Light Troops in the Seven Years War Irregular Warfare in Europe and North America, 1755-1763

 Light Troops in the Seven Years War | From Reason to Revolution 1721-1815 | Helion & Company

More White Plains

 

White Plains 250th

 

Germans at White Plains 250th

 

White Plains 250th event details.

 REV FEST 250

Infanterie Regiment von Bose

The 250th anniversary of the battle of White Plains is nearly upon us! This weekend not only will over 1500 revolutionary war reenactors converge for the largest event in decades, but the German Auxiliaries will have historic turnout as well! We are excited to have such dedicated people, many of whom are travelling over a thousand miles to participate. So come to the Ward Pound Ridge Reservation this weekend and see a Hessian style camp, uniquely German maneuvers and tactics, and of course the uphill flanking attack by the Germans that won the battle for the Crown forces that day!

Across the Ocean, Into Battle: German Soldiers, Families, and Communities in the American Revolution

 Historian Friederike Baer focuses our attention on the varied experiences of the German auxiliaries in the American Revolution. Between 1776 and 1783, Great Britain hired more than thirty thousand German soldiers to fight in its war against the American rebels. Collectively known as Hessians and accompanied by many civilians, including hundreds of women and children, they spent extended periods in locations as far-flung and varied as Canada and West Florida. Drawing on extensive research in German-authored private papers and official records, this talk examines the Hessians not merely as a fighting force but as a military community sustained through domestic labor, familial ties, and collective identity far from home. This program accompanies our current exhibition, Voices of Revolution, on view through January 10, 2027.

About the Speaker Friederike Baer, Ph.D., is an early American historian with a research focus on the American Revolution and Early Republic, especially the experiences of German-speaking people in North America between 1775 and 1830. She earned her Ph.D. from Brown University, where she studied under the late Pulitzer-Prize winning historian Gordon S. Wood. She has taught at the University of Georgia, Kutztown University, Temple University, and served as a project archivist at the American Philosophical Society. Since 2010, however, she has been at Penn State Abington, where she is currently a professor of history and division head for Arts and humanities. Dr. Baer is the author of two books and several journal articles and other works. Her first book, The Trial of Frederick Eberle: Language, Patriotism, and Citizenship in Philadelphia’s German Community: 1790-1830, was published in 2008 and was awarded the St. Paul’s Biglerville Prize for the best book in Lutheran Church history. Her second monograph, Hessians: German Soldiers in the American Revolutionary War, was published in 2022 and was awarded the 2023 Society of the Cincinnati Prize, an annual award that recognizes an outstanding book that advances the understanding of the American Revolution and its legacy. Throughout her career, Dr. Baer has also been awarded several fellowships and research grants at the Clements Library, the American Philosophical Society, the DAAD, the German Historical Institute, the David Library of the American Revolution, Virginia Historical Society, the Library Company of Philadelphia, and last but certainly not least, the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati Fellowship to study in our research library here at Anderson House. Recently, she served as a historical consultant and was featured on Ken Burns’s documentary, The American Revolution.

Battles of Saratoga at 250 Reenactments 2027 Reveal

 

Capt. Ferguson's Corps of Riflemen

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Ferguson rifle - Wikipedia

Kings Mountain Ferguson rifle event

 

On October 1, 1776, Patrick Ferguson demonstrated his breech loading flintlock rifle for King George III at Windsor Castle. During the demonstration he performed numerous feats of marksmanship which enabled him to patent his invention and raise an experimental corps of riflemen to test his rifle in the field. This year marks the 250th anniversary of that demonstration. To mark the occasion, we will be opening a new special exhibit “To See Which did the Most Execution: The Development and Trials of the Ferguson Rifle” on Thursday October 1, 2026 which will run until March 31, 2027. This exhibit will explore the story behind the development of the legendary Ferguson rifle and how it came to be put into service by the British Army. The exhibit will be located in the Kings Mountain National Military Park visitor center museum.

