PRESENTED BY 
 
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 L47 
 
 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 JOHANN CARL BUETTNER 
 
Heartman's Historical Series No. 1 
 
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NARRATIVE 
 OF 
 
 Johann Carl Buettner 
 
 IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 
 
 Three hundred euid twenty Copies printed for 
 CHAS. FRED. HEARTMAN. New York City 
 

 Copyright Secured. 
 
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 <5k 
 
 ^3 
 
 The following Narrative* is a translation from the 
 German. The original German edition is a very- 
 scarce Book. The translation is abridged in so far as 
 the greater part of his adventures in other countries 
 is left out, being of little interest for the American 
 reader. The part produced here is an interesting 
 medley of serious incidents and accidental exploits, and 
 strews side lights on the American revolution not to 
 be undervalued. 
 
 The German literature is still full of unpublished 
 interesting material relating to important events of 
 American History. If this little attempt finds sup- 
 port, other books may follow. 
 
 *Buettner, der Amerikaner. Eine Selbstbiographie Johann 
 Carl Buettner's, ehemaligen nordamerikanischen Kriegers. XIX, 
 137 pp. Camenz 1828. 
 
Number of 320 Copies printed. 
 
The place where I, Johann Carl Buettner, the Ameri- 
 can,* first saw the light in the year 1754, is Lauta, a vil- 
 lage situated in the district of the royal province of 
 Senftenberg. My father, Johann Ehregott Buettner, a 
 regularly ordained minister, preached there the best of 
 all religions. My mother's name was Johanne Chris- 
 tiane, and she was the daughter of a clergyman named 
 Pittius of Nussdorf, near Forste, situated in Nieder- 
 laussitz. I was the third child of my parents, who were 
 blest with eleven children, four of whom are alive at 
 present. Nature endowed all my brothers and sisters 
 with a lively temperament, and in this respect was not 
 less generous to me. Love of excitement and adventure, 
 that I have not lost even in my seventieth year, became 
 noticeable in my earliest youth. By the time I had the 
 full use of my legs, there was no piece of daring that I 
 would refuse. The higher the tree, the happier I was to 
 climb to the top. Naturally on account of this, I some- 
 times suffered mischance. Thus it happened that in 
 my fifth year I climbed a tree in the garden of the Rec- 
 tory at Lauta, and had reached the very top, when the 
 limb to which I was holding suddenly broke. I fell to 
 the ground, and lay there like one dead. Summoned 
 from the house by the terrified cries of my playmates, 
 my mother rushed to my side. But instead of sym- 
 pathizing with me, she restored me to consciousness 
 with several smart cuffs on the ear. 
 
 *That I added to my family name the title "American" might 
 strike many as uncalled for and arrogant; but I did this not with- 
 out sufficient reason. Although I no longer live in America, I 
 spent, however, my best years in that part of the world, fought in 
 the significant, decisive North American struggle for independence, 
 and moistened with my blood the soil of the great North American 
 republic. 
 
I did not quarrel with the fate that very early in my 
 life gave me opportunities to exercise and develop my 
 bodily powers. Had I been coddled by my parents as 
 many children are, the burden of physical trials and 
 tribulations that the future had in store for me would 
 have been harder to endure. Therefore I counsel 
 parents in the higher walks of life to take thought not 
 only of the training of the spiritual powers of their 
 children, but also to concern themselves with the de- 
 velopment of their physical fitness. The exercise and 
 development of the bodily powers are indeed requisite 
 to the complete education of men and women, for 
 parents can never tell into what circumstances their 
 children may sometime be placed, where perhaps just 
 the lack of early training of their physical powers having 
 left them timid and lacking in courage, might render 
 them incapable of doing that which they are required 
 to do. Doubtless in after years I would have borne 
 less easily my lot as apprentice to a surgeon and as vol- 
 unteer in America, had I been weakened physically by 
 indulgence. Accordingly, the development and 
 
 strengthening of my body was provided for; or rather, 
 I saw to that myself; and very little did any one concern 
 oneself with my spiritual education, for that matter. 
 My father was otherwise engaged with his ministerial 
 offices, or with his farming, or with the instruction of my 
 older brothers. The incumbent schoolmaster to whose 
 mercies I was intrusted was little fitted to handle so 
 wild a boy as I. My father and my mother came to 
 realize this, and finally the latter took some pains to 
 arouse in me an interest in the doctrines of religion (for 
 which I am now not unthankful) ; they also sent me to 
 Senftenberg, to the school at that time taught by 
 Kretschmar, the rector who has since become widely 
 known because of his tragic end. This man was indeed 
 
 2 
 
an excellent schoolmaster, but was suffering even at 
 that time from hypochondria. 
 
 In the school at Senftenberg I laid the foundations 
 for a knowledge of the teachings of Christianity, of the 
 Latin language, and of other useful branches of learning, 
 and was thus prepared for one of the higher institutions 
 of learning. Notwithstanding the fact that it is un- 
 pleasant to remember that I caused my teachers at 
 Senftenberg a great deal of trouble, more on account of 
 my lively disposition than because I was impelled by 
 any bad intentions, yet I like to think often of my so- 
 journ in this town. Much of this pleasure is caused by 
 recalling the intellectual enjoyments that appeal to a 
 boy, and that I experienced here. Gladly do I re- 
 member the times when I chartered a canoe, in company 
 with playmates no less lively than myself, to explore the 
 Elster River and to land with them near a place where 
 stood the old castle which was demolished by the 
 Hussites in the year 1431, and of which a few ruins are 
 still to be seen. Here it was that in the Middle Ages, 
 predatory and belligerent knights fell upon itinerant 
 merchants. And here at the approach of danger those 
 robbers fled to their Sumpf enberg through stone-walled 
 secret passages, known only to themselves, deep under 
 the Elster River. And here it was that we, spirited 
 young knights, also usually started our rambles. Not 
 for profit-seeking merchants were we on the search ; but 
 for wild geese, innocent ducks, and other water-loving 
 birds whose eggs we wanted to find. 
 
 I visited each year the vineyards on the hills that 
 surrounded Senftenberg like an amphitheatre; not only 
 to enjoy the wonderful view that revealed to us far-away 
 Bautzen and Dresden, but also on account of the cher- 
 ries, the grapes, and all the other fruit of the fall, I was 
 especially delighted with the joyous activity in the 
 
 3 
 
vineyards in the wine season, and with the feasts and 
 the festivals that were constantly being celebrated. I 
 paid very little attention at that time to the earthworks 
 in the vicinity of the vineyard ; these doubtless had been 
 thrown up by Slaves and Wends when they tried to 
 resist their German victors in the woods and marshy 
 places near Senftenberg. After I had prepared myself 
 in Senftenberg for a higher school, I followed the advice 
 of my parents and matriculated at the lyceum at 
 Camenz, where in those days taught Vogt, Praetorius, 
 Schultze and others whose memories will always be dear 
 to me. My father had a few friends in Camenz who 
 very soon proved useful to me in many ways. After a 
 short time, I ate my noonday meal with hospitable 
 families; such families were never scarce in Camenz. 
 The archdeacon Jülich, a university friend of my father, 
 gave me shelter in this friendly Camenz. Naturally all 
 the teachers, and also my reverend host, influenced me 
 in no small degree. This last named patron was a kind- 
 hearted, humor-loving man whose pleasure it was to 
 entertain the son of his old friend m the most interesting 
 manner, especially during the long winter evenings. 
 He not only related to me tales of the natural curiosities 
 of our own country, but he also drew my attention to 
 the features of other parts of the world. Especially he 
 talked about the beauties of the East Indies, and of the 
 silver and gold mines of America, and not infrequently 
 gave me to read descriptions of travel written by men 
 who had seen these parts of the world and in many cases 
 had grown very rich there. The good man did not 
 suspect in those days how these stories of his, and the 
 interesting contents of the books he had given me, would 
 influence my future life. But it was at precisely that 
 time that I began to consider seriously the possibility of 
 visiting those celebrated regions of the world, after I 
 
 4 
 
had completed my studies; and with these thoughts I 
 combined the hope that perhaps I too might succeed in 
 returning from the East Indian and American paradises 
 a rich man. How I was deceived in my hopes ! Partly 
 because I was urged and partly because of my own in- 
 cHnations, I entered the school-choir at Camenz, This 
 choir had to sing not only in front of the houses of the 
 citizens in the city but in the suburbs as well. On an 
 occasion of this sort, one very hard winter, I had the 
 misfortune to freeze my feet. It became necessary for 
 me to seek the advice of a surgeon. During one of the 
 visits of the surgeon's assistant, a young physician, it 
 was mentioned that surgery is the one profession that 
 could take one through the world, because it is necessary 
 everywhere. This remark drove me to the decision to 
 adopt this profession myself. My mother gave her 
 consent immediately, because as she said, it was pretty 
 hard on my father to give me an opportunity to study, 
 since my brothers had studied away all his money; my 
 father objected at first, saying he would have liked to 
 see me study theology also; but after a while he com- 
 plied with my wish and gave his consent. I became the 
 apprentice of Kirsten, the surgeon at Camenz; and I 
 laid many a plan to go out, after my apprenticeship was 
 finished, into the wide world, perhaps to America, or to 
 the far-away beautiful East Indies. And now I learned 
 not only how to trim beards and the other accomplish- 
 ments of surgical skill, but was obliged also, as an ap- 
 prentice, to polish the shoes of my master, and to attend 
 to other domestic duties. In those days I did not have 
 the slightest suspicion that in time to come, on the other 
 side of the Atlantic Ocean, I should have to perform 
 more menial and much more difficult tasks with my 
 hands. But meantime I was contented with the lot I 
 had chosen for myself; I was obedient and did all that 
 
 5 
 
my master and his wife expected me to do; and alto- 
 gether, I did not have a very bad time of it during my 
 apprenticeship. During this period nothing happened 
 to cause a memorable change in my life. On the 
 twenty-first of February, during the last year of my 
 apprenticeship, I witnessed the grewsome execution of 
 a man who had murdered his mother, his father and his 
 brother, in the village of Goeda, two miles outside of 
 Camenz. This three-fold murderer, named Jacob 
 Ritter was twenty-four years of age. He had murdered 
 his father and his mother out of disgust that they had 
 lived so long and had disappointed him in his inheri- 
 tance; afterwards killing his brother for fear he might 
 make known to the world his devilish deed. But he 
 received his much-deserved punishment. He was 
 dragged on a cow-hide to the place of execution; after 
 being pinched with red-hot tweezers, he was broken on 
 the wheel. 
 
 After I had completed my apprenticeship, I returned 
 to the home of my parents. Had I followed the wishes 
 of my father, I would have gone to Dresden, to complete 
 my studies in that city's anatomical institution, under 
 the supervision of another of his university friends, 
 D. Demiani. If only I had taken the advice of my ex- 
 cellent father, I doubtless would have had a more for- 
 tunate career. But I had no inclination whatever to go 
 to Dresden, and I longed for the wide world. Finally 
 my father consented; and after I had said good-bye to 
 all my relations I left the place of my birth, with the 
 firm decision not to return until Dame Fortune had put 
 me in a position to come back in a coach and four. How 
 vainly did I wait on her favor! Perhaps she considered 
 me unworthy of her gifts. 
 
 The start of my years of pilgrimage was quite pleasant. 
 My father gave me enough money to take a stage to 
 
 6 
 
Dresden, and my two older brothers accompanied me 
 thus far. I had plenty of money, since my grandfather, 
 whom shortly before my departure I had shaved for the 
 first time, had given me a ducat. Moreover my father 
 handed me, just as I was leaving, the entire contents of 
 my savings bank. A merry trio of brothers, we reached 
 the hotel in Dresden called Kammerdieners and took a 
 room, deciding to spend a few days there, in order to 
 have a good time. And we carried out our intentions. 
 All day long we bowled; and we played cards all night. 
 But since all good things finally pass, this merry life had 
 to come to an end. After a few days, my fortune had 
 been squandered and my brothers had to return home. 
 With empty pockets and a heavy heart, I bade fare- 
 well to my kinsmen, and went towards Prague. During 
 this journey I had plenty of time to reflect on my recent 
 foolish and profligate carryings-on, and especially to 
 realize the harmfulness of immoderate card-playing. 
 
 I had the good fortune to find shelter in Prague. I 
 liked very much this curious capital of Bohemia, where 
 more than four centuries ago Johann Huss kindled anew 
 the light of Christian truth. But as the people here 
 tried to persuade me to embrace the Catholic faith, I 
 took my departure; and still indignant over their at- 
 tempts to proselyte me, I wandered towards Vienna. 
 Here I arrived one evening and took lodgings in an inn 
 called Posthoernchen in Leopold City, a section of 
 Vienna. Worn out, I threw upon a bench my gripsack, 
 through the straps of which I had thrust my sword, 
 ordered a half bottle of wine, and sat down to await my 
 supper. Notwithstanding the fact that during my 
 journey from Prague to Vienna I had been disgusted 
 with myself over my card-playing, I could not resist the 
 temptation of watching the game of two journeymen 
 apprentices. While I was looking on, a petty officer 
 
 7 
 
and six men came hurriedly into the room and accosted 
 the persons at the table with: "Well, Well! And this is 
 where we find you ! " The soldiers quickly arrested one 
 after the other of us three. Without listening to the 
 explanation that I had only an hour ago arrived from 
 Prague, and did not even know the other two fellows, 
 they searched my pockets, confiscated my portfolio, my 
 diploma, and my razor, and escorted me over the bridge 
 of the Danube inside the city of Vienna. Here in a 
 little house which was situated near an insignificant 
 marketplace, I was asked the following questions: 
 Where had I come from, what was my business, who 
 were my parents, how many brothers and sisters had I, 
 and what were their first names. After this examina- 
 tion, still one more question was put to me, and that was 
 it I were one of "those that eat meat." And then the 
 soldiers took me to the so-called Rumor House high up 
 on the fourth floor. I was horrified to find that some of 
 those who were detained there, were in chains. I there- 
 upon sat down on a bench, and notwithstanding the 
 fact that I knew I was innocent of misdeed, fell to weep- 
 ing. "Oh, do not cry, " the others called out, trying to 
 comfort me. "Neither are we thieves nor murderers, 
 but honest men. We are farmers whom they brought 
 to this place because we refused the increased vassalage 
 that was demanded of us. But everything will come 
 out right in the end." Quietness and even a degree of 
 cheerfulness were restored to me by these consolations. 
 And later on, it occurred to me that this undeserved 
 punishment in Vienna was justly meted out to me by 
 God's providence for my passion for card-playing, and 
 to prevent me even from looking at others playing cards. 
 With these thoughts I fell asleep. In the morning I 
 received one cent's worth of bread; at noon a little bowl 
 of fish soup which had been collected in the monasteries 
 
and in the evening again a little soup. Every day came 
 a petty officer to ascertain the state of our health. After 
 enduring these conditions eleven days, I was finally led 
 by a Rumor soldier down two flights of stairs for an 
 examination. Here in a room sat a man clothed all in 
 black. He put to me again the questions that I had 
 answered at the time of my arrest. I explained to him 
 how everything happened, and drew his attention to the 
 fact that if he would only consider what I had told him 
 about my part in the affair, my innocence must be es- 
 tablished. The gentleman in the black clothes there- 
 upon gave me three shillings, and dismissed me with the 
 consoling assurance that I would be set free very soon. 
 But eight days passed before a petty ofP.cer appeared 
 who ordered me to follow him. He led me dowTi one 
 flight of stairs, where I was given back my portfolio, my 
 razor, and all my belongings, and was ordered to limit 
 my stay in Vienna to five days; also not to go around to 
 the members of my profession with requests for money. 
 I was told to report to the commander of the city each 
 evening, and to make a request for a pass that v/ould 
 enable me to remain in the city the following day. 
 
