that convention were such prominent representatives as Christopher Ludwig, George Schlosser, Adam Hubley, Jacob Barge, from Philadelphia; Matthias Schlauch, Moses Erwin, Joseph Ferree, and George Ross, from Lancaster county; Christopher Schultz, and Jonathan Potts from Berks county; Peter Keichlein and Jacob Arndt, from Northampton county, and Casper Weitzel from Northumberland county.

In the convention which met in January following, the Germans were still more largely represented. This convention declared in favor of the utmost resistance, against any further British insolence and tyranny, and issued a call for a Colonial Congress.

The Germans residing in the colonies of New York and North Carolina, were undecided at first with regard to taking sides, before the actual breaking out of hostilities, until they were appealed to by their kinsmen in Pennsylvania by means of correspondence, and also by messengers sent among them, to urge them to go with the Germans of the rest of the colonies. A pamphlet was written and published by the “Correspondence Committee,” which was especially designed for the Germans of New York, and North Carolina, in which it was set forth, that the Germans of Pennsylvania had learned with satisfaction, that the people without regard to race, creed, or former nationality; whether rich or poor, had given their unqualified approval, to the acts of their Congress, and that the Germans especially, everywhere were taking measures, to have the militia put in shape, and were forming new military organizations, so that they should be ready to march wherever they should be needed in the event of war, and urging upon those Germans that could not enlist for any reason, to contribute to the patriot cause according to their ability.

The pamphlet went on further to state, that they were grieved to learn, that there were numbers of Germans, in various parts of New York, and many in North Carolina, who were indifferent to the cause for which their kinsmen had enlisted and were preparing elsewhere. That the efforts of the Germans in Pennsylvania proved successful is not doubted, for after the first shedding of blood at Lexington, there were no Germans in any of the colonies, that did not espouse the cause of the patriots in behalf of freedom.

In May 1776 before the adoption of the Declaration of Independence the Continental Congress determined to raise a battalion for immediate service, and called upon Pennsylvania and Maryland to furnish four companies each. On July 17, following Pennsylvania reported--not only with the required four companies--but with five full companies, enlisted from the Germans. The greater number of the Maryland companies raised for this battalion were also recruited from the Germans. Every officer of the battalion was a German. Soon after its formation it took the field, and rendered conspicuous service at a critical period during the early part of the war.

As there are no doubt many descendants of the rank and file of this battalion, still living throughout Pennsylvania and Maryland, the names of its commissioned officers are here given: Colonel, Nicholas Hausseger; Lieut. Col., George Striker; Major, Ludwig Waltner; Adjutant, Louis von Linkendorf. The Captains and Lieutenants of each company follow in the order of their rank: (1) Daniel Burkhard, Friederich Rollwagen, George Habacker; (2) Philipp Grebel, Johann Lora, Christian Meyers; (3) George Hubley, Peter Boyer, Johann Laudenberger; (4) Heinrich Fister, Karl Balsel, Michael Boyer; (5) Jacob Bunner, Wilhelm Rice, George Schafer; (6) George Kieport, Jacob Kotz, Adam Smith; (7) Benjamin Weiser, Jacob Bower, Friederich Heiser; (8) W. Heiser, Samuel Gerock, Wilhelm Ritter; (9) Daniel Woelper, Bernhard Hubley, Philipp Schrader.

There was one piece of ill-luck which came to this battalion. Some complaint was made against its Colonel, under the pressure of which he resigned and afterward turned traitor to the cause of the patriots. His successor was Baron von Arendt, who afterwards resigned on account of ill-health, after which Major Waltner succeeded to the command. In the following September the battalion was ordered to join Washington’s army.

The cause of the patriots did not look very promising at this time. The British had possession of New York; New Jersey was wholly defenceless; Philadelphia was threatened, and a large and influential party of Tories was watching for an opportunity to strike the patriots in the rear. The leaders were disheartened, Washington’s army was not much more than a ragged mob of undisciplined, “uncouth, intractable ploughboys and farmers.” Many of the German officers had experience as soldiers in their native country, and they became useful in helping to establish discipline, and in making the army fit to fight.

The German battalion participated in the affair at Trenton in December 1776, which inspired the army with confidence, and the people with hope; it was at Princeton; with Washington at the ill-fated fields of Brandywine and Germantown, and spent the terrible winter of 1777-1778 at Valley Forge. The deeds and sufferings of this German battalion furnish a proud memorial of the German soldiers of the Revolution, and it is hoped that some one with the laudable inclination, and access to such of its history as may be yet preserved, will give to the world a faithful account of its heroic deeds, on many a battlefield of the Revolution. Many German soldiers also served in other commands, and it is a matter of history that Washington greatly relied on their fidelity, no matter in what situation they were placed. If we will scan the lists of company, regimental and brigade officers of the commands from Pennsylvania, we will find them bristling with German names.

