Hessian (soldier)
Hessians were German soldiers who served as auxiliaries to the British Army during the American Revolutionary War and the Irish Rebellion of 1798. The Hessians were contracted by Great Britain and others as mercenaries in several 18th century European wars, but are most associated with the American Revolution, where around 30,000 German soldiers fought for the British during the war, forming a quarter of the troops sent to British America; the term Hessians is used by Americans to refer to all German troops fighting on the British side, a form of synecdoche as 65% of the German troops came from the German states of Hesse-Kassel and Hesse-Hanau, while the remainder were leased from other small German states. The Hessians were led by Wilhelm von Knyphausen, entering British service as entire units, fighting under their own German flags, commanded by their usual officers, wearing their existing uniforms; the use of German troops to suppress a rebellion in the British colonies angered the American patriots, one of the 27 colonial grievances against King George III in the Declaration of Independence was "transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries".
The small German states of the Holy Roman Empire had professional armies, which their ruling princes sometimes hired out for service with other armies as auxiliaries. When military conflict broke out, the German states provided a ready supply of trained troops, prepared to go into action immediately. Hesse-Kassel was prominent in this role: Between 1706 and 1707, 10,000 Hessians served as a corps in Eugene of Savoy's army in Italy before moving to the Spanish Netherlands in 1708. In 1714, 6,000 Hessians were rented to Sweden for its war with Russia whilst 12,000 Hessians were hired by George I of Great Britain in 1715 to combat the Jacobite Rebellion.... In the midst of the War of the Austrian Succession in 1744, 6,000 Hessians were fighting with the British army in Flanders whilst another 6,000 were in the Bavarian army. By 1762, 24,000 Hessians were serving with Ferdinand of Brunswick's army in Germany. In most of these wars, Hesse-Kassel never became a belligerent by declaring war on any other country.
The troops were hired out for service in other armies, Hesse-Kassel itself had no stake in the outcome of the war. Thus, it was possible for Hessians to serve with the British and Bavarian armies in the War of the Austrian Succession though Britain and Bavaria were on opposite sides of the war. In the Seven Years' War, the forces of Hesse-Kassel served with both the Anglo-Hanoverian and the Prussian armies against the French. In July 1758, the city of Kassel and most of the principality was occupied by a French army under Charles, Prince of Soubise overcoming the home defence force of 6,000 Hessian militia. Soubise ordered his troops to live off the land while taking high-ranking hostages and extorting payments of cash and produce. However, Hessian forces together with their allies attempted to liberate their homeland but were repulsed at the Battle of Sanderhausen on 23 July, they participated in the first Siege of Cassel in 1761 and the second Siege of Cassel in 1762, surrendered by the French that November, the last action of the whole war.
To field a large professional army with a small population, Hesse-Kassel became the most militarized state in Europe. The country maintained 5.2% to 6.7% of its population under arms in the 18th century, a larger proportion than heavily-militarized Prussia. In contrast to Prussia, which relied in part on mercenaries from other German states, Hesse-Kassel employed only Landeskinder. One in four households had someone serving in the army. Hesse-Kassel manufactured its own uniforms, its textile industry was so prosperous that workers could afford to buy wine every day. Subsidy payments from Great Britain were used to build public works and buildings, taxes were reduced by one-third from the early 1760s to 1784. In 1884, the American historian Edward Jackson Lowell lauded the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel for spending the British money wisely, describing him as "one of the least disreputable of the princes who sent mercenaries to America."The characterization of Hessian troops as "mercenaries" remains controversial over two centuries later.
American history textbooks refer to the Hessians as "mercenaries." American historian Charles Ingrao said that the local prince had turned Hesse into a "mercenary state" by renting out his regiments to fund his government. However, British historian Stephen Conway called them "Britannia's auxiliaries." Canadian military historian Rodney Atwood explained that jurists of the time drew a distinction between auxiliaries and mercenaries. Auxiliaries served their prince and were sent to the aid of another prince, while mercenaries served a foreign prince as individuals. Great Britain maintained a small standing army, so it found itself in great need of troops at the outset of the American Revolutionary War. Several German princes saw an opportunity to earn some extra income by hiring out their regular army units for service in America, they entered the British service not as individuals but in entire units, with their usual uniforms, flags and officers. Methods of recruitment varied according to the state of origin.
