Germans in the American Revolution

Germans in the American Revolution As Britain fought its rebel American colonists during the American Revolutionary War, it struggled to provide troops for all the theaters it was engaged in. Pressures from France and Spain stretched the small and understrength British army, and as recruits took time to try, this forced the government to explore different sources of men. It was common in the eighteenth century for ‘auxiliary’ forces from one state to fight for another in return for payment, and the British had made heavy use of such arrangements in the past. After trying, but failing, to secure 20,000 Russian troops, an alternative option was using Germans. German Auxiliaries Britain had experience in using troops from the many different German states, especially in creating the Anglo-Hanoverian army during the Seven Years War. Initially, troops from Hanover- connected to Britain by the bloodline of their king- were placed on duty in the Mediterranean islands so their garrisons of regular troops could go to America. By the end of 1776, Britain had agreements in place with six German states to provide auxiliaries, and as most came from Hesse-Cassel, they were often referred to en masse as Hessians, although they were recruited from all across Germany. Nearly 30,000 Germans served in this way during the span of the war, which included both normal line regiments and the elite, and often in demand, Jgers. Between 33–37% of the British manpower in the US during the war was German. In his analysis of the military side of the war, Middlekauff described the possibility of Britain fighting the war without Germans as â€Å"unthinkable†. The German troops ranged greatly in effectiveness and ability. One British commander said the troops from Hesse-Hanau were basically unprepared for the war, while the Jgers were feared by the rebels and praised by the British. However, the actions of some Germans in plundering- allowing the rebels, who also plundered, a major propaganda coup which caused exaggeration for centuries- further reinforced the considerable numbers of Britons and Americans angry that mercenaries were being used. American anger at the British for bringing in mercenaries was reflected in Jefferson’s first draft of the Declaration of Independence: â€Å"At this very time too they are permitting their chief magistrate to send over not only soldiers of our common blood but Scotch and foreign mercenaries to invade and destroy us.† Despite this, rebels tried frequently to persuade the Germans to defect, even offering them land. The Germans at War The campaign of 1776, the year the Germans arrived, encapsulates the German experience: successful in battles around New York but made infamous as failures for their loss at the Battle of Trenton, when Washington won a victory vital for rebel morale after the German commander had neglected to build defenses. Indeed, the Germans fought in many places across the US during the war, although there was a tendency, later on, to sideline them as garrisons or just raiding troops. They are chiefly remembered, unfairly, for both Trenton and the assault on the fort at Redbank in 1777, which failed due to a mixture of ambition and faulty intelligence. Indeed, Atwood has identified Redwood as the point at which German enthusiasm for the war began to fade. Germans were present in the early campaigns at New York, and they were also present at the end in Yorktown. Intriguingly, at one point, Lord Barrington advised the British king to offer Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, the commander of the Anglo-Hanoverian army of the Seven Years War, the post of commander in chief. This was tactfully rejected. Germans Among the Rebels There were Germans on the rebels side among many other nationalities. Some of these were foreign nationals who had volunteered as individuals or small groups. One notable figure was a buccaneering mercenary and Prussian drill master- Prussia was regarded as having one of the premier European armies- who worked with the continental forces. He was (American) Major-General von Steuben. In addition, the French army which landed under Rochambeau included a unit of Germans, the Royal Deux-Ponts Regiment, sent to try and attract deserters from the British mercenaries.   The American colonists included large numbers of Germans, many of whom had initially been encouraged by William Penn to settle Pennsylvania, as he deliberately tried to attract Europeans who felt persecuted. By 1775, at least 100,000 Germans had entered the colonies, making up a third of Pennsylvania. This stat is cited from Middlekauff, who believed in their abilities so much he called them â€Å"the best farmers in the colonies† However, many of the Germans tried to avoid service in the war - some even supported the loyalist caused – but Hibbert is able to refer to a unit of German immigrants who fought for the US forces at Trenton – while Atwood records that â€Å"the troops of Steuben and Muhlenberg in the American army† at Yorktown were German.Sources:  Kennett,  The French Forces in America, 1780–1783, p. 22-23Hibbert, Redcoats and Rebels, p. 148Atwood, the Hessians, p. 142Marston,  The American Revolution, p. 20Atwood,  The Hessians, p. 257Middlekauff,  The Glorious Cause, p. 62Middlekauff,  The Glorious Cause, p. 335Middlekauff, The Glorious Cause, p. 34-5

