The information presented in this post is taken from the following sources:
Burgoyne, Bruce E. Waldeck Soldiers of the American Revolutionary War, (Westminster, MD: Heritage Books, 1991.)
Burgoyne, Bruce E. The 3rd English-Waldeck Regiment in the American Revolution, (Westminster, MD: Heritage Books, 1999.)
Calnek, William A. History of the County of Annapolis, (originally published in 1897 by William Briggs, Toronto; reprinted by the Mika Publishing Company, Belleville, Ontario, 1980.)
Lewis, James A. Neptune's Militia: The Frigate South Carolina during the American Revolution, (Kent, OH: The Kent State University Press, 1999.)
Wright, H. Millard. Nova Scotia Waldeckers: German Mercenaries Who Fought in the American Revolutionary War and Settled in Nova Scotia in 1783, (Halifax, Nova Scotia: H. Millard Wright, 2003.)
This post will continue to exploration of the similarities that do exist between the men of the 3rd Waldeck Regiment who accepted the proffered British land grants in Nova Scotia and those from the same regiment who deserted their prisoner of war status either at The Havana, Cuba or possibly previously at some point of incarceration prior to their arrival at The Havana, Cuba and meeting Commodore Alexander Gillon, Commanding Officer of the frigate South Carolina. The writer of this overall blog has indicated in the previous post that these similarities may be tenuous but, do indeed exist. Both groups of these common German soldiers contributed to the further development of the countries in which they chose to settle, whether that was in Canada or south of the border in the new United States.
The writer of this blog will begin with that small group of Waldeckers who settled in Nova Scotia along what became known as the Bear River area. Calnek's. work, History of the County of Annapolis, pages 243-244, gives a thorough description of the area that came to be known as the township of Clement:
"The township was created in 1784, by a grant to George Sutherland and two hundred and forty others, mostly German Loyalists, or to speak more correctly, German troops, who had been in the service of the Crown against the revolted colonies, and who came to Nova Scotia after the Peace of 1783. It is bounded in the north by the Annapolis Basin and River; on the east by the township of Annapolis, and other lands of the county; on the south by other lands of the county; and on the west by the township of Digby - or what was the township of Digby until the county of that name was erected, after which the new township of Hillsburgh formed its western boundary. It is nearly in the form of a square, and contains much fine land, though it is generally believed to be inferior to in agricultural capabilities to some of its sister townships. Bear River, or more properly Imbert's River, now its western boundary for some distance, is a fine stream forming the outlet to the sea of a system of beautiful lakes in the interior portion of this section of the Province...
There are two settlements in the western part of this division of the county, called respectively the "Waldeck" and "Hessian" Lines, which were originally begun by the disbanded Waldeckers and Hessians, who sought refuge here at the close of that revolutionary struggle which their best efforts had failed to bring to a successful conclusion, an issue then so ardently desired by Great Britain.These settlements were formed on lines parallel to each other and two miles apart, their directions being nearly east and west, and are still, in part, cultivated by their descendants, who, at this day, are scarcely distinguishable from the other inhabitants by any peculiarity of language or custom, a fact that may be accounted for by another, namely, that the English tongue only has been taught in the schools there, while intermarriages with the settlers of Britiah origin have been constant and common.".
(Note: there is evidence provided as to why the river spoken of in the former of the above two paragraphs arrived at its current name of the Bear River. According to Calnek's work, History of the County of Annapolis, pages 256-257, note that this body of water is marked as "St. Anthony's River" on Samuel de Champlains map. But, on January 13, 1613, a small French supply vessel, commanded by Captain Simon Imbert, was driven into the mouth of this river by a violent storm. When the storm had subsided, the crew of the supply vessel realized that they had sheltered behind a small island in the mouth of this river and began to refer to the river as Imbert's River, even though the actual proper spelling of the commanding Captain's last name is Imbare. Over time, the effects of further derivation of the origin name changed it to the Bear River.)
H. Millard Wright's work, Nova Scotia Waldeckers, thoroughly explores this subject and cites each of the ethnic German settlers by name and the specific lot on which they were settled along the Bear River. According to Wright's work, page 92, " ...the lots were generally 528 feet wide and one and one half miles in length.". The previous post pointed out that the vicissitudes of rural, frontier living took its toll on both the settlements known as the Waldeck Line and the Hessian Line. Wright's work, page 94, continues with the following passage:
"The Waldeck Line survived longer than the Hessian Line, partly because the soil was better for farming and partly because its inhabitants were from the same state. In any event, the history of the Hessian and Waldeck Lines as distinctly German settlements abruptly came to an end by 1788 and became a history instead of men, women and children struggling to maintain their identity in the face of inevitable submersion by their English-speaking neighbors. Without government support, many returned to the United States or Upper Canada. Also, Halifax afforded them scope for the use of their skills.".