 Glad to have regained my freedom, I went down to 
 the Leopold City to get my gripsack from the Post- 
 hoernchen Inn. All my inquiries seemed to be in vain. 
 Every one professed not to know me, and no one seemed 
 to have seen the gripsack I had left behind. Finally the 
 waiter remembered that he had found a gripsack 
 several weeks ago, early in the morning, on one of the 
 benches in the dining room, and that he had taken 
 charge of it. He brought it, and after I had shown him 
 the key to convince him that it really belonged to me, he 
 handed it over, but without the sword, which had gone 
 astray. Now he demanded a gratuity. I would have 
 been happy to satisfy him, but this was impossible 
 
 9 
 
because I did not have a cent in my pocket. This 
 happened on a Saturday, and as the waiter surmised I 
 might be a Protestant, he advised me to attend on 
 Sunday forenoon the services in the chapel of the Dan- 
 ish embassador, but first to state my condition to the 
 pastor and announce my intention to quit the city. The 
 waiter said this Protestant minister would provide me 
 my traveling expenses. I followed his advice, and re- 
 ceived from the pastor two dollars, enough to pay my 
 passage to Hermansstadtim Siebenbuergen. After I had 
 received in addition to this a viaticum of sixteen groschen 
 from the master of the guild of surgeons, I started the 
 next day on my journey from Vienna to Pressburg. This 
 fortified place is situated at the mouth of the Waag 
 where she pours her waters into the Danube, and is in- 
 habited by Hungarians, Slavs and Germans. Mention- 
 ing this village, I cannot refrain from pointing out a 
 theory of mine regarding the name of my present resi- 
 dence, Senftenberg. Senftenberg means in the Wendish 
 language Kommorow, a name which is similar to 
 Kommorn. But not only the names but the topographi- 
 cal situation of these two cities are very similar. Both 
 are situated on a level, marshy plain, crossed often by 
 rivers. Kommorn is still a fortified place and Senften- 
 berg used to be one, although on a much smaller scale. 
 All this would not be sufficient evidence to cause me to 
 think — which I do — that Senftenberg received its first 
 and original name from Kommorn, if history did not 
 confirm my belief. History states that the slaves of 
 which the serfs are a part started their operations in this 
 place against the Greek Empire. That was in the sixth 
 century, at the time that the Avars under Chan Bajan 
 forced the servs to leave their homes in the Kommorn, 
 Slavonia, Croatia, Bosnia and Servia. They wandered 
 through Jschechia or Bohemia towards Meissen and 
 
 10 
 
into the Lausitz, bringing with them not only the cul- 
 ture which they had acquired during their wars with the 
 Greeks, but also gave to the cities and villages that they 
 founded, the names of those which they had inhabited 
 near the Danube. In our times the British, Spaniards 
 and Germans who emigrated to America did the same. 
 They called the places which they founded in the new 
 world by the names of the cities and towns where they 
 were born, or that were similar in respect to topography. 
 From Kommorn I wandered towards Ofen, the old 
 capital of the kingdom of Hungary. After I had looked 
 at everything worth seeing in Ofen and had wandered 
 over the plains of Rakosch near the city of Pesth oppo- 
 site Ofen, I took passage on a vessel bound for the for- 
 tress Peterwardein. Very interesting was the voyage 
 down the Danube from Ofen to Peterwardein. From 
 here I started toward Carlowitz, two hours away, which 
 is a very well-built place and gives a beautiful view of 
 Peterwardein. At this place I accepted a position as 
 assistant to a Slavonic surgeon and barber. But I did 
 not enjoy my duties, because in this part of the world 
 the business of a barber is quite different from what it is 
 in our northern countries. I had to travel with my 
 master from one market to the other. He always oc- 
 cupied a stand of his own. We set up a big kettle of hot 
 water and on request from each man, shaved his beard, 
 washed his head, cleaned his ears and anointed his chin 
 whiskers until they shone. For this they had to pay 
 three pennies. Among the common people m these 
 regions it is not the custom to shave each week; never 
 more frequently than four weeks, and often not until 
 eight have passed. Fourteen days later I said good-by 
 to Carlowitz, and traveled through a mountain region to 
 a little market town called Ruma. Here I immediately 
 found work as assistant to a district surgeon. I liked 
 
 11 '* 
 
this place much better, because my duties consisted not 
 only of trimming beards, washing heads and cleaning 
 the ears of farmers, but because I also had an oppor- 
 tunity to perform various surgical operations. My 
 master was superintendent of a hospital in which daily 
 operations, amputations and trepannings were per- 
 formed. Johannes Leben — that was the name ot this 
 district surgeon — was a Catholic, but his wife was 
 Lutheran and a native of the province of Brandenburg. 
 In this situation I decided to remain a long time, partly 
 because I had a chance to gain more experience in my 
 profession, and also because winter was approaching 
 and knowing how hard I was to please, I hesitated to 
 push on tarther. The New Year presents that I re- 
 ceived from my regular customers among those whom I 
 shaved, amounted to almost twenty gulden. During 
 my sojourn in this place my master died. The village 
 judge, who was a native of Leipzig and a countryman of 
 mine, tried to persuade me to marry the widow. The 
 proposition was not a bad one. I really liked the little 
 woman. She had no children, a comfortable home, a 
 respectable pharmacy and all the surgical instruments 
 necessary to open a practice. Very tempting were the 
 conditions under which I could settle in this place; but 
 I felt that my knowledge of medicine was not sufficient, 
 and my skill in surgery too slight to perform honorably 
 the duties of a surgeon; and chiefly again my restless 
 spirit induced me not to remain there, but to hurry on out 
 into the wide world. Well did I remember the proverb 
 my father used to recite so often: "Fronte capilata post 
 haec occasio calva." (If you make a habit of seizing 
 fortune by the forelock, there will come a time when she 
 will be bald.) But the voice of my inclination coun- 
 seled me differently. Obedient to it, I said goodby at 
 the first appearance of spring and hurried with a light 
 
 12 
 
heart to Semlin, a big, well-built market town at the 
 junction of the Sau with the Danube. This place also 
 lies opposite the well known Turkish fortress, Belgrade. 
 I had a great desire to travel from Semlin through 
 Turkey to Constantinople but they persuaded me not to 
 enter Turkey, since traveling in that country, inhabited 
 by barbarians, could not be very safe. And just at that 
 time a plague was sweeping through those parts. 
 Much as I desired to travel to Constantinople, Damas- 
 cus, Jerusalem and other places, I felt little inclined to 
 have my young life cut short by a plague or a raving 
 Mohammedan. I stamped my feet in rage on the 
 Turkish border, because Asiatic barbarians were in 
 possession of beautiful lands in which the tree of Euro- 
 pean culture first blossomed so wonderfully, where the 
 human mind first unfolded its powers, where Rome, the 
 mistress of the world, enforced her laws, and to which 
 for many centuries scientists and artists made pilgrim- 
 ages as to a holy land. At Semlin the world seemed to 
 be nailed up; for no one was allowed to cross the Turk- 
 ish boundary unless he were willing to run the risk of 
 being held on his return, often as long as seven weeks in 
 quarantine. All the Greek and Turkish merchants 
 crossing the border from Turkey were liable to this in- 
 convenience. In Semlin there were Turkish merchants 
 besides Christian and Jewish. So it happened that in 
 each week, three Sundays were celebrated: Friday, the 
 holy day of the Turks, Saturday, the Sabbath of the 
 Jews, and the following day was observed as Sunday by 
 the Christians. Decidedly against my inclinations, I 
 had to take backward steps from Semlin. Near Bel- 
 grade, I crossed the Danube, and after seeing the 
 Janitschar parading around the fortifications, I went on 
 to Banzowa a small town with good, solidly-built houses 
 and very well protected by walls and sentry boxes. 
 
 13 
 
I took lodgings in an inn, to have my noonday meal 
 and to pick up a traveling companion, since it was very 
 dangerous to travel alone in these regions. But aside 
 from the people who kept the inn, I saw no one but a 
 man reading a book. I was very curious to know what 
 the book might be that he was perusing so diligently, 
 and after he had left the room, I picked it up and saw at 
 a glance that it was the New Testament. Before I 
 could lay the volume back on the table the man entered 
 the room again, and asked me in Slavic if I knew what 
 book that was. 
 
 Since I had been an assistant to a Slavic surgeon and 
 had had a chance to learn the language, which is some- 
 what similar to Wendish, I answered, "yes." So I was 
 obliged to read a chapter of the New Testament to this 
 man, who was a Greek merchant. He was greatly 
 pleased, and started a conversation with me. After I 
 had disclosed to him my intention to travel to Sieben- 
 buergen, he said that his residence lay in the same direc- 
 tion and offered me a seat in his carriage and also to pay 
 my expenses, which courtesy I accepted with many 
 thanks. Furthermore he promised to do his best to get 
 me a position in his home city, saying that there was a 
 German district surgeon in charge of the big hospital. 
 
 This gentleman lived up to his promise. I secured a 
 position in his native city. After I had remained there 
 for half a year, had witnessed many surgical operations 
 and gained much experience on the medical side of my 
 profession, I resigned and continued my way to Sieben- 
 buergen. During this journey, I passed at one time a 
 village inhabited by Wallachs. The houses were the 
 shape of sugar loaves and were built of turf and clay. 
 Instead of windows, these dwellings had openings 
 over which oiled paper was pasted. In the middle of 
 these habitations burned a fire around which the in- 
 
 14 
 
habitants were grouped. I entered one of these places 
 and asked for refreshment. They gave me a long- 
 handled gourd filled with very strong brandy made of 
 unripe plums and other fruits. I took a big drink from 
 the vessel and very soon felt a burning in my stomach. 
 I complained of the pain, and they gave me half a water- 
 melon to extinguish the fire in my vitals. The water- 
 melon, which was blood-red inside, was very cooling and 
 I found it more palatable than the sugar melon common 
 with us in Germany. Finally I arrived at the fortress 
 Temeswar, surrounded by wastes and swamps, and at 
 least for the Germans that emigrated to this part of the 
 country, not very salubrious. I found that out myself. 
 Not long after my arrival I came down with an inter- 
 mittent fever from which I suffered four weeks. At 
 this place I decided not to go on toSiebenbuergen, and 
 following the advice of the surgeon who looked after me 
 during my illness, returned to Ofen and to Vienna, 
 passing through the German Empire towards the cities 
 on the North Sea where surgeons are always in demand, 
 especially for boats bound for the East Indies and 
 America. My passage to Ofen did not cost me a cent. 
 I fell in with a military transport and marched with the 
 soldiers to Ofen. I felt as it I were coming home on my 
 arrival in this city. Although Ofen is thirty-six miles 
 away from Vienna, the splendid King's Highway starts 
 here. The villages are not so far apart and the Hun- 
 garians are much more civilized than the Wallachs. 
 
 I stayed only one day in Vienna, afraid that the same 
 misfortune that marked my first visit in the city might 
 happen to me again. Through the lovely, romantic 
 regions of Lower Austria I hurried to Regensburg, where 
 I received some assistance and where I remained only 
 four weeks. Here I was, however, put to the necessity 
 of selling all my books containing the medical and sur- 
 
 15 
 
gical notes that I had collected during my practice. I 
 traveled from Regensburg to Stuttgard and Ludwigslust 
 in Wuertenberg. Here I met a relative of mine who was 
 a wigmaker and who wanted to teach me his noble art. 
 I refused his offer, left him after a few days, and went to 
 Rastadt, which is now the German fortress Landau. 
 From thence I went to Mannheim, beautifully laid 
 out and consistently built. After I had visited Frank- 
 fort-on-Main, I traveled through Hessia, to Hildesheim, 
 to Hanover and Bremen. I could not get a position in 
 any one of these cities. Therefore I decided to go sea- 
 faring. With this determination I started for Stade and 
 Buxtehude, where I passed over the river to Hamburg. 
 I remained in Hamburg several days. On one occasion 
 I took a walk outside the walls and ascended the so- 
 called Hamburger Mountain. At the foot of this moun- 
 tain I saw nearby a beautiful city. This Danish Ham- 
 burg was Altona. During this walk I met some men 
 who must have remarked that I was a stranger. They 
 asked me where I came from and what profession I fol- 
 lowed. When I told them I was from Saxony, they ex- 
 claimed, seeming greatly pleased: "From Saxony! What 
 city is your home? Not Dresden or Leipzig? We too are 
 from Saxony and are therefore your countrymen!" 
 They listened attentively to the story of my life, and 
 when they heard that I was tired of my wanderings on 
 land, and that I had been unable to find a position for 
 some time, their faces seemed to mirror some secret joy. 
 After they had become acquainted with the facts of my 
 history, they cut me off in the middle of a sentence and 
 said: "But why do you run around blindly? You 
 will find that you will hardly be able to get a position in 
 Hamburg or in Altona. Come with us to Altona. We 
 will drink a bottle of wine there, have some breakfast 
 and talk matters over." The pretended countrymen 
 