The contingent from Waldeck for example was drawn from a principality army based on universal conscription, from which only students were exempt. Other German princes relied on long-service voluntary enlistment supplemented by conscription and the press-gang when numbers fell short. Many of t
Cheval de frise
The cheval de frise was a medieval defensive anti-cavalry measure consisting of a portable frame covered with many projecting long iron or wooden spikes or spears. They were principally intended as an anti-cavalry obstacle but could be moved to help block a breach in another barrier, they remained in occasional use until they were replaced by wire obstacles just after the American Civil War. During the Civil War, the Confederates used this type of barrier more than the Union forces. During World War I, armies used. Barbed wire chevaux de frise were used in jungle fighting on south Pacific islands during World War II; the term is applied to defensive works comprising a series of set upright stones found outside the ramparts of Iron Age hillforts in northern Europe. In French, cheval de frise means "Frisian horse"; the Frisians, having few cavalry, relied on such anti-cavalry obstacles in warfare. The Dutch adopted use of the defensive device when at war with Spain; the term came to be used for any spiked obstacle, such as broken glass embedded in mortar on the top of a wall.
The cheval de frise was adapted in New York and Pennsylvania during the American Revolutionary War as a defensive measure installed in rivers to prevent upriver movement by enemy ships. During the American Revolutionary War, Robert Erskine designed an anti-ship version of the cheval-de-frise to prevent British warships from proceeding up the Hudson River. A cheval-de-frise was placed between Fort Washington at northern Manhattan and Fort Lee in New Jersey in 1776; the following year construction began on another one to the north of West Point at Pollepel Island, but it was overshadowed by completion of The Great Chain across the Hudson in 1778, used through 1782. Similar devices planned by Ben Franklin and designed by Robert Smith were used in the Delaware River near Philadelphia, between Fort Mifflin and Fort Mercer. Two other lines of chevaux-de-frise were placed across the Delaware River at Marcus Hook and Fort Billingsport, New Jersey as a first line of defense for Philadelphia against the British naval forces.
A cheval-de-frise was retrieved from the Delaware River in Philadelphia on November 13, 2007 in excellent condition, after more than two centuries in the river. In November 2012, a 29-foot spike from a cheval-de-frise was recovered from the Delaware off Bristol Township. A small promontory on the north-east Essex coast in the United Kingdom, between Holland Haven and Frinton-on-Sea, was named Chevaux de Frise Point
James Clinton
Major-General James Clinton was an American Revolutionary War officer who, with John Sullivan, led the Sullivan Expedition. He obtained the rank of brevet major general. Clinton was born in Ulster County in the colony of New York, at Little Britain in the town of New Windsor, now part of Orange County, New York, he was the third son of Col. Charles Clinton, an Anglo-Irish colonist and a colonel in the French and Indian War who emigrated to New Ulster in 1729, Elizabeth Denniston, he was the brother of George Clinton, Governor of New York from 1777 to 1795 and U. S. Vice President from 1805 to 1812, the grandson of James Clinton, the great-grandson of William Clinton, a royalist officer in the army of Charles I of England. James Clinton's military experience began in the French and Indian War, where he served in the provincial troops of New York, he was commissioned an ensign in 1757 and achieved the rank of captain in the New York Regiment in 1759. In 1758, commanding a company, he participated, along with his father and brother George, in General John Bradstreet’s capture of Fort Frontenac.
He and his brother played a key role in capturing a French vessel. James remained in the army, stationed at various frontier posts. In 1763 he raised and commanded a corps of two hundred men, who were designated as "Guards of the Frontier". After the war he married Mary De Witt. A month after the first open armed conflict in Lexington, the Continental Congress resolved on May 25, 1775 to build fortifications in the Hudson highlands for the purpose of protecting and maintaining control of the Hudson River. James Clinton and Christopher Tappan, lifetime residents of the area, were sent to scout appropriate locations. Clinton was commissioned as the colonel of the 3rd New York Regiment, which took part in Brig. Gen. Richard Montgomery’s unsuccessful expedition to Quebec in 1775. In March 1776, Clinton took command of the 2nd New York Regiment and soon after, in August, was promoted to brigadier general in the Continental Army, he served most of the war along the New York frontier. During the Saratoga Campaign in 1777, he commanded Fort Clinton in the Hudson Highlands.
He participated in a successful effort to prevent British General Sir Henry Clinton from rescuing General John Burgoyne at Saratoga, but he and his troops were unable to hold Forts Clinton and Montgomery. Clinton sustained. In 1778 he was stationed in Albany to oppose Tory forces. In 1779, Clinton led an expedition down the Susquehanna River after making the upper portion navigable by damming up the river's source at Otsego Lake, allowing the lake's level to rise, destroying the dam and flooding the river for miles downstream; this event is described by James Fenimore Cooper in the introduction to his popular novel The Pioneers, commemorated by a Memorial Day canoe race. At Tioga, New York, Clinton met up with General John Sullivan's forces, who had marched from Easton, Pennsylvania. Together, on August 29, they defeated the Indians at the Battle of Newtown; this became known as the "Sullivan-Clinton Campaign" or the "Sullivan Expedition." In 1780, Clinton temporarily commanded the Northern Department.
