German Americans in the Revolution: Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg Richards' History

Considered the definitive history of the involvement of German-Americans in the American Revolution, this work was originally published in 1908 and has long been out of print. It focuses on Pennsylvania and surrounding colonies, where the colonial German element was concentrated, and contains extensive biographical information of value to genealogists and historians. Although only about ten percent of the U.S. population were German-Americans, they overwhelmingly supported the Revolution. In 1776, Congress raised a German-American regiment which fought in many battles and spent the winter of 1777-78 at Valley Forge with General George Washington, whose personal bodyguard was a German-American unit. It is said that the American troops were German trained, fed, and led, as Baron von Steuben served as inspector-general, Christopher Ludwig as superintendent of baking, and Heinrich Lutterloh as quartermaster-general. Of General Nicholas Herkimer, commander of several German-American battalions from New York, General Washington wrote, "It was Herkimer who first reversed the gloomy scene...he served from love of country, not for reward." This useful work also contains numerous lists of soldiers, a surname index and a subject index. Dr. Tolzmann has edited several German-American works offered by Heritage Books; here he fills the gap in the general knowledge pertaining to the role of German-Americans in the War of Independence.