1

Johann Heinrich Aumann a German Immigrant.1Written by Dieter Aumann

The German roots of the Aumann males had been researched by Genealogists in America.2 The history of the German emigrants is based on documentation from Germany where it was stated that Georg Heinrich, born Mar 28, 1755 in Babenhausen, was the son of Johann Phillip Aumann and Anna Magdalene Breitwieser of Kleestadt. They got married on Feb 24, 1752 and are considered the founders of the line of Aumann males in America. This assumption, however, proved to be wrong since Georg Heinrich never had the intention to leave his country. According to the registry book of the church in Babenhausen he married Friederike Schoefel on Apr 03, 1783 who gave birth to his first child namedAnna Catharina. Sadly, the mother died shortly after giving birth and Georg Heinrich remarried the same year on Dec 28,1784 a Margaretha Seliger who gave birth to four more children, three of which were sons. Their male ancestors were the creators of the entire Hergershaeuser-Aumann family line.

Discrepancies in genealogy are a common occurrence especially when the information is not from within. In some casespersonal insight into the Registry books of the churches is not permitted and therefore the information given by pastorsor other related persons is unreliable. Research in genealogy is very time consuming and often on a voluntary basis whichfrequently leads to lack of accuracy.

1 All rights reserved. No part may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the author, except where permitted by law. 2 Journal of the Johannes Schwalm Association, Volume 5, Nr.4, dated 1996 by M. A. Schwalm.

Translated by Elke Hinrichsmeyer-BoazLayout by Heike Heseler

2

Only a few pages after mentioning Georg Heinrich, the Babenhausen church register proves the birth of JohannHeinrich on Aug 01, 1756, the youngest son of seven children emerging from the marriage of Philipp NicolausAumann and Anna Catharina Mueller. According to his military mustering in the courtyard of the Babenhausencastle, he was a Protestant, a remarkable 5 foot and seveninches tall and he had five siblings. His total assets were100 Gulden. The age of his father at the time was 65 and that of the mother was 56. His father held several properties in Babenhausen and Harreshausen. These statistics are proven to be reliable.

Castle of Babenhausen

Speculations by the Schwalm Association, why the emigrant called himself Johann Heinrich in America when he was listed in the Babenhausen Church Registry as Georg Heinrich became obsolete since his name in both countries was Johann Heinrich Aumann3.

The chapter in the Aumann Chronicle referring to the sons of Alexander Aumann, already gives detailed information on the hiring of soldiers to serve as mercenaries by the Counts of Hessen-Kassel and Darmstadt.4

3 Please note that Johann Heinrich was not the only Auman mercenary who served in the American War of Independence. The Hedrina List shows two more males from the Auman line in upper Hessia.4 Over 500 Years of Family History Aumann. Their Lives Influenced by the Events of Time. By Dieter Aumann. ISBN 3-00-008589-0

3

Count Friedrich von Hessen-Kassel, nicknamed Fat Freddy by theEnglish people had a great need for additional revenue so he couldafford his elaborate palaces and numerous mistresses and their outof wedlock children.

Of course, there was the rule by the English court, then headed byKing George III, that families support each other when in need. But he also had great difficulty to recruit enough soldiers for the revolutionary war in America since many families had relatives whohad emigrated to the New World. King George III was not a greatexample of virtue and modesty. In his book “Gentleman Johnny Burgoyne”, F. J. Hudleston remarked that the King was entertainingnumerous love affairs and that he was secretly married to the beautiful Hannah Lightfoot.

„Fat Freddy“ ...

Friedrich II from Hessia-Kassel.Painting by J. H. Tischbein.

4

5 Gottlieb Mittelberger journey to Pennsylvania in 1750 and his return to Germany in 1754. By Carl Theo and Eben.

Johann Heinrich’s new and decisive life began in the courtyard of the Babenhausen castle where during his mustering hewas immediately enlisted and he entered the military barracks in Hanau on Feb 6, 1776 as a Musketeer. For his family thisonly meant that some of the imposed annual duties were reduced or eliminated.