 16 
 
assured me that they were overjoyed to have met a 
 Saxon and without my solicitation promised to look 
 after my interests. After we had reached the wine 
 cellar, they ordered bread, butter and cold roast and 
 turned the conversation to the East and West Indies. 
 When they heard that I had desired for a long time to 
 visit these happy places, and that it was one of my cher- 
 ished wishes to obtain a position as ship's surgeon, they 
 promised immediately to give me a recommendation to 
 their good friend, a ship's captain in Amsterdam, who 
 surely would be able to procure me the desired position. 
 They also promised to pay my passage to Amsterdam 
 and my board. The same day I received from my 
 alleged countrymen all that was necessary. They gave 
 me a good dinner of roast veal and brought me aboard 
 the ship that was to sail to Amsterdam. There were on 
 the deck of this ship about fifty young men and women 
 who, influenced by pretended friendly countrym.en, had 
 decided to go to the East and W^est Indies; and all of 
 whom had been recommended to their good friend just 
 as I had been. It was then that I understood that I had 
 been lured on board this ship by notorious slavers and 
 so-called soul-venders, and why they had rejoiced as 
 soon as they knew that I desired to go to the East 
 Indies or to America. It was quite necessary in those 
 days to keep on the lookout for such men in the Hansa 
 cities. Many young men and young women were per- 
 suaded by them to go on a search in foreign parts of the 
 world for a fortune that they could have found just as 
 well or even better at home. Although I now knew 
 that my pretended countrymen had no honest inten- 
 tions towards me, and that while showing me affection 
 and love, they had been working only for the money 
 they received from the shippers of human freight or 
 dealers in human flesh to be delivered in Amsterdam, I 
 
 17 
 
felt no decided rancor against them, because I desired 
 so much to seek my fortune in another part of the world, 
 and because it was through these people that I had 
 secured my promise to be made surgeon of the ship. 
 The next morning the vessel put out to sea. I thought 
 of my parents and my brothers and sisters, calling fare- 
 well to them in spirit. With a favorable wind, after 
 three days, we reached Amsterdam. When the ship 
 landed, the dealers in humankind came forward. One 
 took in charge ten, another twenty and another thirty. 
 Myself with many others, they led along several streets 
 to a house in which we were placed in company with 
 perhaps one hundred apprentices. They welcomed us 
 joyfully with the question: "Were we, too, going to 
 East India?" In this lock-up we had everything we 
 wanted. We received in the morning buttermilk soup, 
 at noonday meat with vegetables, and in the evening 
 soup again. At night we slept in hammocks in which 
 we could rock like a child in a cradle. These hammocks 
 were given to us by the slavers with a purpose. The 
 swaying of the hammocks was intended to accustom us 
 to the rocking of the boat. It can be easily understood 
 that this dormitory resounded with lively talk, since 
 all of us were young, healthy men expecting to acquire 
 riches and treasure on the other side of the ocean. One 
 fell out of his hammock, because the old rope with which 
 it was fastened, broke. Another ascended without 
 suspicion his pendulous bed, but fell to the floor very 
 soon because a mischievous neighbor had cut the cords 
 which held it up. Nothing else was wanted here by the 
 yoimg people but golden liberty, and even of this we 
 were not robbed altogether. Every day we were led, 
 by two and two, from the city to the neighborhood of 
 the windmills, where we could play ball under the super- 
 vision of our guards, or could pass the time according to 
 
 18 
 
our liking. At sunset, however, we had to march back 
 in the prescribed order, and were locked up in the big 
 room. As little as I believed in the highmindedness of 
 the slavers, I must confess to their credit that they did 
 all in their power to place us each according to our 
 liking. Thus they tried very hard to have me appointed 
 as ship's surgeon. They registered me at the East 
 Indian House as a surgeon. Immediately I received 
 beautiful clothes to wear, and a silver time-piece, and 
 was ordered to report for examination. But I am sorry 
 to say, I came too late. Another had already been 
 accepted. The boats bound for the East Indies had all 
 sailed for this season. I was advised there would be no 
 more call this year for surgeons on the East Indian 
 ships. I returned sadly to my lock-up, took off my 
 nice uniform and my silver watch, and at the orders of 
 the master, donned again my old clothes. 
 
 A few days later the master entered our room and 
 exclaimed: "Boys, there is one ship more leaving port, 
 bound for America. It is a wonderful country, where 
 gold grows and pearl fisheries abound. And moreover, 
 it is not as far as the East Indies. My son was there 
 only three years, and made so much money that after 
 his return he bought a house for himself here in Amster- 
 dam. Of course you will have to work one or two years 
 without receiving any salary, in order to pay for your 
 board and transportation; but after that you will be 
 free. You may go wherever you please and earn daily 
 two or three dollars, doing quite easy tasks, such as 
 loading and unloading ships. And naturally if you have 
 a profession you can practise it just as you please." 
 
 Shortly after this discourse of our master, we all, 
 weary of this life without liberty, decided to emigrate 
 to America, We were shipped immediately in big boats 
 to Rotterdam, where we received an excellent noonday 
 
 19 
 
meal and as much wine as we wanted; perhaps to give 
 us courage. Then we were taken to a great three- 
 masted schooner that lay at anchor in the river Meuve. 
 On board this boat, there had already been gathered 
 about three hundred persons, mostly handcraftsmen 
 and young women clothed in blue striped Jinen dresses. 
 We too were provided on the spot with jackets, shirts 
 and trousers of the same color. The following day our 
 ship started with a favoring wind towards England. In 
 a few days we reached the channel that divides England 
 from France and unites the North or German Sea with 
 the Atlantic Ocean. We anchored near Dover, which 
 is an unimportant city and has a fortress in which there 
 are generally Crown prisoners incarcerated. This city 
 is noteworthy chiefly because of the short passage thence 
 to Calais in France. Ships were constantly coming and 
 going. We remained here only one night, and sailed on 
 the following day to Portsmouth, which is a fortified 
 city with an excellent harbor in which were to be seen 
 several English war vessels. Our ship rode at anchor 
 here for a few days, and took in fresh meat and fresh 
 beer. The vessel was also visited by commissioners 
 who examined everything and registered the entire 
 ship's crew. The sails were repaired and everything 
 examined and put in condition necessary for a trip 
 across the Atlantic Ocean. One evening after every- 
 thing was in readiness, we set sail for America. But we 
 had proceeded only a few days westward when there 
 sprang up an unfavorable wind that drove our ship now 
 this way and now that. As a result the greater part of 
 the ship's crew became violently ill; even the captain 
 himself vomited constantly like the rest of us, and 
 almost threw up his intestines. This sickness, caused 
 by the constant rolling of the ship, lasted with some for 
 eight days. After we had recovered, food began to 
 
 20 
 
taste all the better, we were merry; we sang and whis- 
 tled. This care-free life was interrupted by a little 
 storm that broke over us, and was so severe that it tore 
 away the railing of the deck and the private chambers 
 fastened to it. The loss of these was hard on all of us; 
 especially on the women. For they, while performing 
 the duties of nature, had to forego all sense of shame. 
 Each one, when one wished to relieve oneself, must hold 
 to the ship's rope with one hand, while with the other, 
 hold one's clothes over one's head and let oneself be 
 splashed by the brine whenever the waves ran high 
 enough. Mentioning this mdecency forced upon us by 
 necessity, I wish to speak about a far more serious and 
 deplorable custom which was permitted on this trans- 
 portation boat. Men and women did not sleep in sepa- 
 rate cabins; the sixty girls were distributed among the 
 three hundred men in their quarters. It can be easily 
 understood how wide, under these circumstances, the 
 doors of immorality were opened. I see tears in the 
 eyes of the angel of innocence and he covers his face. 
 Perhaps such reprehensible practices are no longer in 
 force on transport ships, and should they be, I wish that 
 the philanthropic statesman of Holland, the noble- 
 minded Baron of Gagem, might succeed in ending them. 
 I would advise unmarried women who have not the 
 means to take quarters in the Captain's cabin, not even 
 to enter a ship. Their innocence is much more in dan- 
 ger than on land. Some one may bring up the ques- 
 tion : Why did the captain permit persons of different 
 sexes to spend the night together on his ship? Oh! If 
 I did not have to answer that a pernicious, unpardonable 
 love of money, the root of all evil, was at the bottom of 
 this! Of course, the ship's captain could expect to 
 receive for a woman who was with child a greater 
 amount of money upon landing in America. Many 
 
 21 
 
of the girls on board died a frightful death before the 
 ship landed. Once they contracted the loathsome 
 disease, by some called the "gallant" one, they usually 
 met their cruel end. This will surprise no one who 
 knows the character of this terrible disease and the 
 conditions necessary for its cure. The treatment of 
 this disease calls specifically for fresh nourishing food, 
 pure air and good nursing. All of these are lacking on 
 board a ship. The women worst infected were taken 
 into a separate cabin under the capstan, where they 
 died in unutterable misery. No one came near this 
 spot unless obliged to, because of the hon'ible odor that 
 prevailed there. The deceased were sewed up in a 
 piece of sail cloth, a bag filled with sand was tied to the 
 feet, and they were buried in the waves of the sea. 
 Usually the bodies thrown into the water were immedi- 
 ately claimed as prey by the big fish. The captain 
 found that if a number of these fish were swimming near 
 the ship in the morning, he might conclude that corpses 
 had been thrown overboard in the night. After some 
 time, I had a very violent fever that, as my companions 
 told me, brought me very near death. 
 
 I sufl'ered utter delirium, and the surgeon was obliged 
 to let blood from both my arms of which I knew nothing. 
 Of this attack I remember naught save the torture like 
 the suffering of the damned that I saw constantly in my 
 dreams. After I had recovered my mental balance, I 
 often prayed with all my soul for the forgiveness of my 
 trespasses and sins. I was quite aware that I had not 
 respected the commands of our holy God. 
 
 By the help of God I soon recovered fully. Our 
 progress was very slow as we had most of the time winds 
 from the wrong direction. Since our departure from 
 the English coast, fifteen weeks had passed, while we 
 were on the high seas and without sight of any land. 
 
 22 
 
Then our ship's captain, determining the longitude at 
 noon in bright sunhght with his instruments, announced 
 that we would sight the dry land of America within 
 twenty-four hours. His prediction was fulfilled on the 
 following day. Every one shouted with joy at the 
 sight of the American coast. Already we saw coming 
 towards us from shore, pilots and tugs to guide us past 
 the shoals. It was a windless, murky August day. The 
 sea shone like a great clear mirror framed in the coast of 
 America; hardly a breath of air rippled the water's sur- 
 face but a countless multitude of fishes could be seen 
 playing around the boat. Even the monsters of the 
 deep raised their huge awkward bodies close to the sur- 
 face with an undulating motion, and then sank again to 
 the black depths where they belonged, and then the 
 captain said to us: "Children, pray, we are going to 
 have a storm. " Soon we heard a distant rumbling; the 
 sun began to darken; everything on the boat was in the 
 greatest commotion in which many human voices 
 mingled; with all possible speed the seamen furled the 
 sails and bound them fast. The American pilots turned 
 and huiTied with their little boats coastward. The 
 hatches were closed and over them were nailed pieces of 
 strong canvas soaked in tar. Ever stronger and more 
 terrifying became the roaring of the hmricane. Like 
 black, forbidding chains of mountains we saw the waves 
 piled up by the storm bearing down upon us. The light- 
 ning tore through the frightfully black heavens and the 
 thunder roared. Suddenly the ship flew like a ball, now 
 among the clouds, and now as swift as an arrow, into the 
 trough of the sea. All around powerful bolts of light- 
 ning fell into a fearfully raging sea, and the thunder 
 exploded with terrific report. In inexpressible rage the 
 waves beat against the ship, or coming from opposite 
 directions collided with each other above the decks. 
 
 23 
 
Every minute was as if we were suffering the most 
 terrific bombai^dment. Every one was praying, and 
 even the nefarious and the God-forsaken, of which there 
 were plenty on board the ship, folded their hands as the 
 Lord of the worlds spoke to them through the heart- 
 crushing voice of the elements. 
 
 As the sun on the following day scattered his rays 
 over a quiet sea, I, with many others, in prayer and 
 song, thanked the Lord who helps, and even in the mercy 
 of His judgment, saves from death. Oh, how unworthy 
 of His grace were the most of us on board that ship! 
 Our eyes could no longer see the coast of America, so 
 longed for and so joyfully hailed. The drinking water 
 became scarce, and for this reason we did not receive 
 more than half a measure of water daily. Besides, 
 this had a very unpleasant smell and tasted like ink. 
 Notwithstanding, they fed us day after day with salted 
 meat that increased our thirst. We received cheese on 
 certain days. In need of more fluid, I gladly exchanged 
 as did many others, my portion of cheese for half a 
 measure of water. 
 