By October 1781, his brigade had joined George Washington's army in the siege of Yorktown. After he left the army, Clinton served on the commission defining the New York-Pennsylvania boundary. In 1783 General Clinton became an original member of the New York Society of the Cincinnati, he served as an assemblyman in the New York State legislature from 1787-1788 and again from 1800-1801, as a New York State Senator from 1788-1792. On February 18, 1765, James Clinton married his first wife, Mary DeWitt, the only daughter of Egbert DeWitt, members of an old Dutch family, they had seven children, including: Alexander Clinton, who served in Colonel Lamb's regiment during the Revolution and drowned in the Hudson river Charles Clinton, who married Elizabeth Mulliner DeWitt Clinton also a Governor of New York George Clinton, Jr. who served in Congress Mary Clinton, who married Robert Burrage Norton. After his death, she married Judge Ambrose Spencer Elizabeth Clinton, who married William Stuart Katharine Clinton, who married Samuel Lake Norton, brother to her sister Mary's husband.
After his death, she married Ambrose Spencer, her sister's widowerHis second wife was Mary Gray, the widow of Alexander Gray, born in Ireland. Together and Mary were the parents of six children: James G. Clinton, who died young. Caroline Hannah Clinton, who married Charles Augustus Dewey, an Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Emma Little Clinton, who died unmarried James Graham Clinton, who married Margaret Ellsworth Conger and served in Congress. Letitia Clinton, who married Dr. Francis Bolton Anna Clinton, who married Lt. Edward RossClinton died in Little Britain, New York, on September 22, 1812, the same year as his brother George. Through his son DeWitt, he was the grandfather of ten, including George William Clinton who served as Mayor of Buffalo, New York from 1842 to 1843. Through his son George, he was the grandfather of three. Notes SourcesCampbell, William W; the Life and Writings of De Witt Clinton and Scribner, 1849 Sullivan/Clinton Expedition James Clinton at Find a Grave
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, sometimes referred to as Britain, is a sovereign country located off the north-western coast of the European mainland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state, the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east, the English Channel to the south and the Celtic Sea to the south-west, giving it the 12th-longest coastline in the world; the Irish Sea lies between Great Ireland. With an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world, it is the 22nd-most populous country, with an estimated 66.0 million inhabitants in 2017. The UK is constitutional monarchy; the current monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 1952, making her the longest-serving current head of state.
The United Kingdom's capital and largest city is London, a global city and financial centre with an urban area population of 10.3 million. Other major urban areas in the UK include Greater Manchester, the West Midlands and West Yorkshire conurbations, Greater Glasgow and the Liverpool Built-up Area; the United Kingdom consists of four constituent countries: England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Their capitals are London, Edinburgh and Belfast, respectively. Apart from England, the countries have their own devolved governments, each with varying powers, but such power is delegated by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which may enact laws unilaterally altering or abolishing devolution; the nearby Isle of Man, Bailiwick of Guernsey and Bailiwick of Jersey are not part of the UK, being Crown dependencies with the British Government responsible for defence and international representation. The medieval conquest and subsequent annexation of Wales by the Kingdom of England, followed by the union between England and Scotland in 1707 to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, the union in 1801 of Great Britain with the Kingdom of Ireland created the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. There are fourteen British Overseas Territories, the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, encompassed a quarter of the world's land mass and was the largest empire in history. British influence can be observed in the language and political systems of many of its former colonies; the United Kingdom is a developed country and has the world's fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It has a high-income economy and has a high Human Development Index rating, ranking 14th in the world, it was the world's first industrialised country and the world's foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The UK remains a great power, with considerable economic, military and political influence internationally, it is sixth in military expenditure in the world. It has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946.
It has been a leading member state of the European Union and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. The United Kingdom is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the Council of Europe, the G7, the G20, NATO, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the World Trade Organization; the 1707 Acts of Union declared that the kingdoms of England and Scotland were "United into One Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain". The term "United Kingdom" has been used as a description for the former kingdom of Great Britain, although its official name from 1707 to 1800 was "Great Britain"; the Acts of Union 1800 united the kingdom of Great Britain and the kingdom of Ireland in 1801, forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Following the partition of Ireland and the independence of the Irish Free State in 1922, which left Northern Ireland as the only part of the island of Ireland within the United Kingdom, the name was changed to the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".