Tips on How to Read Chinese

Tips on How to Read Chinese To the untrained eye, Chinese characters can seem like a confusing mess of lines. But characters have a logic of their own, revealing clues about definition and pronunciation. Once you learn more about the elements of characters, the logic behind them begins to emerge. Why Are Radicals Important? The building blocks of Chinese characters are radicals. Almost all Chinese characters are composed of at least one radical. Traditionally, Chinese dictionaries were classified by radicals, and many modern dictionaries still use this method for looking up characters. Other classification methods used in dictionaries include phonetics and the number of strokes used for drawing characters. Besides their usefulness for categorizing characters, radicals also provide clues for meaning and pronunciation. This is particularly useful when characters also have a related theme. For example, most characters having to do with water or moisture all share the radical æ ° ´ (shuÇ ). The radical æ ° ´ on its own is also a Chinese character, which translates to water. Some radicals have more than one form. The radical æ ° ´ (shuÇ ), for example, can also be written as æ ° µ when it is used as part of another character. This radical is called ä ¸â€°Ã§â€š ¹Ã¦ ° ´ (sÄ n diÇŽn shuÇ ), which means three drops of water as, indeed, the radical looks like three droplets.  These alternate forms are rarely used independently since they do not stand as Chinese characters on their own.  Therefore, radicals can be a useful tool for remembering the meaning of Chinese characters. Here are a few examples of characters based on the radical æ ° ´ (shuÇ ): æ ° ¾ – fn – overflow; flood æ ±  – zhÄ « – juice; fluid æ ±  – wn – weep; shed tears æ ±â€" – hn – perspiration æ ±Å¸ – jiÄ ng – river Characters can be composed of more than one radical. When multiple radicals are used, one radical is typically used to hint at the definition of the word while the other radical hints at the pronunciation. For example: æ ±â€" – hn – perspiration The radical æ ° ´ (shuÇ ) implies that  Ã¦ ±â€" has something to do with water, which makes sense because perspiration is wet. The sound of the character is provided by the other element. Ã¥ ¹ ² (gn) on its own is the Chinese character for dry. But gn and hn sound very similar. Types of Characters There are six different types of Chinese characters: pictographs, ideographs, composites, phonetic loans, radical phonetic compounds, and borrowings. Pictographs The earliest forms of Chinese writing originate from pictographs. Pictographs are simple diagrams meant to represent objects. Examples of pictographs include: æâ€" ¥ – rà ¬ – sun Ã¥ ± ± – shÄ n – mountain é› ¨ – yÇ” – rain ä º º – rà ©n – person These examples are modern forms of pictographs, which are quite stylized. But the early forms clearly show the objects they represent.   Ideographs Ideographs are characters which represent an idea or concept. Examples of ideographs include ä ¸â‚¬ (yÄ «), ä ºÅ' (à ¨r), ä ¸â€° (sÄ n), which means one, two, three. Other ideographs include ä ¸Å  ( shng) which means  up and ä ¸â€¹ (xi) which means  down. Composites Composites are formed by combining two or more pictographs or ideographs. Their meanings are often implied by the associations of these elements. Some examples of composites include: Ã¥ ¥ ½ – hÇŽo – good. This character combines woman (Ã¥ ¥ ³) with child (Ã¥ ­ ). æ £ ® – sÄ“n – forest. This character combines three trees (æÅ" ¨) to make a forest. Phonetic Loans As Chinese characters evolved over time, some of the original characters were used (or loaned) to represent words that had the same sound but different meanings. As these characters took on a new meaning, new characters representing the original meaning were devised. Here is an example: Ã¥Å'â€" - bÄ›i   This character originally meant â€Å"the back (of the body)† and was pronounced bà ¨i. Over time, this Chinese character has come to mean north. Today, the Chinese word for back (of the body) is now represented by the character èÆ'Å' (bà ¨i) . Radical Phonetic Compounds These are characters which combine phonetic components with semantic components. These represent approximately 80 percent of modern Chinese characters. You have already seen examples of radical phonetic compounds as discussed earlier.   Borrowings The final category – borrowings – is for characters that represent more than one word. These words have the same pronunciation as the borrowed character, but do not have a character of their own. An example of borrowing is è  ¬ (wn) which originally meant â€Å"scorpion†, but came to mean â€Å"ten thousand†, and is also a surname.