 To prevent myself from drinking more water than 
 absolutely necessary to quench the thirst from which I 
 constantly suffered, I stuck a quill through the cork of 
 the water bottle and drew in the fluid slowly. Not only 
 did this portion of water that we received not suffice to 
 quench our thirst, but it was also needed to soften the 
 ship's biscuit, to cook the peas, the oatmeal, and the 
 meat. The bread that we received was so hard that an 
 axe was required to break it, and it looked green and 
 yellow inside. The peas were only half cooked and 
 were very difficult to digest. We liked best the oat- 
 meal rations. It can easily be seen why we desired 
 even more than ever to reach dry land, and why we 
 were more than happy when we sighted it for the second 
 
 24 
 
time, after a lapse of three long weeks. Again the 
 pilots that we had seen once before came toward us in 
 their little boats, and this time guided us successfully 
 into the great arm of the sea leading to Philadelphia, 
 called Delaware Bay, which is eighty miles long and three 
 miles wide. But yet eight days passed before we 
 reached Philadelphia, because the ship could proceed 
 only very slowly on account of the current of the Dela- 
 ware. We anchored amid stream in the river and took 
 delight in gazing at the great beautiful city of Phila- 
 delphia. On the following day, we were led to a build- 
 ing in the city, where we took the oath of allegiance to 
 King George III. of England, under whose control at 
 that time the North American territory was. As we 
 put our feet on land, on coming from the ship, the earth 
 seemed to sway beneath us and we staggered like 
 drunken men. But this condition lasted for only a 
 quarter of an hour. Philadelphia is very beautiful and 
 built with nearly the same regularity as Mannheim; but 
 is much larger. The number of houses at that time in 
 the city was estimated at six thousand and it was said 
 that forty thousand people lived in them. Now the 
 city is said to have fourteen thousand houses and more 
 than ninety thousand inhabitants. It is situated at the 
 confluence of the Schuylkill and the Delaware rivers. 
 The streets run in straight lines from the water front and 
 are called by numbers, as First, Second, Third, Fourth, 
 Fifth, Sixth, Seventh Street. These streets intersect 
 King's and Market Streets. The latter is broad and 
 has fine, massive arcades under which the merchants 
 offer their wares. This street is similar to the Muehl- 
 endamm in Berlin, On both sides of this thoroughfare 
 carriages can be driven without hitting each other, and 
 during rainy weather it is possible to walk past the 
 houses on dry cobble stones, under balconies. There 
 
 25 
 
are more than twenty churches here, in which the in- 
 habitants belonging to different reUgious sects worship 
 in their own way the unseen, perfect Creator of all 
 things whom we call God. Whoever sees in this place 
 the churches of many different religious sects, among 
 which even Anabaptists and Universalists, and who 
 listens to services here in English, there in German, 
 here in Swedish, there in French, must confess that this 
 city has been rightiy called the City of Brotherly Love. 
 Among other things worth seeing ai'e the well-equipped 
 workhouse and reformatory, with which are connected 
 a lying-in hospital, an orphans' asylum and an infirm- 
 ary. This house is massively built and has in the center 
 a paved court where the prisoners can take exercise. 
 The prisons are paved, kept clean and furnished with 
 the necessary windows. Beautiful boulevards are laid 
 out around the city, and not very far away little groves 
 of chestnut and other nut trees afford refreshing shade. 
 Near Philadelphia is situated Germantown, a little city 
 mostly inhabited by Germans, who make their living 
 mainly by building carriages and weaving linen. Many 
 Germans also live in Lancaster, where they engage in 
 manufacture, principally of woolen and cotton cloth. 
 After we had taken the oath of allegiance to the king 
 of England, we were obliged to return to the boat. 
 Shortly after, an announcement could have been read 
 not only on the street corners of Philadelphia, but also 
 in the American newspapers: "That a boat at present 
 lying in the harbor of Philadelphia had arrived from 
 Europe carrying a load of male and female persons, and 
 that whoever might wish to purchase some of them, was 
 invited to visit the boat." Shortly afterwards, pro- 
 fessional men aiTived from the cities and owners of 
 plantations from the country, who bargained with the 
 ship's captain for our persons. We had to strip naked, 
 
 26 
 
so that the prospective purchasers could see that we had 
 perfectly developed and healthy bodies. After the 
 purchaser had made a selection, he asked: "How much 
 is this boy or this girl?" Many strong and healthy 
 young men, and especially the pregnant women brought 
 as much as sixty pounds sterling ($300.00). Some of 
 my companions had to serve ten, twelve, or even more 
 years without receiving anything more than their board 
 and clothes. This amount of money was received by 
 the captaia in payment for our transportation to Ameri- 
 ca and for our board. The length of service was ac- 
 cording to the price. After these aliens had worked for 
 the time required, they received a certificate of freedom. 
 Then they had to decide whether they would hire them- 
 selves out or start in business on their own account. 
 These servants were not given wholly over to the dis- 
 cretion of their masters, but were still to some extent 
 under the protection of the law; and the only difference 
 between them and free citizens was that for the speci- 
 fied time, they could not work for themselves. So it is 
 easily seen that the conditions under which we had to 
 labor after our arrival in North America were in no way 
 a formal and life-long slavery, and that we could have 
 gone immediately about our own business, had we been 
 in the position to pay the ship's captain what we owed 
 him. Even now, as I am informed, the poor European 
 arrivals in North America have to work out the cost of 
 their transportation after they land there ; but they are 
 no longer exposed to the whims and avarice of ship's 
 captains, as previously. In latter times, the Baron of 
 Gagern, known as a wise and philanthropic man, did 
 very much to ameliorate the conditions of immigrants, 
 and in Philadelphia there exists at this time a humani- 
 tarian society for their assistance. 
 
 Soon the persons that composed the load of our ship 
 
 27 
 
were all sold except six boys, among whom was myself. 
 They, like myself, were unwilling to consent to a long 
 term of service. This made ("he ship's captain wild with 
 anger and he threatened, if we refused again to take 
 service in America under his conditions, to carry us to 
 the Antilles, especially to Barbadoes, where the heat is 
 unbearable and where we would have to work with 
 negroes. We realized that we would gain nothmg by 
 a trip to the West Indies, where our miserable fate would 
 become even more intolerable, and that there was no 
 salvation from the power of the ship's captain; so we 
 resolved to work out the cost of transportation in the 
 climate of Philadelphia. The captain asked for me 
 thirty pounds sterling and I had to bind myself for the 
 term of six years to the master or overseer that paid 
 this amount of money. The master who paid this 
 money for me — ahoiit one huyidred and fifty dollars — 
 was the owner of a plantation in the province of New 
 Jersey, and a member of the religious sect of the 
 Quakers. I dined excellently with my new master in 
 Philadelphia, and we drank a bowl of punch. Later we 
 crossed the Delaware in a skiff and stopped at an inn. 
 He had left his horse here, and as he expected to leave 
 shortly, he directed me to proceed through a beautiful 
 oak forest, promising to overtake me a little later, on 
 horseback. I kept to the direction he had given me, and 
 arrived at a fruit orchard where mainly apple trees were 
 growing. I sprang over the fence of the orchard and 
 gathered up a number of the apples lying there and 
 which tasted very good; then continued on my way. 
 In the meantime it had grown dark and my master was 
 nowhere in sight. 
 
 Shortly after, I espied a light in a little house which 
 I approached. The family sat around the table eating 
 their evening meal. They soon discovered that I came 
 
 28 
 
from the boat and opened up a conversation with me; 
 but as they spoke English, I was unable to understand 
 them. They urged me to take a place with them at the 
 table, and gave me a little bowl of Turkish wheat meal 
 with milk and bread; on the table lay a big cheese, from 
 which I was permitted to cut a little piece for myself. 
 After half an hour had passed, some one knocked at the 
 window. This was my master, who though somewhat 
 far gone in liquor, was glad to catch up with me here. 
 I was immediately ordered to get up on the saddle 
 behind him, and in this fashion he galloped with me to 
 his plantation. As we pulled up in front of his house, 
 there appeared promptly a boy who took the horse 
 from him and led it to a stall. I entered the living room 
 with him, where his wife and children were sitting in 
 front of a big fireplace. They have no stoves in this 
 part of America, but content themselves with great 
 open fires in chimneyplaces, over which are suspended 
 big iron kettles. In these they cook their food, throw- 
 ing in great pieces of beef, sometimes weighing six and 
 eight pounds. In another kettle they cook in this 
 fashion entire heads of cabbage and whole turnips, and 
 later bring them to the table, where each may take from 
 any of the kinds of food whatever he desires. Also 
 each one is invited to take as much as he wishes from 
 an enormous cheese, often weighing as much as thirty 
 pounds. At breakfast and supper they eat usually a 
 mush made of Turkish wheat meal which is also cooked 
 in a kettle suspended in the fireplace. Each receives 
 with this a little bowl of milk, and there is always a 
 great piece of meat or the cheese on the table, of which 
 one may eat to his satisfaction. I drank only a little 
 water, but a good deal of cider or apple wine. Each 
 plantation has on it an orchard that sometimes requires 
 half an hour to walk around, and that bears an immense 
 
 29 
 
amoimt of fruit, a part of which is used to make this 
 dehcious, healthful apple wine. In these orchards the 
 trees are usually planted twenty steps apart and grow 
 magnificently. In the open spaces between the fruit 
 trees, they grow all kinds of grain, that flourishes just as 
 well as if the trees were not there. It is unbelievable 
 what profits the growing of fruit trees brings in America. 
 And when I see here in our own country large gardens 
 and wide pastures without even a single fruit tree, I 
 always regret that fruit cultui'e is not more carefully 
 followed. The farmers here who generally have plenty 
 of land could do a great deal for the improvement of 
 their farms if they would devote even half an acre to the 
 growing of fruit trees. I know a very sensible farmer 
 who, from a comparatively small piece of land on which 
 twenty years ago he planted fruit trees that demand 
 no care, now receives the amount of his taxes and all the 
 fruit that he can use for himself from this orchard. 
 The objection that if each farmer owned his own or- 
 chard, the fruit would not sell so advantageously as 
 at the present time, is valid. Of course this cannot be 
 denied; but notwithstanding, fruit growing will become 
 sometime a very important and most useful part of the 
 farming industry, if it is managed properly. Fruit is 
 not only a pleasant and healthful food when cooked, but 
 it also sells well as the base of the manufacture of good 
 wine, vinegar, syrup and brandy; and besides the cut- 
 tings can be used for feeding cattle. And that the 
 ground around the trees can be utilized for the growing 
 of other products, I have seen proved in America. 
 
 During the harvests, the owners of neighboring plan- 
 tations assist each other in cutting the grain, so that 
 usually in a single day an entire crop of some sort is 
 gathered. After the grain is cut it is bound immediately 
 into little bundles and stacked up in shocks just as is 
 
 30 
 
done with hemp in our country. There they leave it 
 until it dries. Even in rainy weather I never saw the 
 grain sprout because it is so placed in these shocks that 
 the heads are exposed to the air. After the han^esters 
 are through with the gathering of the grain they eat and 
 drink mightily, and after that have dances. 
 
 Before I begin to relate my own affairs and the duties 
 of my service and what happened to me during this 
 time, I would like to make a few observations about the 
 provinces of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, so that the 
 reader can have some idea about the places where I 
 spent the first years of my sojourn in America. Penn- 
 sylvania, which was named by the Englishman, William 
 Penn, who with a few of his sect made a settlement in 
 its forests, is a great stretch of land larger than one half 
 the Prussian empire and in about the same latitude as 
 Spain. But the climate is similar to that of our coun- 
 try, because the land is not entirely under cultivation; 
 but it is gradually growing warmer as the clearing of 1 he 
 forests and the cultivation of the fields progress. This 
 province is drained by three big rivers, the Delaware, 
 on which is situated the capital, Philadelphia; the 
 Susquehanna, and the Ohio. It produces a quantity of 
 grain, flax, hemp, and wax and breeds cattle extensively. 
 Thei e are large oak and nut forests. The nuts are not 
 so large as our walnuts and have a thinner shell, so that 
 they can be cracked easily with strong teeth. There is 
 also a stony kind of nut. This serves as food for the 
 pigs that are running wild in the forests. These pigs, 
 after being marked on the ears, are allowed to run wild 
 in the summer time and in the fall are captured again. 
 Each proprietor can recognize his own stock from the 
 brand on theii' ears. Vines grow wild here and climb 
 up the trees; especially the sassafras, which grows in 
 great abundance. 
 
 31 
 
The province of New Jersey is much smaller than 
 Pennsylvania, but is still larger than the kingdom of 
 Saxony at present. This province also is under very 
 good cultivation. They grow here much grain, flax, 
 fruits, and potatoes. They have many cattle, and tim- 
 ber is in abundance. Among the different kinds of 
 wood the cedar especially drew my attention. These 
 cedars are over a hundred feet high; they grow only 
 from the tops, where spring the new branches, lookmg 
 in shape and size like great brooms on which are hanging 
 red berries. These trees stand so close to each other 
 that it is very hard to pass between them. The timber 
 is beautiful and so very light that it is possible to carry 
 on one's shoulder a log ten yards long and half a yard in 
 circumference. This wood is used for building pur- 
 poses and for the manufacture of shingles, with which 
 most of the houses in this province are covered. Both 
 provinces, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, have a very 
 mild and pleasant climate. The work that I had to 
 perform on the New Jersey plantation near the Penn- 
 sylvania border, was as follows: I had to get up at day- 
 break, and carry a great log of wood four to five feet 
 long to the fireplace, which measured six feet. Then 
 I placed small split wood under the log and kindled a 
 flame by means of which the log was ignited. Soon the 
 room was warm. Later I proceeded to feed the cattle, 
 consisting of ten to fifteen head of horses, fifty to sixty 
 cows and oxen, and more than a hundred hogs. The 
 latter were mostly fattened on Turkish wheat. After 
 they were sufficiently heavy, they were slaughtered, 
 sometimes ten in one day. After being stuck, they 
 were allowed to run about the yard until they were 
 fully bled and fell dead. After a number had been 
 slaughtered in this way, the carcasses were scalded, 
 hung up and the intestines removed and buried. Sau- 
 
 32 
 
sages were not made. On the following day, we took 
 the dressed hogs to Philadelphia, where we sold them to 
 the meat dealers, who salt the meat and send shiploads 
 of pork and flour to the West Indian islands, receiving 
 in exchange West Indian products such as coffee, sugar 
 and indigo. The horned cattle remain in summer and 
 winter in the fields and pastures. In the winter I often 
 had to go for half an hour in the deep snow to feed the 
 cattle. Here and there were to be found immense hay- 
 stacks around which high fences were built against 
 which leaned a ladder that I had to ascend in order to 
 cut the fodder with my long cui-ved knife. I took from 
 the haystacks each time only as much as I needed to feed 
 at that time, throwing it over the fence to the beasts that 
 were waiting outside. If a cow was with calf she was 
 driven home with the other cows that were to be milked. 
 All the mJlk was put into big copper kettles; and the 
 butter and cheese made from it were sold. In the out- 
 house of the home of my master was a cheese press 
 which always contained two big cheeses of thirty to 
 forty pounds each in a cylinder which was perforated 
 with holes and had two iron clamps. After the cattle 
 were fed, I went to breakfast, to which we were called 
 about eight o'clock by the blowing of a big conch. Each 
 of the servants received a can of milk, m.ush of Turkish 
 wheat flour and a piece of salted veal. At noon we had 
 warm meat with whole turnips or cabbage heads, of 
 which each could eat as much as he chose; or we had 
 peas, lentils or other vegetables. The supper was like 
 the breakfast. When I was not occupied with the cat- 
 tle, I had to do other kinds of work. Principally I had 
 to plow the fields to make the uncultivated land arable. 
 My master was a Quaker and on Sundays I frequently 
 attended the religious meetings of the Quakers with him 
 and his family. This christian religious sect originated 
 