Although the United Kingdom is a sovereign country, Scotland and Northern Ireland are widely referred to as countries. The UK Prime Minister's website has used the phrase "countries within a country" to describe the United Kingdom; some statistical summaries, such as those for the twelve NUTS 1 regions of the United Kingdom refer to Scotland and Northern Ireland as "regions". Northern Ireland is referred to as a "province". With regard to Northern Ireland, the descriptive name used "can be controversial, with the choice revealing one's political preferences"; the term "Great Britain" conventionally refers to the island of Great Britain, or politically to England and Wales in combination. However, it is sometimes used as a loose synonym for the United Kingdom as a whole; the term "Britain" is used both as a synonym for Great Britain, as a synonym for the United Kingdom. Usage is mixed, with the BBC preferring to use Britain as shorthand only for Great Britain and the UK Government, while accepting that both terms refer to the United K
National Park Service
The National Park Service is an agency of the United States federal government that manages all national parks, many national monuments, other conservation and historical properties with various title designations. It was created on August 25, 1916, by Congress through the National Park Service Organic Act and is an agency of the United States Department of the Interior; the NPS is charged with a dual role of preserving the ecological and historical integrity of the places entrusted to its management, while making them available and accessible for public use and enjoyment. As of 2018, the NPS employs 27,000 employees who oversee 419 units, of which 61 are designated national parks. National parks and national monuments in the United States were individually managed under the auspices of the Department of the Interior; the movement for an independent agency to oversee these federal lands was spearheaded by business magnate and conservationist Stephen Mather, as well as J. Horace McFarland. With the help of journalist Robert Sterling Yard, Mather ran a publicity campaign for the Department of the Interior.
They wrote numerous articles that praised the scenic and historic qualities of the parks and their possibilities for educational and recreational benefits. This campaign resulted in the creation of a National Park Service. On August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed a bill that mandated the agency "to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and wildlife therein, to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations." Mather became the first director of the newly formed NPS. On March 3, 1933, President Herbert Hoover signed the Reorganization Act of 1933; the act would allow the President to reorganize the executive branch of the United States government. It wasn't until that summer when the new President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, made use of this power. Deputy Director Horace M. Albright had suggested to President Roosevelt that the historic sites from the American Civil War should be managed by the National Park Service, rather than the War Department.
President Roosevelt issued two Executive orders to make it happen. These two executive orders not only transferred to the National Park Service all the War Department historic sites, but the national monuments managed by the Department of Agriculture and the parks in and around the capital, run by an independent office. In 1951, Conrad Wirth became director of the National Park Service and went to work on bringing park facilities up to the standards that the public expected; the demand for parks after the end of the World War II had left the parks overburdened with demands that could not be met. In 1952, with the support of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, he began Mission 66, a ten-year effort to upgrade and expand park facilities for the 50th anniversary of the Park Service. New parks were added to preserve unique resources and existing park facilities were upgraded and expanded. In 1966, as the Park Service turned 50 years old, emphasis began to turn from just saving great and wonderful scenery and unique natural features to making parks accessible to the public.
Director George Hartzog began the process with the creation of the National Lakeshores and National Recreation Areas. Since its inception in 1916, the National Park Service has managed each of the United States' national parks, which have grown in number over the years to 60. Yellowstone National Park was the first national park in the United States. In 1872, there was no state government to manage it, so the federal government assumed direct control. Yosemite National Park began as a state park. Yosemite was returned to federal ownership. At first, each national park was managed independently, with varying degrees of success. In Yellowstone, the civilian staff was replaced by the U. S. Army in 1886. Due to the irregularities in managing these national treasures, Stephen Mather petitioned the federal government to improve the situation. In response, Secretary of the Interior Franklin K. Lane challenged him to lobby for creating a new agency, the National Park Service, to manage all national parks and some national monuments.
Mather was successful with the ratification of the National Park Service Organic Act in 1916. The agency was given authority over other protected areas, many with varying designations as Congress created them; the National Park System includes. The title or designation of a unit need not include the term park; the System as a whole is considered to be a national treasure of the United States, some of the more famous national parks and monuments are sometimes referred to metaphorically as "crown jewels". The system encompasses 84.4 million acres, of which more than 4.3 million acres remain in private ownership. The largest unit is Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska. At 13,200,000 acres, it is over 16 percent of the entire system; the smallest unit in the system is Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial, Pennsylvania, at 0.02 acre. In addition to administering its units and other properties, the National Park Service provides technical and financial assistance to several "affiliated areas" authorized by Congress.
