Hessian 62nd Regiment

Hessian 62nd Regiment
Unit name	Hessian 62nd Regiment
Native name	Regiment von Knyphausen (Frederick)
Country	Hesse-Kassel
Branch	Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel
Type	Infantry
Role	Line infantry
Dates	1776–1783
Notable commanders	Friedrich Wilhelm von Knyphausen

Hessian 62nd Regiment was a line infantry regiment raised in the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel and contracted to the Kingdom of Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War. Recruited under the terms of a subsidy treaty between Landgrave Frederick II of Hesse-Kassel and King George III, the regiment served in several major campaigns alongside British units such as the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, the 1st Foot Guards, and the Queen’s Rangers. It took part in operations in the New York and New Jersey campaign, the Saratoga campaign, and garrison duties across the Middle Colonies.

Formation and Organization

The regiment was formed in Kassel as part of a broader expansion of Hesse-Kassel forces authorized by Landgrave Frederick II of Hesse-Kassel and negotiated by envoys to London under the Subsidy Treaty of 1776. Muster rolls and pay lists show recruitment from districts including Hanau, Fritzlar, and Kassel (city), with officers commissioned through ties to families such as von Knyphausen and von Donop. The establishment followed contemporary Prussian-influenced regulations mirrored by units like the Hessian Jägerkorps and the Brunswick Corps, organizing into ten companies, each commanded by a captain and subalterns drawn from the Hesse-Kassel officer corps. The regiment’s adjutant staff kept correspondence with the British War Office and the Paymaster General in London for transport, clothing, and subsidy payments.

Service in the American Revolutionary War

Embarked from Cuxhaven and landed in New York City after convoying with ships contracted by the British Admiralty, the regiment was brigaded with other German contingents such as the Hesse-Hanau Regiment von Erbprinz and elements of the Brunswick-Lüneburg forces. It saw early service in the New York and New Jersey campaign, including postings on Long Island and Staten Island alongside the British 42nd Regiment of Foot and detachments from the Royal Artillery. During the Saratoga campaign, elements of the regiment participated in foraging operations, rear-guard actions, and garrison defense; following the Surrender of Burgoyne some companies were redeployed to defensive duties in the Hudson Highlands and around Philadelphia. The unit also performed security and occupation duties in New Jersey and along the Delaware River, interacting with Loyalist formations like the Queen's Rangers and facing partisan resistance led by figures such as Francis Marion and Daniel Morgan.

Commanding Officers and Notable Personnel

The regiment’s colonelcy was held by members of the von Knyphausen family, notably Friedrich Wilhelm von Knyphausen, whose correspondence with Sir William Howe and General Henry Clinton records operational orders and administrative concerns. Other field officers included captains and lieutenants who later appear in lists alongside names from Hesse-Kassel’s aristocracy and professional military families, many of whom had previous service in the Seven Years' War and familiarity with the regulations of Frederick the Great. Notable non-commissioned officers and specialists—drummers, sergeant-majors, and surgeon’s mates—interacted with British medical officers such as Dr. William F. Hamilton and quartermasters attached to the British Army.

Uniforms, Equipment, and Tactics

Uniform regulations followed Hesse-Kassel patterns influenced by Prussia and reflected in contemporary plates and paintings alongside depictions of the Hessian Garrison Uniform. Soldiers wore coats with facing colors and lapels indicative of their regiment, tricorn or mitre-style caps for grenadier detachments, and carried muskets of the Brown Bess pattern supplied through British ordnance contracts or locally procured muskets from Hesse-Kassel arsenals. Accoutrements included cartridge boxes stamped with the regiment’s distinguishing marks, bayonets, and leather waistbelts similar to those used by the British 23rd Regiment of Foot. Tactically, the regiment employed linear drill and volley fire taught in the tradition of Frederick the Great and used in coordination with Royal Artillery batteries and cavalry escorts such as elements of the 3rd Dragoon Guards.

Engagements and Casualties

The regiment was engaged in actions associated with the New York Campaign and the Saratoga Campaign, including skirmishing during the Battle of White Plains and guard duties during the Philadelphia Campaign. Records indicate casualties from combat, disease, and captivity, notably during the aftermath of the Surrender of Burgoyne when detachments were captured or paroled. Muster rolls and hospital returns cite losses to fever and dysentery common among European troops in the American climate, and several officers were listed as killed or mortally wounded in minor engagements and ambuscades by Continental forces and militia under commanders like Benedict Arnold and Horatio Gates.

Legacy and Post-war Disposition

After the Treaty of Paris (1783) and the disbandment of contracted forces, surviving members returned to Hesse-Kassel where their service influenced veteran payment disputes adjudicated by the Landgrave’s Council and memorialized in regimental rolls and local chronicles in Kassel. The regiment’s material culture—buttons, badges, and surviving uniforms—entered collections in institutions such as the Hessisches Landesmuseum Kassel and private collections documented in regimental histories alongside studies of the German auxiliaries in the American Revolutionary War. The experience of the regiment had lasting impact on Hesse-Kassel military administration and contributed to nineteenth-century debates in Prussia and other German states on the use of contracted troops in foreign wars.

Category:Military units and formations of Hesse-Kassel Category:German auxiliaries in the American Revolutionary War