Waldeck 3rd Regiment

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Through living history, we interpret and teach the story of the German auxiliary troops who served alongside Crown forces during the American War for Independence. Based in Louisiana, we are actively recruiting reenactors to bring this history to life.

Fort Ticonderoga article on brown coats

 Continental Army Uniforms: Brown Was the First Red, White & Blue

New video!

Search for a Continental Army uniform and you'll find a blue coat, trimmed with red and lined with white. But the first American uniform was brown.

A uniformly dressed American soldier did not exist at the outset of the Revolutionary War. Continental soldiers varied tremendously depending on which colony, region, or regiment they belonged to. New England colonies paid soldiers to bring clothing from home. Massachusetts clothed its Grand Army of 1775 in plain workman's coats of pale brown, with numbered buttons designating individual regiments. George Washington advocated for the hunting shirt, a coarse linen shirt with a cape and an array of fringe, from the western reaches of Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Then the Continental Congress resolved that coats should be dyed brown, with each regiment distinguished by the color of their facings. Brown was one of the few things that Pennsylvanians and New England Yankees could agree upon.

By the time the Continental Army formalized blue coats, faced in red, and lined in white for the entire Continental Army, Fort Ticonderoga was already an historic ruin. Perhaps the only troops to serve at Ticonderoga clad in red, white, and blue were the soldiers of the Rhode Island Battalion, who guarded General Washington as he toured these historic grounds in July 1783, three months after the cease fire of the war for Independence.

Regiment Von Huyn

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Fort Ticonderoga on Hessians

 

Why did Britain hire German soldiers to fight the American Revolution? Discover the true story of the "Hessians," the German subsidy troops who crossed the Atlantic to help suppress the rebellion in our latest video!

In 1775, Britain faced a growing colonial rebellion with an army far smaller than those of France, Austria, or Russia. Raising and training new recruits would take years, so the British turned to a long-standing practice: hiring foreign auxiliaries. After Catherine the Great refused to send Russian troops, King George III looked to the smaller states of the Holy Roman Empire.

Americans came to call all of these soldiers "Hessians," but troops came from Hessen-Kassel, Hessen-Hanau, Anspach-Bayreuth, Waldeck, Anhalt-Zerbst, and Braunschweig. They were not mercenaries. Britain contracted with their rulers, paying subsidies for portions of their armies, which is why they were known in the period as "subsidy troops." Follow the Brunswick corps, whose treaty of January 9, 1776, was the first of its kind.

Learn how thousands of Brunswickers were organized, crossed more than 4,000 miles to reinforce Governor Guy Carleton in Canada, and settled into winter quarters in the Richelieu and St. Lawrence valleys during the 1776 campaign on Lake Champlain.

Watch our latest video to learn more about the growing international repercussions of the American Revolution!

Introducing: Hessian Reenacting!

 

Battle of the Plains of Abraham

 

Today in 1759. Battle of the Plains of Abraham - Wikipedia

Now we have a French Revwar group in the UK it is time to get a Hessian group going.

 Reenactors portraying soldiers from the Regiment Prinz Friedrich at Fort Ticonderoga 's "Brown's Raid" living history program.

Quebec

 

Today in 1755

The Battle of Lake George was fought on 8 September 1755, in the north of the Province of New York.^[2] It was part of a campaign by the British to expel the French from North America, in the French and Indian War.^[3] General Jean-Armand, and Baron Dieskau led a variety of regulars and irregulars. William Johnson led an army consisting solely of colonial irregulars and Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) warriors under Hendrick Theyanoguin. The battle consisted of three separate phases and ended in victory for the British and their allies.^[4] Afterward, Johnson built Fort William Henry in order to consolidate his gains.
 

Fort Welch Thuringia Germany photo Tim Mackenzie

 It's the dream of all frontier reenactors to have a fort to play with and these guys have achieved it so congratulations to them. This has been the base for the German Butlers Rangers. Class.