 33 
 
in the seventeenth century in England, deriving its 
 name from "to quake," which means to tremble, and 
 has many members at present in America. The 
 Quakers or Tremblers have no pastors ; but the old and 
 experienced of both sexes deliver lectures during their 
 religious meetings, when they feel incited by inner 
 promptings of the soul. In their meeting-houses they 
 never sing, but pray silently until an old man or woman, 
 led by the spirit, rises and delivers a sermon on some 
 passage of the Old Testament. These declamations 
 are often very pathetic and are listened to reverently, 
 smce Quakers in theii places of worship are generally 
 very devout. After the services, having been without 
 any ceremonies and lasting two hours, are finished, the 
 men and the women shake hands and leave the place of 
 assembly. The Quakers here, men and women, ride on 
 horseback to their meeting-house, tie the horses in front 
 of the church, which is situated in a little forest, and 
 after their common worship of God return immediately 
 to their homes. I had a horse at my disposal each 
 Sunday in order to reach the church. Besides other 
 distinguishing marks of the Quakers, it must be re- 
 membered that they call every one "thou," that they 
 never remove their hats, not even in the presence of the 
 king, and that they, according to Matthew 5:35-37, 
 never take an oath. They ought not to swear, either, 
 but my master, who was a very violent man and spoke 
 a little German, swore not infrequently, especially when 
 he was drunk. Only too often, if he were not satisfied 
 with his servants, did he utter the resounding and ter- 
 rible English curse : " God damn your soul ! " Although 
 I wanted for nothing in the employ of my master, as can 
 be seen by my narrative, I still longed for freedom and 
 for my fatherland. One Sunday I received pei mission 
 to visit the Protestant church in Philadelphia. There 
 
 34 
 
I met a group of Germaa servants who were having a 
 very bad time at the hands of their masters. They 
 tried to persuade me to run away with them to find a 
 European boat that would take us back to Europe. 
 At first I hesitated at carrying out the plans they had 
 confided to me, but finally I promised to participate in 
 the undertaking. To this conclusion I was brought 
 mainly by a negress who encountered us by chance and 
 who offered to read my future life in the lines of my 
 palm. I held my hand out to her, and learned from the 
 black woman that I should be a soldier and should be 
 wounded. Not to hear more of what lay in store for me, 
 I tore my hand away from the fortune-teller, and de- 
 cided on the spot to escape the fate of the prophecy by 
 flight and the longed-for return to Europe. I conferred 
 with my companions as to the time chosen for running 
 away, and went home. At the appointed day I left my 
 master, just as they did and met them by moonlight at 
 the place we had agreed upon. Immediately we started 
 on our way; but after a march of about two hours we 
 came to a river that was so wide and deep that we could 
 not ford it. Thereupon we walked along the river bank, 
 hoping to find a skiff. We actually did find boats tied 
 near a plantation and unloosing them, we crossed the 
 river. We were very glad to have the river behind us, 
 and went on as fast as we could. At daybreak we lay 
 down m a forest and now sleeping and now awake, 
 awaited the fall of night in which we could continue our 
 journey. We satisfied our hunger with food found here 
 and there in the fields, and which we cooked in the mid- 
 dle of the forest. In this manner, we had travelled 
 about three hundred English miJes, and had just ar- 
 rived in the province of Virginia, when we were dis- 
 covered by bloodhounds, captured, and immediately 
 put under custody. Our masters had advertised our 
 
 35 
 
flight in the newspapers, and had offered considerable 
 rewards for our recovery. 
 
 For my capture a reward of five pounds (more than 
 thirty dollars) was offered. Those who found us im- 
 mediately informed our masters of our arrest, but three 
 weeks elapsed before instructions for our return arrived. 
 During this time we had to sit in the prison. One 
 morning I was summoned and immediately led to an- 
 other house where some gentlemen were convened. 
 One of them approached me and asked if I would like to 
 return to New Jersey to my master. He said he had 
 orders to pay everything, and to bring me back to him 
 again. 
 
 I was glad that my master desired to have me return, 
 because I did not like it in Virginia, where the servants 
 had to work with negroes, and had only two meals a 
 day. I would doubtless have been sold to a Virginia 
 plantation owner, had I refused to go back to New 
 Jersey. But under the circumstances this never en- 
 tered my head and I promised immediately to accom- 
 pany the emissary of my master. He, a ship's captain, 
 paid my expenses and I followed him to his vessel lying 
 in the Potomac River. With a favoring wind we set 
 sail. We came to Chesapeake Bay and thence through 
 Delaware Bay to Philadelphia, where my master was 
 waiting for me. I was afraid he would afflict me with a 
 load of curses; but he received me very kindly, and told 
 me that he knew I was persuaded by the others to run 
 away, but that I should not have yielded to the temp- 
 tations of these companions, but should have waited 
 until my term of service had expired ; that later he would 
 have given me a certificate of freedom which would have 
 opened for me the doors of all America. After I had 
 promised him that I would never run away again, and 
 would serve him sincerely in the future, he ordered me 
 
 36 
 
to mount behind him and we arrived home astride the 
 same horse's back. Here I had a very friendly re- 
 ception from the wife and the daughters of my master; 
 they seemed confident that I had not run away because 
 of ill treatment on their part, but had yielded to the 
 persuasion of my partners in wrong-doing. After 
 serving my master two years longer, diligently and 
 honorably, and not being badly treated by him, I 
 brought upon myself quite innocently his ill will. One 
 morning I was plowing a piece of unbroken land with 
 another servant, a Swiss boy of about fourteen years, 
 who was driving the oxen for me. I had the misfortune 
 to run the plow against a large root of a tree, breaking 
 the implement, which was a new one. We placed the 
 broken plow on a wagon and drove home. My master 
 who had observed from a distance what had happened 
 to the new plow, met me with the frightful curse: 
 ''God damn your soul and your brain!," ordered me to 
 unyoke the oxen, and to come to breakfast. 
 
 When we were seated ar the table, my master began 
 to curse again, and looked at me with angry eyes. His 
 gestures and his curses, which I fully understood, since 
 I had learned the English language fairly well during 
 my three years' stay in America, seemed to me ridicu- 
 lous, and I could not keep from showing amusement at 
 his expressions of rage. No sooner did my master be- 
 come aware of this than he gave me such a box on the 
 ear that the blood sprang from my nose and mouth as 
 if from a fountain. Instant J y I sprang up from the 
 table to the door, and said that I would go immediately 
 to the judge and complain of him, knowing well that the 
 loss he had suffered did not permit such treatment of 
 servants. I had hardly finished saying this when my 
 master leaped from his seat and made an attempt to 
 catch hold of me. I succeeded in escaping, but turning 
 
 37 
 
around after a few steps, I saw that he had a gun m his 
 hands and was aiming at me; buL his wife and the chil- 
 dren seized him to prevent his committing a crime. A 
 few leaps took me beyond the range of his rifle and into 
 the security of the forest. As soon as I knew myself 
 to be in safety, I humed to a German cooper who was 
 living about a mile from the plantation of my master. 
 To him I related what had happened, and asked him to 
 show me the way to the judge, which he accordingly did. 
 I had to tell the judge, whom I approached with a 
 bloody and swollen face, all that had occurred in 
 detail. Having done so, I expressed the desire to be 
 sold to another planter as I couJd no longer repose con- 
 fidence in or feel affection for my old master. 
 
 Thereupon the judge took a seat at his wiiting desk 
 and wrote a letter to my master; sealed it and gave it to 
 me with the order that I should go home again and 
 deliver the letter in person. And he assured me that 
 my master would never again raise his hand against me. 
 It was Saturday and very late when I came home. My 
 master, who had ridden in pursuit of me, came home 
 after midnight and on his arrival asked the young Swiss, 
 who looked after his horse, if I had come back. Upon 
 this question being answered in the affirmative, he 
 retired. I knew by his voice that he was intoxicated. 
 On the following day after I had fed the cattle and had 
 entered the house, my master, who was sitting near the 
 fireplace, asked me to shave him. He also asked me 
 very gravely if he could trust himself to me. I replied 
 that he must not be afraid, as I had never in my life 
 done evil to any one, and he would be the last person 
 that I would want to harm. I shaved him, and when 
 I had finished, I handed him the letter of the judge. 
 After he had read it through, he was terribly angry, 
 swore terrifically and went into another room; but came 
 
 38 
 
back soon with a threat that he would provide me with 
 another master who would let me know what a servant 
 was much better than he had done; and gave me the 
 order to saddle his horse and bring it around. After I 
 had carried out his orders, he galloped away and did not 
 come home until long after midnight, very drunk. On 
 the following morning I arose as usual very early and fed 
 the cattle. After I came to breakfast, he asked me if I 
 wished to remain in his service. I gave a negative 
 answer, and expressed the wish to be sold to another 
 master. He then said that I would often think of him 
 when I had fallen into the hands of a man worse than 
 he. After a while a gentleman arrived on horseback, 
 and a boy with a yoke of oxen followed him. I knew 
 instantly that the stranger was to be my future master 
 and the oxen were the price for my person. And as a 
 matter of fact, I was given over to the stranger in ex- 
 change for the pair of oxen. 
 
 Little did those who hung in solicitude over my 
 cradle dream of the fate that awaited me on the other 
 side of the Atlantic! But I could not remonstrate 
 against the trading of the two gentlemen. 
 
 My new master was proprietor of an inn situated 
 about a mile from the plantation of the gentleman I had 
 sei-VTd until now. He also was a lieutenant of the 
 militia. His name was Abraham Eldrige. After I had 
 thanked my former master for all the good that I had 
 enjoyed at his hands, I followed my new keeper to his 
 home. According to the prophecy of my former master, 
 I was to have a much worse time here than with him; 
 but I had every reason to be satisfied with my present 
 situation. Notwithstanding the fact that my master 
 was a very violent-tempered man, he was not a victim 
 of the disgraceful drinking habit as was the man I first 
 served. I filled the position of a porter in his inn, a 
 
 39 
 
sort of roadhouse on the way to Philadelphia. This 
 position, which was not a congenial one to me, was 
 nevertheless at this time particularly remunerative. 
 For the North American struggle for independence had 
 broken out, and troops of soldiers and their officers 
 travelled along this highway. The latter gave me for 
 the care of their horses, sometimes small, sometimes 
 large sums of money, sometimes as much as a dollar, and 
 in a short time I was able to save a rather respectable 
 amount of money. 
 
 At that time there was current in Pennsylvania a 
 good deal of paper money. Each piece bore on one 
 side the name of the United States and the value of the 
 bill; on the other the notice that the penalty for counter- 
 feiting this bill was loss of life. Also there were whole 
 and half coins of Spanish silver money, which were often 
 chopped into four and sometimes into eight pieces. 
 These pieces were used as change and business cun-ency. 
 It is well known that with the English army which 
 fought the American insurgents there were connected 
 Hessian auxiliary troops, many of whom deserted. 
 From these deserters I gained much information as to 
 how far away the English and Hessian forces were from 
 the place where I was staying, and how great were their 
 numbers. I learned this with the end in view, if the 
 occasion arose, to join the army and to return with it, 
 after the war was over, to my fatherland, for which I 
 grew constantly more homesick. 
 
 But when I considered the danger which threatened 
 me should I be captui-ed by the Americans after I had 
 gone over to the English and the Hessians, I gave up 
 each time my secretly cherished plans, and decided at 
 least to wait a little longer before trying to realize my 
 desires. 
 
 About this time, I received on request, permission 
 
 40 
 
from my master to go to Philadelphia to attend the 
 Lutheran church. At this period in Philadelphia, 
 Major von Ortendorff, who had fought in the armies of 
 Frederick the Great during the Seven Years' War in 
 Germany, was forming under the direction of the 
 commander-in-chief of the American army, a corps of 
 volunteers. Moreover in his proclamation, which was 
 sanctioned by the United States, German servants were 
 invited to join the corps, but on the condition that these 
 servants should make an agreement with their masters 
 that these masters should receive during their seivants' 
 term of service a part of the pay. The United States 
 promised the German servants who were willing to bear 
 arms in the cause of the liberation of America, thirteen 
 acres of government land free of charge, to be taken 
 possession of as soon as peace was declared. 
 
 I was persuaded to enter this volunteer corps, and 
 although I was less concerned about the freedom of 
 North America than about my own, and though I 
 longed for my fatherland, still when I saw the great 
 enthusiasm for the cause of freedom manifested in 
 Philadelphia, I straightway forgot Germany and the 
 plans for my own freedom, took service in Major 
 Ortendorff' s corps and received my twenty dollars 
 earnest money. While I remained in Philadelphia, one 
 of the men of the corps was sent with a letter to my 
 master requesting him to come to headquarters in order 
 to make arrangements with the commander of the corps 
 for my enlistment. My master, who, as I have men- 
 tioned before, was a lieutenant of the militia, was very 
 happy on the following day when he saw me in the blue 
 uniform with the green collar and cuffs, and wished me 
 good luck in my new profession. However, he demand- 
 ed that I pay him every month for twenty months one 
 pound sterling out of my wages, and although I ap- 
 
 41 
 
preciated that he was asking far too much, I consented. 
 As the corps of Ortendorff had reached the number of 
 three hundred, we marched to join the great North 
 American army which was under the command of 
 General Washington. The sei'vice of this corps was 
 very hard. As we received no tents, we were obhged to 
 build huts for ourselves out of boughs. We had to 
 serve as outposts for the main army, and were obliged to 
 patrol all night long. We also had to forage for cattle 
 to be slaughtered for the use of the soldiers. As a rule 
 we took the cattle from the planters who remained 
 loyal to the king. Although the United States were 
 trying as hard as they could to free themselves from 
 English rule, yet there were a few that did not favor the 
 insurrection, and worked against the cause of liberty 
 partly because they were born Englishmen, and paitly 
 on grounds of conscience. But they suffered often very 
 keenly for their loyalty to the English government. To 
 discover their attitude in this matter, usually six men 
 went into the houses, pretended to be Hessians and 
 asked questions about Washington's army: how strong 
 it was, where it was located at the present time, and 
 such details. If these people seemed to be glad to see 
 us, and gave us information about the North American 
 army, soon the entire detachment entered and took 
 possession of the plantation, drove away the cattle and 
 often stripped the house. The duped people then sin- 
 cerely regretted their frankness, gazed with tears in 
 their eyes after their cattle that we were driving away, 
 and seeing the "U. S." on our powder pouches, realized 
 too late that we were soldiers of the United States. 
 Such matters occupied almost every night. The 
 English, who very soon received word of our doings, 
 never forgave us. After I had served about six months 
 in the corps of Ortendorff, I with six other men decided 
 
 42 
 
to desert to the English and Hessians, whose tents we 
 could see in daytime not far from our camp. It was a 
 dark, desolate night when we stole out of our bivouac; 
 but we had gone only about fifty steps into the forest 
 when a picket whom we were not expecting to find at 
 this place called out: "Who goes?" and as we did not 
 answer, fired immediately. Instantly we scattered in 
 all directions and I decided to return as fast as I could 
 to the camp, where I arrived before the commotion 
 caused by the firing of the gun had become general. I 
 joined in the alarm, but my anxiety knew no bounds, 
 for I realized that if any of the deserters were captured 
 and saw fit to betray me, the limb of a tree would fur- 
 nish my punishment. 
 