It is generally believed that the German Quakers, Mennonites, and Moravians held entirely aloof from the struggle for independence, on account of their religious faith against bearing arms. This is no doubt true of all those who remained loyal to their sect, but there is authority for the statement, that not a few young Quakers, and Mennonites, did enlist and fight with the patriots for freedom. All such however either voluntarily withdrew from their church, or were shut out from all fellowship with it.

Before the Revolution many German Catholics had settled in Pennsylvania, and they were prompt in enlisting on the side of freedom, and their blood mingled with their Protestant compatriots on many a sanguinary field of the Revolution.

In the German Catholic emigration to America, may be found an argument showing that the direct cause of the great exodus of Germans to America was not altogether the result of religious persecution, but rather the desire to get away from the incessant European wars and its desolations. It was not an unusual thing during the later years of the German emigration, for the Protestant and the Catholic, to cross the ocean in the same ship, and upon their arrival settle in the same neighborhood, and in later years fight side by side in the cause of civil liberty.

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The just tribute to which the Germans of Pennsylvania are entitled for their invaluable services, during the Revolutionary War has never been duly chronicled, and it may be hoped that with the revival of interest in their history through the Pennsylvania German Society, that some chronicler will some day do them full justice.

GERMAN MERCENARIES.

There is a popular belief among some people, that the Hessian mercenaries brought here by the British government to fight the Americans, remained here after the war was over, and that their descendants constitute a considerable element of the Pennsylvania Germans of to-day. Comparatively few remained here after the war, because the British government was under contract to return such as escaped the casualties of the war, after it was over. The few that remained made good citizens, as they made the very best soldiers against the Americans, and whenever it was practicable to do so, they were put in the most responsible places by the British commanders. The intense hatred at one time, against the so-called Hessian soldiers, some of which still lingers with the present generation is very unjust, because they did not volunteer to fight against the Americans, but they were forced into the British service, by the impecunious German princes who sold them to the British like so many slaves. The Hessian soldiers would sometimes take a notion to desert, and they invariably found refuge among some of the German colonists. A considerable number of them were left behind from time to time on marches, on account of sickness or wounds; these always found a ready welcome among the German settlers; few of them ever found their way back to their native land.

While all the German mercenaries are known as Hessians, they were not all subjects of the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, although the larger portion of them were furnished by that prince. The first contingent of German mercenaries was made up as follows: The Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, furnished 12,104; the Duke of Brunswick 4,084; Prince of Hesse 663; Prince of Waldeck 670, a total of 17,521, for which the several princes received $30 for each man. Later there were additional troops furnished by the German princes, some of whom came from Anspach-Bayreuth, and Anhalt-Zerbst. Authorities do not agree as to the exact number of mercenaries furnished by the German princes. The German historian Frederick Kapp, who is said to have investigated the question closely, places the entire number at 29,166. Kapp informs us that 17,313 returned to their native land after the war, which would leave 11,853 unaccounted for in America. From this number there must be taken the casualties of war, which must have been exceedingly large, because they had to do their campaigning in a new, and for a great part in a wild country, in some parts of which pestilential fevers carried the soldiers off much faster, than the bullets of the enemy. There were none of the sanitary conditions of an army in those days, to guard the health of soldiers, which prevail nowadays. Military surgery had made little progress, so that the percentage of deaths among the wounded was much larger than it is in modern times. From these conditions a calculation based on the casualties of our Civil War, will enable one to form an approximate idea of the casualties of the Hessian soldiers in the Revolution. According to such an estimate, the losses of the Hessians from all causes could not have fallen short of 5,000, leaving less than 7,000 who remained in America, some of whom settled in the Canadian provinces, but the majority of them settled in the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North, and South Carolina.

It is interesting to note, that appeals were made by the British government to some of the other European sovereigns for hireling soldiers, to fight against the Americans, besides the German princes herein mentioned. Holland and Russia were both appealed to, but their rulers refused to entertain the proposition. Frederick the Great was also approached upon the subject of hiring his soldiers, but he not only declined the tempting offer of $30 a head for them, but he prohibited, any of the hireling soldiers of the other German princes, to go through his territory on their way to the seaports, whence they were to embark for America.