Survey from HaT

HaT is hoping to expand their 1/32 line; their next offering looks to be ARW British Infantry. They have posted a non-binding survey to ask folks how they would want their ARW British sets configured. For those of you not familiar with HaT they did this often with their 1/72 sets.

[https://hat72.com/Crowd132British.php]

Life and Death of a French Soldier in the American War of Independence 1778-1781 by Bertrand Jost

 Life and Death of a French Soldier in the American War of Independence 1778-1781 eBook : JOST, BERTRAND: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

Through extensive research, the author reconstructed the story of a young French foot soldier from his enlistment in the King’s army in 1778 to his death in November 1781, shortly after the battle of Yorktown. The story of Hans Stiegel serves as a thread to paint a broader picture of the American War of Independence through the eyes of the lower French ranks and helps answer some of the fundamental questions behind the reality of this war. Why did these men enlist? How were they treated by their aristocratic officers? What was military life like in the barracks of France, in the colonies and while on expedition in America? What was it like to cross the Atlantic on an overcrowded transport? Upon arrival, what did these uneducated men think of the Americans they encountered: soldiers, civilians and slaves? What did they think of America itself and what was it like to fight in Yorktown when one had to spend the nights digging trenches under constant enemy shelling and days fighting British sorties or storming enemy positions?To portray the war through the eyes of an enlisted soldier, the author focused on previously overlooked details in a large set of officers’ accounts, incorporated new less known and unpublished sources and studied regiment rolls to gather details and statistics on the war casualties. It took sixteen years to compile this extensive material, translate it and weave it into a chronological account.

Newtown 1779

 

The Battle of Newtown (August 29, 1779) was the only major battle of the Sullivan Expedition, an armed offensive led by Major General John Sullivan that was ordered by George Washington to end the threat of the Haudenosaunee who had sided with the British in the American Revolutionary War. Opposing Sullivan's four brigades were 250 Loyalist soldiers from Butler's Rangers, commanded by Major John Butler, and 350 Haudenosaunee and Lenape (Delaware). Butler and Mohawk war leader Joseph Brant did not want to make a stand at Newtown, and instead proposed to harass the enemy on the march, but were overruled by Sayenqueraghta and other Indigenous war leaders.

This battle, which was the most significant military engagement of the campaign, took place at the foot of a hill along the Chemung River just outside what is now Elmira, New York.

French army Osprey

 A really fine book. 1992.

The French forces that fought during the American War of Independence (1775-1783) were, to a large extent, a product of the disasters of the Seven Years' War (1756-1763). During that war the fleet had been swept off the oceans, and nearly all colonies had been lost. Sweeping reforms were demanded. From the end of 1762 a series of royal orders dictated by common sense and good planning were signed by the king, and a vast reorganisation was started, ensuring that the army that fought in the American War presented a very different, altogether more formidable threat to her foes.

The French Army in the American War of Independence: : Men-at-Arms René Chartrand Osprey Publishing - Osprey

1/32 American Revolutionary War French Infantry Crowdfunding Project

1/32 American Revolutionary War French Infantry Crowdfunding

This looks great. I love this scale and the French are very interesting to me. 

Battle of Kenapacomaqua 1791

Today in history. Battle of Kenapacomaqua - Wikipedia

Oriskany 1777

 An Account at Oriskany |

The Battle of Oriskany (/ɔːrˈɪskəniː/ or /əˈrɪskəniː/) was a major engagement of the Saratoga campaign during the American Revolutionary War. On August 6, 1777, an American column of Tryon County militia and Oneidas marching to relieve the siege of Fort Stanwix was ambushed by a contingent of Britain's Indigenous allies and Loyalists. It was one of the few battles of the war in which most non-Indigenous participants were settlers born in the Thirteen Colonies. The Americans suffered heavy casualties during the battle.he Battle

Stomping Freedom

 Film Storyboard

A new historical film titled "Stomping Freedom", produced by Caesar's Ford Theatre, Inc. and directed by Kane Stratton. Jake portrays Weyanpersenwa (Whirlpool/Blue Jacket) in the film. Director @kanestratton stated: "an homage to the dignity and pride of American Indian peoples who resisted the American Revolution, this film will show you a side of history that's not ever been seen before."