 We had to answer roll-call immediately, and I was 
 mighty glad that the six deserters were still missing and 
 that the patrols sent out to search could not find them. 
 A few days after this unsuccessful attempt to desert 
 to the combined armies, we received orders to break 
 camp. At daybreak we reached a mountain which was 
 occupied by some thousand regular soldiers of the 
 North American troops, who had with them a few 
 cannon. Here we had command of the road that led 
 around the mountain, which we saw covered with a 
 multitude of soldiers, and the newly risen sun glittered 
 on thousands of bayonets. This was a regiment of the 
 English army with a vanguard formed of Hessian 
 grenadiers. As soon as they came within range we 
 fired our cannon at them. All at once, the endless 
 marching line stood still, separated into divisions and, 
 then disregarding our fire, charged down the mountain 
 with fixed bayonets. When we saw that we were 
 outnumbered and that resistance was hopeless, we 
 abandoned our cannon and baggage and fled down the 
 other side of the mountain. Many threw away their 
 
 43 
 
rifles and knapsacks, and ran like hares into the forest. 
 I fell into a ditch and my comrades, leaving me there 
 for dead, jumped over me. As the cannon balls and 
 rifle bullets were falling all around me, and I was 
 afraid of being run through by the enemy that were 
 pursuing us, I crawled on my hands and knees to some 
 thick undergrowth nearby, and lay there until I could 
 no longer hear any firing. After this I arose and went 
 up to the place on the mountain where the skirmish had 
 started. Here I found the Hessian grenadiers in 
 possession of the camp. When I was still twenty feet 
 distant from them, the Colonel called to a petty officer: 
 "There comes a rebel!" The petty officer approached 
 me and led me to the Colonel, who addressed me with 
 stern and threatening words: "Well, you urchin, where 
 do you come from? You were not able to make your 
 escape, were you?" I answered that I had for a long 
 time cherished the wish to be associated with my 
 countrymen, and then I told him briefly all that had 
 happened to me since my arrival in America. My 
 story made a favorable impression on the Colonel and 
 he ordered one of his orderlies to give me a glass of rum 
 and some bread. At the same time he ordered me to 
 remain in his batallion until it should go into winter 
 quarters; also he promised that later on he would make 
 some provision for my future. 
 
 After the troops had rested for a few hours, they 
 again took up their march. But we had not marched 
 longer than an hour when we met the entire corps of 
 Ortendorff' s men being led along under arrest, captured 
 by an English company. I recognized among the 
 prisoners my own comrades and I called to them: 
 "See! Had you followed my example you also could 
 have been at liberty now!" 
 
 This exclamation of mine was not the result of reflec- 
 
 44 
 
tion and it might easily be fatal for me in the future. 
 And even if this indiscretion did not bring me misfor- 
 tune in this particular case, I would advise all persons 
 to keep in mind the changeable fortunes of war, and 
 to be more cautious and thoughtful that I showed my- 
 self to be on that occasion. 
 
 An hour before sunset we arrived at the camp of the 
 main division of the English army. I was led promptly 
 to the tent of Lord Cornwallis, who put many questions 
 to me, but especially how strong the rebels were, where 
 Washington was camped, how defensible the fortifica- 
 tions were, and how well they were manned. After I 
 had given information on all these points, I had to 
 swear allegiance to King George the Third, I received 
 a rifle, and was enrolled in the grenadier battalion of 
 the Knipphausen regiment. Now we marched toward 
 Staten Island, laying opposite New York, where we 
 remained in camp a few weeks. Then we passed over 
 the North River towards the city of New York. We 
 were unable to enter the city, but we dug caves in the 
 ground and covered them with sod in which we had to 
 pass the winter. But the English obtained quarters 
 in the city. Not only were the Hessian soldiers dis- 
 criminated against in this way, but they were obliged 
 daily to do hard labor, throwing up earthworks about 
 Fort Washington, a fortified place three miles above the 
 city on the other side of the river. We also had to 
 stand a very dangerous watch on an island in the river. 
 
 A narrow dam which led to this island, on which was 
 a fortification called Paulus Haak, was the main outpost 
 of our army. 
 
 New York, which is situated north of Philadelphia, is 
 the capital of the State of New York. This state is 
 larger than the German kingdoms of Bavaria, Saxonia 
 and Wirtemberg together. During the Seven Years' 
 
 45 
 
War, it suffered severely from conflagration. The 
 port of this city is situated nearer the sea than the one 
 at Philadelphia, and therefore commerce and navigation 
 are more highly developed here than in the latter place. 
 In the suburbs, there is only one spring that has sweet 
 water; all the others are brackish, even containing 
 particles of salt. Along the water front by the docks 
 were many taverns, where dwelt the priestesses of the 
 heathen goddess Venus. It would be very imfitting to 
 call this region "holy ground." Directly opposite the 
 landing place is a lighthouse whose rays can be seen at 
 night veiy far out on the sea. Not far from the city, 
 in the middle of the Hudson there is an eddy called 
 Hellgate. Ships passing this place had to be very 
 careful not to come too near lest they be drawn in and 
 hurled to destruction. I listened with horror to the 
 roaring of Hellgate when I had to go by it. After we 
 had camped one or two months near New York, we 
 received orders to be prepared to take ship. It was 
 the nineteenth of December when we boarded the 
 vessel called "The Two Sisters." As our regiment 
 consisted of about eight hundred men besides the fifty 
 seamen, we had to live in rather close quarters. 
 
 The entire fleet that left New York at this time 
 amounted to almost two hundred ships. The weather 
 was very stormy and the farther we sailed from the 
 coast, the more violent the wind became. In a few 
 days we saw only a few ships near us and finally none 
 at all. Our ship constantly grew more unseaworthy, 
 and the water poured into the hull until the barrels 
 began to swim about. Of course we fired signals, but 
 in vain. No ship was within hailing distance. There 
 was nothing left for us to do but to delay the inevitable 
 sinking of our leaking vessel. We had to lash ourselves 
 with ropes to the pump that was on the upper deck, to 
 
 46 
 
prevent our being washed overboard. And we had to 
 pump day and night in order if possible to discharge 
 from the boat the water that kept pouring in from 
 below. Since we had not been in communication with 
 the rest of the fleet for eight days, our captain opened 
 his sealed orders, and found that our assembly point 
 was South Carolina. Each captain of a transport 
 receives sealed martial orders which he, under penalty 
 of death, may not open until twenty-four hours shall 
 have passed without his having seen any boat. Other- 
 wise he has to follow the orders of the war vessels that 
 always accompany the transports, which orders are 
 communicated to him by the firing of guns and by other 
 signals that are understood by him. Our ship directed 
 its course south. After some time, we sighted dry 
 land. This was the coast of the great State of Georgia, 
 that contains over 59,000 square miles. We cast anchor 
 near Savannah, the capital of this state, and made a 
 landing in a convenient place. The soldiers were 
 unshipped, the provisions and other contents of the 
 boat put ashore, and the vessel itself raised. The great 
 leaks from which the old ship had suffered during the 
 storm, were caulked with tow and sealed over with 
 pitch. 
 
 After eight days we took ship again and in due time 
 arrived at the port of Charleston, the capital of South 
 Carolina, where we were greeted by the other vessels 
 of the fleet that had been scattered far and wide by the 
 storm. The American fleet lay under the guns of the 
 fort of Charleston, which was guarded with more than 
 a hundred cannon, commanding the canal leading to 
 the city. Besides, all along the canal, there had been 
 sunk small vessels to which iron spikes had been fastened 
 in order to discourage the approach of any unfriendly 
 vessel. But in spite of this, the English fleet, after 
 
 47 
 
waiting six weeks for favoring winds, ran past the 
 fortress, through the cannon fire of the Americans, 
 right up to the city Charleston, where it was impossible 
 for them to be shot at. During this venture some of the 
 ships were damaged, and we also had a few killed and 
 others wounded. 
 
 But before the English sea forces had passed the 
 fortress, the Hessian troops on land had begun to lay 
 siege to the city. It required altogether seven weeks 
 to compel the city to capitulate to the Hessian-English 
 army. The fortress, that could have held out much 
 longer, capitulated also when the city surrendered. 
 There was also in Charleston a body of troops from 
 France, very strong, estimated at about twelve thousand 
 men, sent over to assist the Americans. This corps was 
 given leave to depart after the city and the fort had 
 surrendered to the English. During the siege of Charles- 
 ton, I had an opportunity to see a chief of the free 
 Indians that live in the interior of the North American 
 States but who are gradually being crowded out by the 
 civilized Europeans and the North American settlers. 
 
 He came to examine our earthworks, and to offer our 
 GeneraJ Clinton a few thousand men as auxiliary troops. 
 But the General refused this offer, perhaps chiefly for 
 the reason that the Indians are savage; and generally 
 are as harmful to their friends as to their enemies. This 
 chief was clothed in a mantle of cloth bordered with 
 bright gold. Instead of shoes, he wore sandals that 
 were bound to his feet with strings. In his nose was 
 suspended a big silver ring that hung to his under lip, 
 and he wore a headdress from which great wing feathers 
 dangled. 
 
 Shortly after the surrender of Charleston all of our 
 men, except those needed to hold the city, were ordered 
 to take ship again, and we sailed northward in order to 
 
 48 
 
take Philadelphia, then in the hands of the Americans; 
 but our first object was to give a decisive battle to the 
 enemy, whose main army was on the other side of the 
 Brandywine Creek. It is said that the North American 
 army was one hundred thousand men strong. We had 
 no more than ten thousand English, Scotch and Hessian 
 soldiers, with some troops from Brunswick. A few days 
 after we had left our ships, we found ourselves only two 
 hours' distant from the enemy. Here we made a camp, 
 not only for the purpose of reconnoitering the position, 
 in order to determine its strength, but also to find out 
 something about the Brandywine Creek over which we 
 hoped to carry, if necessary, our light cannon. After 
 our general's staff had obtained the desired information, 
 we started at midnight, separated into three divisions. 
 We dragged the great cannon along the highway, and 
 arrived at daybreak within cannon range of the hostile 
 camp. 
 
 Genei-al Washington, who commanded here in person 
 must have thought that this was our entire army, and, 
 that we intended to make an attempt at once to cross 
 the river; for this reason he must have brought there the 
 flower of his troops. I was with the third division, that 
 marched the greater part of the way through forests 
 and had to listen to the faraway roar of the cannon. It 
 lacked half an hour of sunset when we made a halt, 
 threw our knapsacks into a pile and put on our grenadier 
 caps. This meant an immediate attack. An adjutant 
 approached our general from the right wing, and we 
 were ordered to march in double file. And now we 
 advanced with fife and drum, charging with bayonets 
 through the shallow Brandywine, storming the earth- 
 works of the enemy with a rush and causing them to 
 abandon everything and take to their heels. We pur- 
 sued the enemy with shot and shell until late in the night. 
 
 49 
 
From the left wing alone we took twenty two cannon 
 of the enemy. At the center and from the right wing 
 a few more had been captured. Also a great many men 
 were taken, the exact number of whom I was unable to 
 ascertain. The field of battle was strewn with rifles 
 and powder pouches. We remained in camp here eight 
 days. Every day new captures were made of those 
 who tried to find refuge in the forests. The abandoned 
 rifles and powder pouches were picked up, piled in 
 wagons, and driven after the army. 
 
 Before the battle we had had to contend ourselves 
 with ship's provisions; but now we received again fresh 
 bread and meat. The owners of plantations had 
 returned with their cattle to their homes. 
 
 After that, the Hessian army marched to Philadelphia 
 without being molested. But since the English were 
 in possession of that city, the Hessians encamped at a 
 little hill covered with chestnut trees, about half an 
 hour away. One morning a few days later we were 
 attacked by a very strong troop of American soldiers. 
 The enemy did not find us unprepared however. We 
 seized our weapons with all haste and rushed out to 
 meet the enemy, whose cannon shot began to fall into 
 our camp, and we not only held our positions but also 
 put our foes to flight and followed them over the Schuyl- 
 kill River. After this bloody business was finished, we 
 again withdrew to camp. 
 
 However, since Philadelphia was in possession of the 
 Americans, our vessels of war and transports had to 
 fight their way into port with difficulty, for the enemy 
 had not only sunk in the Delaware River old hulls of 
 vessels to which iron spikes had been attached, but the 
 river itself was so shallow in places that our boats were 
 in danger of running aground on the shoals. Besides 
 this, the enemy had thrown up opposite the fort on a 
 
 50 
 
tongue of land called Redbank, jutting out from the 
 shore of New Jersey, immense earthworks that had to be 
 taken before the English fleet could hope to proceed 
 into port. 
 
 The Hessian army division under the command of 
 Lieutenant General von Knipphausen received orders 
 to take the above-mentioned earthworks from the land 
 side. In the following out of this order, we crossed the 
 Delaware one night in skifTs and barges. 
 
 After we had crossed over the river mentioned above, 
 we marched through dense forests where I met one of my 
 old acquaintances living in the province of New Jersey, 
 and I said to him jestingly that I was going to visit my 
 old master. This remark was an incautious one, and 
 could easily have had damaging consequences for me in 
 case our expedition miscarried, since I was, as I have 
 shown, a derserter from the American army. After we 
 had marched all day we found ourselves still an hour's 
 journey from the earthworks we were supposed to take. 
 We finally arrived at a forest that was only half an 
 hour's march from the fortress, that we meant to 
 capture. The earthworks had been thrown up on an 
 elevated piece of ground, and from where we were, we 
 could see the soldiers there, hanging out their wash to 
 dry. We had to set to work in the forest to get together 
 as quickly as possible material for breastworks, to 
 assist us if necessary in taking the earthworks. In the 
 meantime. Colonel von Dunopp, who commanded our 
 troop, sent a bugler to the Americans, demanding their 
 surrender. On their refusal, the signal to advance was 
 given, and we went forward to the sound of fife and 
 drum. 
 
