The ‘German Battalion’ or ‘German Regiment’ was an infantry formation in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. It was authorized in May, 1776 as a battalion of recruited ethnic Germans from Maryland and Pennsylvania. Nicholas Haussegger was appointed to command the battalion, which was originally composed of eight, and later nine, companies. The ninth unit fought in Trenton in December, 1776, where its men called to German Hessians fighting for the British to lay down their guns.
Wikipedia: Battle of Trenton, H. Charles McBannon Jr.
Haussegger was caught and many troops were lost in the battle of Assunpink Creek one week later. When Heussegger defected to the British, George Washington appointed the Prussian volunteer Henry Leonard d’Arendt to command the German Battalion. The battalion served with the 1st Virginia Brigade at Brandywine and Germantown in September and October 1777. The following June the German Battalion fought at Monmouth. In late 1778, the unit was assigned to Edward Hand’s brigade. It then served in the Sullivan Expedition in the summer of 1779. The battalion later transferred to the New Jersey Brigade before it was disbanded in January 1781.
Google: Oil Portrait of Nicolas Haussegger
The German soldiers recruited for the Revolutionary War were the first to sign up for a three-year enlistment instead of shorter terms. The Regiment officers received their commissions on the same day that the Declaration of Independence was announced in front of Independence Hall. Although the battalion is not generally well-known in the larger scheme of the war, they have not been forgotten for their courage in fighting for American freedom.
Google: July 8, 1776 outside the Pennsylvania State House (today Independence Hall)
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