The largest affiliated area is New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve at 1,164,025 acres. The smallest is Benjamin Franklin National Memorial at less than 0.01 acres. Although all units of the Nat
52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot
For other units with the same regimental number, see 52nd Regiment of Foot The 52nd Regiment of Foot was a light infantry regiment of the British Army throughout much of the 18th and 19th centuries. The regiment first saw active service during the American War of Independence, were posted to India during the Anglo-Mysore Wars. During the Napoleonic Wars, the 52nd were part of the Light Division, were present at most of the major battles of the Peninsula campaign, becoming one of the most celebrated regiments, described by Sir William Napier as "a regiment never surpassed in arms since arms were first borne by men", they had the largest British battalion at Waterloo, 1815, where they formed part of the final charge against Napoleon's Imperial Guard. They were involved in various campaigns in India; the regiment was raised as a line regiment in 1755 and numbered as the "54th Foot". In 1781 the regional designation "52nd Regiment of Foot" was given, in 1803 the regiment was designated "Light Infantry".
In 1881 the regiment was merged with the 43rd Regiment of Foot to become the regiment known as the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. Throughout the period of the 52nd's existence, the British Army comprised both infantry and cavalry line regiments, as well as the Household Divisions; the regiments of the line were numbered and, from 1781, were given territorial designations – "Oxfordshire" in the 52nd's case – which represented the area from which troops were drawn. This was not rigid, most English regiments had a significant proportion of Irish and Scots. Regiments comprised at least one battalion two – as the 52nd did intermittently – and more. Commanded by a lieutenant colonel, an infantry battalion was composed of ten companies, of which eight were "centre" companies, two flank companies: one a grenadier and one a specialist light company. Companies were commanded with lieutenants and ensigns beneath him. Ideally, a battalion comprised 1000 men. If sent on active service, the 2nd battalion would be weaker.
In periods of long service, battalions were operating under strength. Under-strength battalions might be dissolved, or temporarily drafted into other regiments, as happened to the 52nd on several occasions; the 52nd was a one-battalion regiment, but increased recruiting resulted in the creation of a second battalion in 1798. While the 1st Battalion saw some action in Spain and Portugal in 1800–1801, the 2nd remained stationed in England. In 1803 the regiment's fittest officers and men were concentrated in the 1st battalion, for training as light infantry, the 2nd battalion was transferred to the 96th Foot. A new second battalion was raised in 1804. Both battalions saw extensive action during the Napoleonic Wars, they were brigaded together for a time during the Peninsula Campaign, but heavy losses at Badajoz in 1812 resulted in the reduction of the 2nd battalion to a cadre; the 2nd was reformed with new recruits and saw service in Holland in 1813–14. Following the conclusion of the war in 1814, both battalions were billeted in England, where the 2nd's effectives were transferred to the 1st battalion, in preparation for further service.
The 2/52nd remained in England during the Waterloo Campaign, were disbanded in 1815. Subsequently, the 52nd remained a one-battalion regiment until their merger with the 43rd. Raised as a regular line regiment, the 52nd fought in the line during the American wars and the early Indian campaigns, did not become a light regiment until 1803. Prior to this, the British Army had relied on irregulars and mercenaries to provide most of its light infantry or, when conditions demanded it, temporarily seconded regular line companies. While regular regiments were required to include one company of light infantry from 1758, the training of such light troops was inconsistent, inadequate; when beginning a restructure of the British Army in the late 18th century, the Duke of York recognised a need for dedicated light troops coming into a war against Napoleon and his experienced light infantry, the chasseurs. During the early war against the French, the British Army was bolstered by light infantry mercenaries from Germany and the Low Countries, but the British light infantry companies proved inadequate against the more effective French tirailleurs during the Flanders campaign, in the Netherlands in 1799, infantry reform became urgent.
In 1801, the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" was raised, a decision was made to train some line regiments in light infantry techniques, so they might operate as both light and line infantry. Sir John Moore, a proponent of the light infantry model, suggested that his own regiment of line infantry, the 52nd, undergo this training, at Shorncliffe Camp, they were followed shortly afterwards by the 43rd Foot, by whose side they would fight many campaigns as part of the Light Division. Several other famous line regiments were designated "light infantry" in 1808, such as the 85th, or The King's Regiment of Light Infantry. Moore wrote of the 52nd in his diary that "it is evident that not only the officers, but that each individual soldier, knows what he has to do; this had much to do with the method of training
