Lewis, James A. Neptune's Militia: The Frigate South Carolina during the American Revolution, (Kent, OH: The Kent State University Press, 1999.)
Reuter, Claus. Brunswick Troops in North America, 1776-1783: Index of All Soldiers Who Remained in North America, Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, 1999.)
Smith, Clifford Neal. German Mercenary Expatriates in the United States and Canada, 3 Volumes in 1, (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2006.)
(Bibliographical Note: the third source cited above is composed of three distinct, separate monographs that have been combined into this single publication. The title of the monograph pertinent to this post is:
"German-American Genealogical Research Publication Number 2: Mercenaries from Ansbach and Bayreuth, Germany, Who Remained in America after the Revolution", (publ. dates 1974,1979.)
This is the final post of a series of three connected posts all addressing German auxiliary troops who served on board the frigate South Carolina. The first post was on the roughly thirty soldiers from Hessen-Hanau units that served on board the patriot frigate as marines. This was the longest post covering all thirty-one of the men and was probably the easiest one to compose because the information almost "presented" itself in a consistently ordered fashion. The second post covered the seventeen soldiers from Brunswick units and was more difficult to compose. The information on these men was more fragmentary and scattered with some of the men having significant gaps in their information. This third and final post addresses only three men, and possibly a few others, but, may by far be the most difficult post to date to complete with any modicum of success.
The genesis of this post is taken from Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, section entitled "Appendix: Crew and Marines of the South Carolina", page 148. This small passage of personal information on four of the German marines on board the patriot frigate is as follows:
Name: Position:
German marine (name unknown) German marine (Regiment von Seitz or Stein)
German marine (name unknown) German marine (Jager Corps)
German marine (name unknown) German marine (Jager Corps)
German marine (name unknown) German marine (Jager Corps)
The nigh-on-impossible aspect of the task of this post presents itself immediately in that none of these four men's names are known. Thus, the search for their names will be paramount for the writer of this blog. After these have been located, or after all hope of locating their names has been given up, the writer of this blog can conclude with recorded information on each or some of these men or the effort will fail without having located any information of substance.
The first individual cited is a "German marine (name unknown) of the Regiment von Seitz or the Regiment Stein". These German auxiliary regiments are one in the same units during the American Revolution. Initially, the unit was designated as the "Regiment von Seitz" yet later in the war, the units designation was changed to the "Regiment Stein" and continued to serve until the war"s end in 1783. , year). This make perfect sense because in Baumeister's journal, Revolution in America, both regiments are cited but, the pagination in the work for the Regiment von Seitz is early in the work while the later pagination for the Regiment Stein picks up after the pagination for the Regiment von Seitz and continues from there.
Efforts will constitute carefully pouring over the section of Lewis's work entitled "Appendix: Crew and Marines of the South Carolina" pages 135-170 looking for any names that might possibly be the men whose identities are cited above, even if their names are unknown. Further supporting documentation will be diligently sought after but, may not be forthcoming, in some of the cases. In many of these cases, the individual's name may well have been "Anglicized" and will be presented in such fashion followed by the original German spelling.
Bowers, John - Lewis's work, page 138, "no position" given -
Johan Georg Bauer - Smith's work, Monograph No. 2, page 9 - He was a grenadier in the Ansbach Regiment, 5th Company. He deserted on September 15, 1782 and was cited as being "...with the American troops.". The source for the previous citation is Lieutenant Johan Ernst Prechtel's work, A Hessian Officer's Diary The time of his desertion is around the same time that the American recruiting officers visited the prisoner-of-war camps in the neighborhood of Lancaster and Reading, PA. There is no reference to him in Reuter's work.
(Note: According to Smith's work, Monograph No. 2, there were numerous men with the last name of "Bauer" but, only a limited few (about four) that had the first name of Johan. Several of these men have desertion dates that are too late to have served on board the frigate South Carolina. Only the individual cited above could have been on board the patriot frigate. Thus, the writer of this blog has selected him as the probable individual in question. This man is cited as being a "grenadier" rather than a "jaeger". Only one Johan Bauer is cited as being a "jaeger" but, he was still being carried on his muster rolls as late as December 1782.)
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Cremer, Michael - Lewis's work, page 143, "no position" given -
Matthias Kraehmer - Smith's work, Monograph No. 2, page 26 - he was a jaeger in the Jaeger Corps, 2nd Company. He is cited as having been "...last mentioned in the muster roll of June 1780.". There is no reference to him in Reuter's work.
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Diets (Dietz), John - Lewis's work, page 144, "Marine" -
Johann Gottlieb Dietz - Smith's work, Monograph No. 2, page 26 - He was a private in the Regiment Bayreuth, 2nd Company. He is cited as having been "...last mentioned in the muster roll of December 1782.". There is a reference to Johann Dietz in Reuter's work, page 16. According to the information cited there, he was born in Lausitz in 1757. He was a private in the Liebcompany of the Combined Battalion "von Barner". He was a member of the "Convention Army" and deserted his prisoner-of-war status in Virginia on January 6, 1779.
(Note: Johann Dietz seems to have served in the Combined Regiment "von Barner" which was made up of several companies of light infantry and a single company of jaegers. Johann Gottlieb Dietz served within the First (or Leibcompany) Company which was composed of light infantry.)
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Hill, John (In) - Lewis's work, page 151, "no position" given -
(Note: John Hill is listed twice in Lewis's work, page 151, and in identical manner each time as "John Hill (In)". No other individual is cited as such in Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, section entitled "Appendix: Crew and Marines of the South Carolina", pages 135-170.)
Johann Hoegel - Smith's work, Monograph No. 2, page 39 - he was a jaeger in the Jaeger Corps. He is cited as being a "...replacement trooper in 1782.". There is no reference to him in Reuter's work.
(Note: "Hoegel" is the German translation of "Hill". Evidently, these types of transliterations of personal names were not uncommon at all during the American Revolution.)
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So, these are the four men cited - three of them as "jaegers" and one simply as a "marine" - as being marines on board the frigate South Carolina for her last brief voyage ending in her capture just beyond the Capes of the Delaware on December 21, 1782. None of the other men cited as being on the patriot frigate seem to fit the parameters established by the writer of this blog as being on board the frigate for her last, final voyage. Three of them could ostensibly be "jaegers" if the final Johan Bauer cited is accepted as the individual in question in this case. That would leave the individual cited as being from the Regiment von Seitz/ later Regiment Stein as the sole remaining "marine" of these four men. That would be Johann Gottlieb Dietz, a light infantryman from the Combined Regiment "von Barner" and the individual about whom the most personal information is known.
This brief post may well be made up in some degree entirely of incorrect and inaccurate information. Having to work with men whose names have become lost or obscured with the passage of so much time is difficult at best, if not impossible. The writer of this blog has, hopefully, held himself to a high degree of accuracy and investigation of the sources available to him and has done his best to only record those men whose information may indicate that they indeed did sail on board the frigate South Carolina. Until the time that more information may be revealed regarding these men, we have only the paltry findings of the writer of this blog to identify these men who, in some small way, played their part on board the frigate South Carolina for her brief second voyage and her date with destiny at the mouth of the Capes of the Delaware.