There are more photos and information about this film on the American Indian-led arts nonprofit Caesar's Ford Theatre website, cftohio.org/film-storyboard .

New France & Old England 30th

 New France & Old England 30th anniversary | Facebook

It is nearly 30 years since our first major event at the American Museum Bath. Join the FB group if you are interested.

St Malo drill

 At Fort de Petit Bé two Compagnies franches de la Marine units, one the le Lys sous l'Erable, based in France, and the other Garnison de Quebec, from Canada. They did some excellent demonstrations of the 1755 French infantry exercises and also explanations and demonstrations of 18th century infantry tactics. 

The Battle of Minisink

 The Battle of Minisink took place during the American Revolutionary War at Minisink Ford, New York, on July 22, 1779. It was the only major skirmish of the Revolutionary War fought in the upper Delaware River valley. The battle was a decisive Iroquois and Loyalist victory, as the Patriot militia was hastily assembled, ill-equipped and inexperienced.

Could You Survive the French and Indian War? | Braddock's Defeat 1755

 Could you survive one of the toughest military campaigns in history - the Braddock expedition to the North American wilderness in 1755? Watch to find out

Defenders of New France

 2027. 

Fully illustrated, this lively study tells the story of the forces fighting for Montcalm and New France during the struggle for Canada in 1754–63.

During the French and Indian War, the defenders of New France were led by the redoubtable Louis-Joseph de Montcalm, whose initial battles with the British and their allies in 1756–58 culminated in the momentous clash on the Plains of Abraham in 1759. In this lively study, Robbie MacNiven examines the various forces led by Montcalm in Canada at a formative time in that country's history.

Montcalm's forces were composed of recently arrived regular French Army troops alongside locally recruited militia and seasoned French colonial infantry, working in conjunction with a number of First Nations peoples hostile to the British. All elements of the diverse forces defending New France are assessed in this engaging account, drawing upon the latest research and findings from the battlefields and garrisons of 18th-century Canada. The fighting men involved are depicted in detail in the period illustrations and specially commissioned artwork plates.

Fort Niagara 2026

 

Versailles in France.

 

Event in France

 

Nagara 300

 Join us as we celebrate the 300th anniversary of a true historic gem — our 1726 French Castle!

On Rededication Day Saturday, June 6, the Fort will present:

Ongoing living history demonstrations of skills and trades needed to build the French Castle

Immersive programs about soldier life

A glimpse into the historical interactions between the French and Indigenous peoples

Don't miss out! Purchase your ticket today!

https://www.oldfortniagara.org/special-events

#thingstodo #militaryhistory #familyfun

Battle of Stillman's Run

 Battle of Stillman's Run - Wikipedia

The Battle of Stillman's Run, also known as the Battle of Sycamore Creek or the Battle of Old Man's Creek, occurred in Illinois on May 14, 1832. The battle was named for the panicked retreat by Major Isaiah Stillman and his detachment of 275 Illinois militia after being attacked by an unknown number of Sauk warriors of Black Hawk's British Band. 

Pulteney's Regiment

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'The regiment recently spent a day filming for a Documentary on the 7 Years War in North America. Some private woodland in Worcestershire provided a wonderful setting as the backwoods of the Ohio Valley, Pennsylvania.

We were joined by our friends from the Edinburgh City Guard and the Worcestershire Cavalry. The documentary will be out in July, but here are some sneak preview shots courtesy of Manth Photography

If you'd like to get involved with events like this, and wear a red coat for King George II, please send us a message. New recruits are always welcome.'