According to Wright's work, Nova Scotia Waldeckers, page 99, twenty former Waldecker soldiers settled along the Bear River in Nova Scotia on British Crown land grants made to them while they were still in New York at the cessation of hostilities in 1783. There were enough parcels of land to settle twenty-four men and their families but, only twenty accepted the offer of land in Nova Scotia and subsequently settled there. Wright cites the men and their dependents but, also proceeds to provide a brief biography on each of the Waldeck men that formed the population of what became known as the "Waldeck Line" of Bear River. Wright also provides the company affiliation of each of the men when they were still members of the of the 3rd Waldeck Regiment in the colonies. Calnek's work, History of the County of Annapolis, pages 246-247, provides a lengthier list of all the first land grantees along the Bear River area in what became the community of Clements, Nova Scotia. Yet, the spellings of these men's names display so much discrepancy, the writer of this blog has decided to rely on Burgoyne's transcriptions of their names as being more reliable in the transliteration of the correct spellings of their last names. All three forms of these men's last names will be provided here, along with the company affiliations of each man when they were members of the 3rd Waldeck Regiment. The reasoning of this last point will be made clear at a latter point in this post:
Wright's Spelling: Calnek's Spelling: Burgoyne's Spelling:
Baker, Christopher Baker, Samuel Becker, Christian
3rd Company (possibly; otherwise, not cited) 3rd Company
Bohne, Dr. Frederick Boehme, Frederic Boehme, Frederich
3rd Company 3rd Company
Buehler, Capt. Jacob Boehler, Jacob not cited, not a Waldecker
Georgia Militia
Duchshere, Johann Tusher, George Tuchscheer, Georg
3rd Company, later 2nd Company 3rd Company, later 2nd Company
Fitzer, Michael not cited Pfitzer, Michael no Company affiliation 3rd Company
Hamm, Peter Hamm, Peter Hamm, Peter
3rd Company, later 5th Company 3rd Company, later 5th Company
Hartman, Anton Hartman, Anton Hartmann, Anton
3rd Company 3rd Company
Klahold, Casper not cited Klahold, Kaspar
3rd Company 3rd Company
Kunsch, John Kohn, John Kuhn, Johannes 3rd Company, later 5th Company 3rd Company, later 5th Company
Muller, Johann Peter Miller, Peter Mueller, Johann Peter
4th Company 4th Company
Pickel, Casper Picket, Caspar Pickel, Kaspar
3rd Company, later 5th Company 3rd Company, later 5th Company
Rohling, Phillip Rollo, Captain Roehling, Philipp
4th Company (possibly; otherwise, not cited) 4th Company
Schnieder, Thomas not cited Schneider, Thomas
3rd Company, later 5th Company 3rd Company, later 5th Company
Slatterbeck, Michael Schlaudelbeck, Michael Schlauderbeck, Michael
3rd Company 3rd Company
Suh, Frederick Scok, Frederic Seck, Friedrich Joseph
2nd Company, later 4th Company 2nd Company, later 4th Company
Turger, John Turner, John Gerger, Johannes
3rd Company, later 1st Company 3rd Company, later 1st Company
Wagner, Nicholas Wagner, Nicholas Wagener, Nikolaus
3rd Company, later 5th Company 3rd Company, later 5th Company
Weisenborn, John Wessenborn, John Weissenborn, Johannes
3rd Company 3rd Company
Zenecke, Erdmann Zenava, Edmund Zenecke, Erdmann
artillery, later 3rd Company artillery, later 3rd Company
Ziegler, Francis Seidler, Andrew Ziegler, Franz
5th Company, later 3rd Company (possibly; otherwise, not cited) 5th Company, later 3rd Company
It is completely understandable that the spellings of these men's names would change over the vast amount of time that has passed since they took their pro-offered land grants from the Crown and decided to make Nova Scotia their new home. Frequently, scribes who were recording this information might be less than exacting in their record keeping. Also, Calnek was writing in the 19th century and Wright was writing in the late 20th/early 21st centuries. This is the reason for the writer of this blog relying on Burgoyne's writings and his spellings of these men's names. Burgoyne has had years of experience with German primary sources and has spent a considerable amount of time in the German archival institutions. He has written extensively on the German auxiliary troops who served during the American Revolution. He is also fluent in German and understands the nuances of the language. This is not to say that the previous two writers are inaccurate or faulty in their research. The reasoning simply tends towards that of solid and continued experience and contact with the primary sources.