 Meantime the enemy made all possible preparation 
 for defence, and were kept informed of our movements 
 by the American war vessels that lay anchored near the 
 
 51 
 
earthworks, and to which they communicated by means 
 of speaking tubes. They opened fire on us before we 
 were well out of the forest, and did us considerable 
 damage. Nevertheless we advanced courageously and 
 reached the first palisade before a few faint-hearted ones 
 showed signs of wishing to run away. This angered 
 me, and as I found that I was unable to climb the 
 palisade, I called to a few of them to help me up, making 
 them believe that Colonel Dunopp was already inside 
 the earthworks and that those were as good as taken. 
 They complied with my request; but as I pressed for- 
 ward with the invaders, we came to a palisade made of 
 fruit trees, the branches of which had been sharpened. 
 Now we were so near the very heart of the fortification 
 that w"e could see the enemy in their blockhouses, taking 
 sight of us, but we had to relitiquish all hope of the 
 success of our undertaking. A hail of rifle bullets and 
 cannon balls fell around us; warriors dropped on every 
 side. We essayed another attack and Colonel von 
 Dunopp was among the first to charge. But he was 
 struck down, both his lower limbs being shattered by an 
 exploding cartridge. This accident only increased the 
 helplessness of his men; all started to retreat. Just at 
 the moment when I was trying to pass between the 
 stakes of the palisade, I was struck by a rifle bullet that 
 entered under one of my shoulder blades, passed over 
 my spinal column and out through the other shoulder 
 blade. And so I dropped to the ground, as the others 
 started to retreat. Racked with agony, listening to 
 the screams of pain from my comrades, I lay there un- 
 attended, through the chill October night. Not being 
 able to see my wound I did not know myself how 
 seriously I had been hurt. 
 
 And even before nightfall I saw the jubilant Ameri- 
 cans come down to the palisade in their glittering 
 
 52 
 
uniforms and heard them call to us: "Oh, you Hessian 
 scoundrels! Now we are going to put an end to all of 
 you!" 
 
 Soon after this they came down to the battle-field, 
 and took away from some of the wounded Hessian 
 officers their purses and their watches. American 
 officers seeing this ran out and drove the plunderers 
 back within the fortification, in fear, I think lest the 
 attack by the Hessians be renewed. But this did not 
 happen; and on the following morning all the wounded 
 soldiers were carried on stretchers inside the earthworks. 
 Messengers were then dispatched to the Hessian army 
 division for surgeons to take care of us. A few of these 
 surgeons arrived that same day, and were able to help 
 at least a few of us. Some of us were promptly band- 
 aged, and on others amputations of legs or of arms were 
 performed. I was among the first to be taken care of 
 by the doctors, because I made the statement that I was 
 a surgeon myself. After I had been cared for properly, 
 I attended the funeral of our commander. Colonel von 
 Dunopp, which took place with all military honors. 
 All the others that had fallen were buried in one big 
 trench. 
 
 A few days later all the wounded Hessians were taken 
 in closed carriages to the main hospital in Princeton, 
 where they were cared for. In this hospital at Princeton 
 I was recognized by one of the nurses who had served 
 with me in the volunteer corps of the Americans, and he 
 asked me how it was that I was with the Hessians. I 
 was not overjoyed at being recognized. I answered, 
 being afraid of the consequences did I confess my deser- 
 tion, that I had been captured during the skirmish at 
 the mountain in Pennsylvania when the volunteer 
 corps had been overwhelmed, and that I had been kept 
 a prisoner since that day. As our conversation was 
 
 53 
 
carried on in English, it was overheard by these standing 
 near, among whom was the physician on duty at that 
 time. 
 
 I had to tell him all that had happened to me, and 
 when he learned that I was a physician, he offered 
 immediately to take me into his service. His name 
 was Tilton and he intended having me work in the 
 hospital, as my wound was not giving me any consider- 
 able trouble. I accepted his invitation without hesita- 
 tion, and went straightway to his house. He was not 
 married and had no servant. So I had not only to feed 
 his saddle horse, but to perform domestic duties as well. 
 In a short time my wound was completely healed, and 
 I was able to take up my hospital duties. Aside from 
 my food I received no compensation except when I 
 shaved some one, let blood or performed some other 
 surgical operation. But soon I was in the position 
 where I could save a small amount of money. Mr. 
 Tilton was a well-meaning and learned gentleman. 
 Often in hours of leisure he would converse with me not 
 only on subjects relating to his profession but also about 
 the American war that progi*essed wi^"h changing for- 
 tunes. Although I myself had participated in the 
 opening events of the war, I had to ask him the causes, 
 since he knew more about it than I. And this is what 
 he said about the North American war: "Of course, 
 England in the year 1765 had won Canada from the 
 French, thus ridding herself of a disagreeable neighbor, 
 but she also heaped upon herself the burden of a debt 
 of forty million pounds. The military and civil govern- 
 ment of the American provinces cost America an im- 
 mense amount of money. All this caused the English 
 parliament to attempt to place some of the responsi- 
 bility of payment of this debt on the American colonies, 
 so direct taxes were imposed. Especially the North 
 
 54 
 
American colonists objected to paying the tax on the 
 consignments of tea that the East India Company were 
 allowed to bring to their ports. All the merchants 
 refused to accept the tea that was sent to them, and if 
 any one failed to reject it, he was adjudged lacking in 
 honor. In Boston a cousin of Governor Hutchinson 
 accepted a consignment of tea, but the people in open 
 revolt seized the three hundred and forty boxes and 
 threw them into the sea. This refusal brought severe 
 punishment down on the Americans and the British 
 closed the port of Boston. This embargo quickly 
 fanned to a blaze the hidden smouldering fire of rebel- 
 lion, which is flaming fiercely now on the banks of the 
 Delaware, the Susquehanna, the Hudson, the Potomac, 
 the Savannah, the Ohio and the Mississippi. Since 
 1774 the provinces of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, 
 Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 
 Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, New York, North 
 Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia had confederated, 
 formed of their representatives a Congress headed by a 
 President whom the senators elected for a term of six 
 years. The most excellent General Washington leads 
 the defenders of the country, who are determined not to 
 lay down their weapons until the colonies are free. The 
 thoughtful and sincere Franklin is the chief counsellor 
 of the commander-in-chief. Even if the English have 
 more experienced soldiers and officers, I am not afraid 
 for the welfare of the American nation. Our com- 
 manders and soldiers will shortly learn the trade of war 
 from our enemies, just as the Russians did from the 
 Swedes some time ago. And even if the army of the 
 enemy is courageous, ours is none the less brave, and 
 we have the advantage of greater numbers and knowl- 
 edge of the territory. The English have to bring rein- 
 forcements at great expense from Europe. Our hosts 
 
 55 
 
of freedom spring up everywhere. I am living in the 
 happy and confident hope that the struggle for freedom 
 puts forth such strong and deep roots under the protec- 
 tion of the genius of human rights, that neither Hessians 
 nor English will be able to destroy. The dawn of 
 better times and of a higher political and moral life 
 breaks for you, 'for your mistreated Fatherland,' " said 
 Mr. Tilton, with a beaming countenance. "The fame 
 of our remarkable uprising is heard from the coast of 
 Labrador to the Gulf of Mexico, from the Orinoco to the 
 Plata, from the shores of the ancient kingdoms of the 
 Incas to the West Indian archipelago. Everywhere 
 will arise the consciousness of latent power and the 
 longing for better political conditions. Just as once 
 Asiatic and Egyptian culture, transplanted to the woody 
 shores of Italy and Greece, put forth new blossoms, in 
 the same manner European culture will burst into 
 flower in the forests of America, and the well developed 
 youth will cease to fear the rod of the father but 
 will dwell here, independent and strong for himself. 
 Maybe," concluded my prophetic superior," our new 
 life in freedom will beneficially influence Europe 
 and the other parts of the world." 
 
 This and other remarks of Mr. Tilton, which I did not 
 wholly understand, seemed to me in those days incred- 
 ible, and I often felt like laughing outright in his face. 
 But since in the year 1783, England was forced to 
 recognize the independence of the North American 
 States, I saw clearly that physician Tilton of Princeton 
 had not badly prophesied the political occurences of the 
 future. I came to this conclusion later, after the 
 eruption of the French Revolution. The army corps 
 that had been sent from France (which was still suffering 
 from the loss of Canada) and who had taken prisoners by 
 the English at the battle of Charleston, was doubtless an 
 
 56 
 
important factor in the rising of the French Revolution. 
 Also it is a well-known fact that those Frenchmen, who 
 gained their military experience in the North American 
 struggle for freedom, did not only give themselves 
 immediately over to the cause of liberty in their own 
 country, but acted also as mouth-pieces for the teach- 
 ings of Rousseau, Montesquieu, and d'Alembert, and in 
 this way made proselytes for the cause so dear to them. 
 And did not the sight of North American Freedom and 
 its attractive fruits inspire very recently other countries 
 of America to make the attempt to bring about a similar 
 condition of affairs? A new life blossoms on the 
 Orinoco, on the Plata, in Peru and in Hayti ; and Ameri- 
 ca, which consisted until recently only of European 
 provinces and a few independent states, stands there 
 demanding loudly to be received into the family of the 
 countries of the world, and has already been partly 
 welcomed. Greater and more far-reaching are the 
 consequences of the North American struggle than Mr. 
 Tilton could ever have suspected. 
 
 Although I got on very well with my philathropic 
 and learned principal, I did not desire to remain in 
 America, but wanted to return to my fatherland. So 
 I made my feelings known to my chief and asked him 
 to procure me a pass to go to Philadelphia, if he thought 
 that I would not be prevented from leaving America. 
 I desired to take passage on a ship that carried French 
 troops or to sail to the West Indies and await there an 
 opportunity to go to Europe. Although Mr. Tilton 
 was not very pleased at my going, he gave me a pass, 
 because, as he said, he was unable to refuse my urgent 
 demand. Moved to tears, I said good-by to this 
 honorable gentleman, and went to Philadelphia. After 
 my arrival I took quarters at an inn, and started 
 immediately to investigate when a ship might be sailing 
 
 57 
 
for France or for the West Indies. But to my great 
 disappointment, I learned that owing to the state of war, 
 quite a time must elapse before a boat would sail. I 
 met here a proprietor of an inn situated one hour out- 
 side of Philadelphia, and he offered to take me into his 
 service. I accepted immediately as I wanted to stay 
 near Philadelphia, and await a chance to go to Europe. 
 Again I was a porter, and received as pay my lodging, 
 my board and tips. Among my duties was the care of 
 my master's saddle horse, an English racer called The 
 Redbird. It was an extremely fine animal, and I had 
 to exercise him every now and then. In the feeding and 
 caring for the animal, this was the program: I had to 
 give it food five or six times a day, but I could never 
 give him m.ore than half a measure of very pure oats and 
 some clean clover hay. Every evening, I had to wrap 
 his legs with cow-dung, after I had washed them with 
 soapy water and dried them carefully. I also prepared 
 for him a thick bed of straw. In the morning the cow- 
 dung was taken off his legs and the straw removed, so 
 that he stood all day on the bare boards. In the after- 
 noon I had to trot him. During my stay with my 
 present master, a race was arranged between his animal 
 and another one called The Grave House. My master 
 had bet a few thousand pounds sterling that his racer 
 would arrive at the goal first. I had a similar bet with 
 an acquaintance, of my entire fortune consisting of five 
 pounds. On the day appointed for the horse race a 
 heavy snow fell and I had to clear the race track. After 
 all the preparations for the race had been made, a few 
 hundred more bets had been closed besides those of the 
 men who owned the horses. Then the races began. 
 Unfortunately the Red Bird passed the goal two seconds 
 after the other horse, and my master and myself lost 
 our money. It was the custom also to place bets on 
 
 58 
 
cock fights. The cocks were armed with httle iron 
 spurs. 
 
 After I had lost all my money on this horse race, I 
 gave up hope of being able to reach Europe very soon, 
 so I took my leave. I went to Philadelphia, having 
 heard that boats would sail in the near future for the 
 West Indies. I went to sea as an ordinary sailor on 
 one of these boats. It was a merchant ship on which I 
 had taken service, bound for the French West Indian 
 colonies, escorted by an American frigate. We put to 
 sea without delay. A few days after we had lost sight 
 of the mainland of America, we saw a ship coming toward 
 us that carried no flag. To learn whether this were an 
 American or an English vessel — that is, if it were friendly 
 or belonging to the enemy, we fired our guns so that we 
 would be answered by the running up of some standard. 
 Our demand was satisfied without delay; not the 
 American but an English flag swayed on its mast. It 
 was a hostile vessel. As soon as we were sure of this, 
 our commandant decided to capture the vessel. Both 
 our ships came alongside and demanded its surrender. 
 As this was refused, we started to fire at the English, 
 and kept it up until they took in their sails and gave 
 themselves up to us. Our ship's captain decided to 
 send the captured vessel and the crew back to Phila- 
 delphia. For this pui'pose a number of men were 
 chosen by lot who should serve as escort, and I was 
 among those chosen. All the English prisoners were 
 manacled with handcuffs found on the captured vessel ; 
 only the English captain, Dauny, was allowed to walk 
 about free. Very soon this ca-ptain and I became 
 friendly, especially when he heard that I was a German 
 and longed to return to my fatherland. After he had 
 gathered the impression from our several conversations 
 that I was by no means an enthusiastic republican he 
 
 59 
 
confided to me the plan he had formed to gain liberty 
 for himself and his fellow prisoners by causing mutiny 
 among the seamen. He tried to induce me to assist 
 him in carrying out his plans, and promised, that if 
 everything turned out as he wished, to take care of my 
 future and to bring me back to the English army at all 
 events. This was the plan he proposed to carry out: 
 He himself, a strong daring man, proposed to attack 
 the two American officers at a given time with an old 
 sword that he had secreted in the boat. At the same 
 time I was to free, as quickly as possible, the hands not 
 only of the English officers, but also of the ordinary 
 seamen. It all depended on me, he said, and if I were 
 quick enough, the plan had to succeed. 
 
 Any one can realize that I suffered a great temptation. 
 I shrank at first from the gravely dangerous business 
 that it was proposed I should take upon myself. But 
 since Dauny spared no effort to persuade me, I finally 
 consented. I realized that by being implicated in this 
 business, I wronged the North Americans; but the 
 ai'guments of Captain Dauny quieted all that my 
 conscience said against it. The promise of a return to 
 Europe on an English ship in the near future did much 
 to influence me in my decision. Not without misgiving 
 did I watch the approach of the hour that was appointed 
 by the English Captain for the carrying out of his plan. 
 It meant sure death to me if the project miscarried. 
 The hour arrived. Armed with the old sword that he 
 had secreted, Dauny, without hesitation, fell upon the 
 two American officers, who, not being in the least 
 prepared, were easily overcome. In the meantime I 
 had not only freed all the English officers but had, with 
 hammers, broken off the handcuffs on a part of the men. 
 They fell with terrible shrieks upon the Americans and 
 disarmed them. The sailors that were high up in the 
 
 60 
 
masts did not understand for a moment or two what had 
 happened, and suspected that a fire had broken out. But 
 when they learned of the mutiny, they asked for pardon. 
 I was overjoyed at the happy outcome of this daring 
 deed, of which I cannot even yet think without emotion, 
 because it saved me from certain death. Also I rejoiced 
 over the fact that there was no loss of life. 
 
 After this event, conditions on shipboard changed. 
 The English took possession of the vessel, and the 
 Americans had to occupy the position that the English 
 had had before. Captain Dauny took over the com- 
 mand. He knew exactly where we were, and turned our 
 course towards New York, where the English fleet lay; 
 and with a favorable wind we arrived there in due time. 
 
 Immediately on landing, I endeavored to find the 
 regiment of von Knipphausen, in which I had before 
 enlisted. In New York I was able to find only a recruit- 
 ing station for this regiment, since the regiment itself 
 was besieging Fort Washington. The officer who was 
 in charge of this station and who gave me the informa- 
 tion, told me that the regiment was expected very soon 
 in New York. I made up my mind to wait for it. As 
 a portion of the men, after the taking of this fort, 
 returned to New York, I applied of Dr. Michaelis for 
 the position of staff" physician of the Hessians. He 
 advised me first to attend his medical lectures which he 
 was about to give in New York and promised to give 
 me a position if possible in the regiment of von Knipp- 
 hausen. I followed the advice of the good Dr. 
 Michaelis, enrolled in his class, and helped him as well 
 as I could in his hospital duties. After I had attended 
 his lectures for half a year, the Knipphausen regiment 
 came back to New York, and as there was a vacancy 
 in the company commanded by Colonel von Burg, I 
 was made field surgeon. 
 
 61 
 
Here I will mention the tragic fate that overtook a 
 certain Major Andre during the siege of Fort Washing- 
 ton. This major was ordered by General Arnold, who 
 had gone over from the Americans to the English, to 
 reconnoitre the fort. Disguised, he had advanced to 
 the last post of the enemy, when he was recognized and 
 arrested as a spy. Although Majors Clinton and 
 Arnold did their best to induce Washington, the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief, to release Andre, no attention was 
 paid to these requests and he was hanged as a spy. 
 Shortly after I had received my position as surgeon, the 
 regiment Knipphausen was transferred to Long Island 
 on the other side of New York. We camped near a 
 little city in which only the officers received quarters. 
 All the men had to build sod-houses for themselves. 
 The surgeons of this regiment erected for themselves a 
 large house of sod, so that they could be easily found. 
 Soon we became known in the little city near which we 
 camped and had a few patients there. Regarding these 
 patients we made an oral agreement, to wit: one after 
 the other should attend the patients and the pay should 
 be distributed equally among us all. Since I spoke 
 fluent English I was more often called upon by the 
 inhabitants of my little city than were my colleagues 
 who did not speak English. This induced me not to 
 respect the agreement, so that I need not divide my 
 very considerable remuneration with the others. That 
 caused considerable excitement among them; and 
 especially a certain Franke did his best to draw me into 
 a quarrel. He said, "You are a rebel." I answered, 
 "I am a German as well as you, and a surgeon as good 
 as you, but you are besides this a scoundrel. If you do 
 not like this statement of mine, then we will fight." 
 The angry man immediately challenged me to a duel, 
 and both of us chose our seconds. We went to a garden 
 
 62 
 
where the duel was to take place. When we had taken 
 our positions, my opponent said: "Do we fight to draw 
 blood or to kill?" I answered immediately, "I fight 
 for nothing less than for life and for death." My 
 opponent, who was a very good fencer, had not expected 
 this answer from me. He dropped his sword and cried: 
 "Brother I see that your heart is in the right j^lace and 
 that you are a brave man. I have all the satisfaction 
 I wanted. Come and give me your hand as a sign of 
 reconciliation." 
 
 And so it happened. We became again the best of 
 friends, and cheered our spirits with a bowl of punch. 
 In the little city I have referred to, I made the acquain- 
 tance of a young Irish girl, called Betsy, the daughter 
 of a merchant. She was a sweet, modest woman, very 
 much attracted to me. But she never permitted any 
 intimacies and resisted all my opportunities in a way 
 that inspired in me a gi'eat respect for her. Oh, would 
 that all young girls would act towards men as the 
 lovable Betsy conducted herself with me, and never 
 would permit the closest relationship before the priest 
 has consecrated the bond of their love! Those who do 
 not act as Betsy did are not only regarded without 
 respect by all moral people, but they also are despised 
 by those to whom the}^ have given themselves so easily. 
 Surely I would not be able to think so respectfully of the 
 lovely Betsy had she been less firmly grounded in 
 virtue. After six months had passed, our regiment had 
 orders to march back to New York. I had therefore to 
 collect with all possible dispatch the money owed me 
 by my patients. Among my debtors were two girls 
 who drove a dishonorable business with their bodies and 
 whom I had cured. They, knowing the orders that we 
 had received, hesitated to pay their debt, as the de- 
 parture of our regiment was imminent. This angered 
 
 63 
 
me, and accompanied by two grenadiers, I paid them a 
 visit at their home and demanded to be paid immediate- 
 ly. They replied that they had no money, and besides 
 used very impolite language. This excited my wrath 
 in a most temble manner and I took out my sword and 
 with it destroyed the mirrors and windows. The noise 
 I made was heard by a Hessian colonel who was living 
 opposite and he immediately sent the watch to arrest 
 me. After I stated that I belonged to the Knipphausen 
 regiment, I was taken back to camp, and when brought 
 before Colonel von Burg, released on the condition that 
 I repair all the damage if the women should ask it. 
 This I promised. 
 
 At midnight the regiment broke up and marched 
 towards New York. On the preceding day, I paid a 
 visit to my beautiful, beloved Betsy to bid her good-by. 
 She seemed very broken up over my departure, but 
 could not decide to follow me to Germany. She asked 
 if I would remain in America she would promise to be 
 mine. I could not make up my mind to do that and 
 with tears in my eyes I left this magnificently virtuous 
 girl who was worthy to be a pattern to all other maidens. 
 Our regiment went into camp near New York where it 
 remained until peace was concluded. At this time I 
 witnessed a terrible execution. An English ship's 
 captain who had made the attempt to go over with his 
 frigate to the enemy and had been prevented from 
 doing so by an English war vessel, was hanged on a 
 gallows erected near the banks of the North River. 
 Seven accomplices were executed at the same time on 
 a war vessel lying in the New York port. I could not 
 believe at first that England and the colonies would 
 make peace; but well-informed persons declared that 
 the end of the war was undoubtedly in sight. The 
 English and Hessian army had suffered terribly during 
 
 64 
 
the last months. Generals Burgoyne and Cornwallis, 
 who with their troops had occupied the northern 
 provinces, had been forced by hunger to surrender to 
 the Americans. A similar fate had befallen the army 
 division under the command of the Hessian General 
 Rahl. Besides this, the English government realized 
 that it could not rule over the thirteen American states 
 and was inclined to make peace. Lord North and 
 Secretary of State Fox gave the English generals orders 
 to stop all hostilities in the last days of March in 1782. 
 I was reminded of the prophesies of Tilton, the physician, 
 in Princeton. 
 
 Later, in the year 1783, peace was declared through 
 the mediation of France, the English and Hessian army 
 was placed aboard transports and war vessels to the 
 number of two hundred, and shipped off to Europe. 
 
 A single ship was commissioned to receive our entire 
 regiment and was therefore very heavily loaded. The 
 fleet sailed in the following order: The transports were 
 surrounded on all sides by war vessels. The admiral's 
 ship, in advance of all others, was in command. The 
 orders were given partly by cannon shots, partly by 
 signalling with differently colored flags ; and at night by 
 three big lanterns which could be seen far and wide. 
 No captain was allowed to leave the fleet with his ship 
 unless he wished to invite the severest penalty. Not- 
 withstanding this, our captain one night set all sails and 
 deliberately left the fleet. We sailed with a good wind 
 quickly forward, and landed nearly one month before 
 the other vessels, arriving at the little market town, 
 Bremerlehe, on the River Weser. 
 
 Before I proceed to set down a few facts about my 
 later history, I wiU make some remarks about the con- 
 ditions at present in the American free states, in which 
 so much happened to me and in which I for my part did 
 
 65 
 
not find happiness. These free states have grown very 
 greatly since the year 1783. It has at present an area 
 of more than 197,000 square miles. There could be 
 formed from it eight countries as large as the Austrian 
 Empire. Prussia could find place inside its boundaries 
 twenty-four times. Notwithstanding its extension, the 
 population of the United States does not even equal that 
 of the much smaller state of Prussia. But it increases 
 from year to year. 
 
 The States consist now of nineteen closely related 
 republics, and a few territories and dependencies. The 
 forests are being rapidly cut away and without doubt, 
 there can be seen plantations and even cities at this 
 time where I, in my day, saw dense woods. How many 
 inhabitants would this great country have were it as 
 closely populated as the Prussian dukedom of Saxony! 
 
 After the Knipphausen regiment had landed and had 
 taken a few days' rest, it started its march towards 
 Hessea. Everywhere we went, especially when we 
 passed through the little towns, the people thronged 
 to look at us, attracted especially by the negroes who 
 were employed in the regiment bands. The regiment 
 occupied barracks in and near Grebenstein, not far from 
 Cassel. All its foreigners were soon afterwards dis- 
 missed. I also received my discharge and my back pay, 
 which amounted to twenty dollars. I started for home 
 immediately. 
 
 After a few days I stepped on Saxon ground, and 
 shouted with joy. Accompanied by a confectioner 
 who had agreed for a certain price to carry my gripsack, 
 I went to Leipzig, Torgau and from there to Senftenberg. 
 Passing through the village Cletewitz I stopped at the 
 Totzig Mills, half an hour from Senftenberg, in the 
 hopes of seeing some people from that place, but no one 
 recognized me here, not even the proprietor of the mills, 
 
 66 
 
who had been my schoolmate in Senftenberg. After 
 I had disclosed my identity and inquired after the 
 welfare of my family, I learned that my mother had died 
 a few years ago and that my father lay very sick. After 
 he had told me of a few other things that had happened 
 in these parts during my absence, I hurried to Senften- 
 berg. Here I was received with gi-eat evidences of 
 pleasure by the electoral tax commissioner Roesser, a 
 brother-in-law of my deceased mother. As I desired 
 to see my father that same day, the son of the tax com- 
 missioner was dispatched to Lauta, to prepare him for 
 my arrival. Soon after, I started for the place of my 
 birth. Near Koschenberg I was met by young Roesser 
 accompanied by my younger sisters, who did not know 
 me at all, since they were little children when I went 
 out into the world, and it seemed strange to me to see 
 them as gi'owing maidens. Although we were happy 
 over our reunion, our rejoicing soon gave place to 
 sorrow, when they told me that our father was very 
 sick and could live perhaps only a few more days. With 
 sincere thankfulness on entering my native town again, 
 I praised Providence that had saved me so graciously 
 from so many dangers and so many terrible situations. 
 And although I had to walk on my feet and could not 
 drive in my coach and four, I rejoiced from the bottom 
 of my heart that I was walking on the soil of Lauta. 
 
 I entered my father's house with tears in my eyes, 
 and they that were there wept also. Disregarding his 
 great weakness, my father sat up m bed and said in a 
 failing voice: "My son, the light of my eyes has left me. 
 I cannot see you, but your voice tells me that you are 
 my son." 
 
 I fell into his emaciated arms and we wept. He then 
 told me that during my absence many misfortunes had 
 overtaken him; that after the death of my mother and 
 
 67 
 
my brother Friedrich, who had been pastor in Hohen- 
 bocka, he had been seized with an epidemic disease and 
 that he was for a long time unable to exercise his duties. 
 Then he informed me that he had afterwards married 
 the sister of Pastor Zierenberg in Petershain, a woman 
 of his own age, who had taken excellent care of his 
 little children. My stepmother seemed to be very glad 
 to have me at home again, especially, I think, because 
 she believed that in case of my father's death, I would 
 provide for my half-grown brothers and sisters. 
 
 Only two more days did I see my father among the 
 living. On the third, his soul departed from the worn- 
 out body and went to a higher, better life. 
 
 After my father's death I took over the management 
 of the affairs of my family and had to go to the court- 
 house in Senftenberg, to adjust these matters very often. 
 On these occasions I usually paid a visit to my uncle 
 and my aunt and to the tax commissioner in this city. 
 They all advised me to settle in this place, and to marry, 
 drawing my attention to the daughter of the official 
 siu^geon, Alberti. I tried to get acquainted with this 
 girl, and finally won her hand. After our marriage we 
 lived in the house of my father-in-law, and I helped the 
 latter in the discharge of his professional duties. But 
 since there was not enough for both of us to do, I 
 decided to take up the culture of silk, which was officially 
 encouraged in those times, and with which I had 
 acquainted myself during my travels. Since there 
 were already a few mulberry trees in this place, my 
 attempts were crowned with success, as I produced the 
 first year three pounds of silk. Taking the result of my 
 labor with me to Dresden, I applied to the electoral 
 commissioner of industry for a subsidy on which to 
 continue my business. After I had shown the silk 
 which I had produced myself, I not only received a 
 
 68 
 
reward of twenty dollars, but also four hundred young 
 mulberry trees, with the directions for planting them. 
 I planted these trees partly near the city, partly in the 
 cemetery and the rest on the streets. But the mulberry 
 trees that had been so well started were destroyed 
 either by stupid persons or by those that wanted to 
 take revenge on me. When I finally saw that I reaped 
 no reward from my efforts, I grew discouraged and gave 
 up the project of silk-culture. 
 
 During my errand in Dresden, in connection with the 
 silk-culture, I took the necessary steps at the sanitary 
 department for admission to the examination of surgeons. 
 I passed my examination and was appointed assistant 
 to my ageing father-in-law. 
 
 69 
 
# 
 
 LRßJe'15