There does exist one glaring peculiarity in the above cited list of settlers along the Bear River in Nova Scotia. Of these twenty cited men, fully fifteen of them have experience in either the 3rd Company, the 5th Company, or in several of the cases, both of these companies of the 3rd Waldeck Regiment. A comparison of these Waldeck settlers in Nova Scotia and the known twelve who deserted their prisoner of war status at The Havana, Cuba and signed on board the frigate South Carolina shows the following striking similarities of company affiliation. All of the men cited below deserted their prisoner of war status at The Havana, Cuba and signed on board the patriot frigate. This information and much more concerning them are all to be found in the post entitled "'Another Group of German Soldiers on board the Frigate South Carolina' - Additional Information on Other, Previously Unknown Members of the 3rd Waldeck Regiment Who Also Served on board the Frigate South Carolina, Pt. IV -" and was posted on "08/20/2015". For the sake of brevity, as well as not wanting to repeat previous information which can still be found on this site, the writer of this blog will only cite pertinent information as regards the company affiliations of these twelve deserters:
Phillip Duesse 5th Company
Christian Figge 3rd Company
Johannes Goeberl 3rd Company
Karl Kleine 3rd Company
Johannes Meuscke 3rd Company
Johannes Risch 5th Company
Friedrich Rodewald 5th Company
Christoph Roemer 1st (Grenadier) Company
Johann Georg Schimmel 5th Company
Johannes Tuitel 5th Company
Johann Henrich Weber 1st (Grenadier) Company
Henrich Zimmerman 5th Company
A cursory glance at this brief list of Waldeck deserters indicates that six of them came from the 5th Company, four of them came from the 3rd Company, and two of them came from the 1st or Grenadier Company. Again, the list cited earleir of the Nova Scotia settlers from the 3rd Waldeck Regiment, fully fifteen of these men were from either the 3rd Company, the 5th Company, or from both of these companies, having been transferred from one company into the other later in the war. There also exists an single individual in the previous list - Johannes Gerger - who began his service in the 3rd Company and later transferred into the 1st Company. Two of the deserters - Christoph Roemer and Johann Henrich Weber - are cited as having been members of the 1st Company.
This writer's point has no doubt already become clear to his readership - these men, the ones who chose land grants in Nova Scotia and those who deserted their prisoner of war status in The Havana, Cuba, probably knew each other. All of the Waldeck personnel who deserted their prisoner of war status in The Havana, Cuba did so between the dates of March 19 and 31, 1782, while the frigate South Carolina was moored in The Havana, Cuba's harbor. All of them without exception were initially captured on September 21, 1779 when a small vessel carrying them up the Mississippi River at Baton Rouge was waylaid and captured by the Spanish forces there. The remainder of the 3rd Waldeck Regiment would have been surrendered at the fall of Pensacola, Florida to the forces of Bernardo de Galvez on May 10, 1781. These men would have been loaded on Spanish vessels and transported under parole to New York, there to serve out the war in garrison and other fatigue duties due to the terms of their parole from the Spanish. But, as the garrison of New York was evacuating the city in the summer of 1783, word of the offer of British land grants being made available to German troops would have circulated among the rank and file. The promise of owning private lands was most definitely too great for some of the Waldeck troops and they took the offered land and were subsequently discharged from the regiment at Flatbush, New York on July 15, 1783.
The men who were captured by the Spanish at Baton Rouge were never seen again by the remainder of the 3rd Waldeck Regiment. Only one deserter - Corporal Christoph Roemer - was known to have "rejoined" the regiment in December 1782. He is also cited as having deserted again at Flatbush, New York on July 2, 1783. The details of his known life are cited in the post entitled "'A Solitary German Soldier on board the Frigate South Carolina' : Corporal Christoph Roemer of the 1st (Grenadier) Company of the 3rd Waldeck Regiment and Henry Roemer, Lieutenant of Marines - A Case of Possible Confused Identity, Pt. VI" and was posted on "06/13/2016". Possibly, for him there was no offer of land grants in Nova Scotia due to his earlier "indiscretion" and service with the enemy. But, it is also possible that the draw of a future here in the Americas worked on Christoph Roemer that same way it did on the twenty Waldeckers who soon sailed for Nova Scotia. Only he would remain by choice south of the international boundary, probably the same way his fellow Waldeck deserters did also. After all, several of them filed stub indents against the state of South Carolina after the conclusion of the war in 1783.
One final irony of war here. The township at which the members of the 3rd Waldeck Regiment were discharged was known as Flatbush, New York. This is the same locale from which Christoph Roemer would effect his second desertion from the ranks of the 3rd Waldeck Regiment on July 2, 1783. After the capture of the frigate South Carolina on December 21, 1782, several of the officers of the frigate were paroled on Long Island where they could secure accommodations for themselves and live with some degree of comfort for the remainder of the war awaiting their exchanges after the conclusion of the war. At least one American officer - Lieutenant of Marines John Henderson - was know to have found accommodations in Flatbush, New York. He documented his discontent with his living situation and circumstances in a letter to a Quaker friend, Mr. Stacy Potts of Trenton, New Jersey. This is all cited in the post entitled "'...Our Situation Must Soon Become Extremely Disagreeable...': Lieutenant of Marines John Henderson of the Frigate South Carolina and His Letter from Captivity to Mr. Stacy Potts of Trenton, New Jersey, January 7, 1783 -" and was posted on "03/02/2017". It is not known whether or not John Henderson and Christoph Roemer ever encountered one another or if they even knew of the other's presence there in the heavily Dutch community of Flatbush, New York. But, it seems very ironic that the "fortunes of war" would bring all these men from far-flung homelands together in this small geographical space at the end of the great upheaval we know today as the American Revolution.