Thanks to Wilhelm Ziegler, a chronicler from Hanau who wrote several extensive volumes on the history of the city ofHanau, we learn that all units were loaded onto seven passenger ships that were docked along the Main River near Hanau on Mar 15, 1776. A parade viewed by the royals and a church service was their last farewell.

The journey set out on the Main and Rhine rivers traveling to Nimwegen, Holland where the newly trained soldiers sworetheir loyalty to the English flag and King George III. The journey was broken up into three stages and the first stage alonetook almost half a year according to a report from Gottlieb Mittelberger5. The journey on the Rhine River required passingalmost 25 borders where each time the ships and passengers were searched. There were custom duties to be paid and during the long waiting period new provisions had to be obtained. This journey on the Rhine River lasted on average 4 to 6 weeks and the same amount of time was needed for the journey from Holland to England. Due to the high cost ofcustom duties, travel expenses and provisions, many of the passengers were running out of money before they left forEngland.

The second part of the crossing was the journey from Rotterdam to an English port. New waiting periods, lasting two tothree weeks had to be endured due to delays in customs and unfavorable winds. Only then, after 14 weeks, began thethird episode of the journey which brought much suffering and hardship. For weeks the passengers on the overloadedships were crowded together without sufficient water and nourishment, eating mostly herring fish. No wonder that soonmany of the passengers fell ill and especially young children died in large numbers. According to Mittelberger 35 childrenon his ship died during the crossing. Johann Heinrich’s ship on which he traveled along with several other young menfrom Babenhausen and Hanau had similar adverse conditions and the fact that weapons and ammunition were also loaded onto the ships made matters even worse.

5

Arrival of British ships in the Quebec harbor. Painting by Charles or his son Alfred William Warren.

Great danger was imposed by then prevailing storms which the poorly built and overloaded ships could barely sustain. Huge waves which looked like mountains to the passengers were rocking and rolling and flooding the ships.Mittelberger wrote that a tremendous fear overcame the emigrants and soldiers and loud screams and praying wereheard everywhere. The passengers were not prepared for such disaster and it took a chunk of luck to reach their newhomeland alive.

As the challenge was met with much sacrifice and death, a new task was awaiting them. Medical doctors had to attest to the full health of the passengers before they were permitted to disembark. If the examination of the ship wasnegative, the vessel had to drop anchor one mile away from the harbor and remain there until the disease was cured.

6

In the archives of the town of Marburg we can find a complete list (Main list B) of the names of the 109 soldiers servingin the company of Colonel Gall. Many names of families from Babenhausen und surrounding areas were found, as Kressel,Aumann, Metzler, Gruner, Seibert, Heyl, Beck, Bender, Diehl, Will, Breitwieser, etc.

Among the list of soldiers was Heinrich Aumann who was assigned the number 93 and whose name was changed immediatelyto Henry. Also, under the assigned number 86 we find a certain Ulrich Zeth from the town of Billings, Odenwald, whoselife story during the years of war and his settlement and family in Pennsylvania was already researched.

Boston Tea Party.

The ship carrying the Hessian soldiers who went down in history as “Hessians” arrived near Quebec, Canada on Jun 03, 1776 and experienced a much faster processing. After all, they were desperatelyawaited to fight the war that was provoked by the famous “BostonTea Party” in 1773.

Numerable ships loaded with soldiers crossed the Atlantic from 1776to 1778, of which 29.875 mercenaries6 came from Old Germany. The two regiments from Hessia-Kassel and Hessia-Hanau called “Hessians”, made up approximately two thirds of the entire force. Johann Heinrich was assigned to the regiment “Erbprinz” which, along with the soldiers from Braunschweig were under the commandof General von Riedesel of Eisenbach whose company was headed byColonel von Gall.

6 Pennsylvania German Pioneers, W.J. Hinke, Auburn, NJ

7

The 668 soldiers of the regiment named “Erbprinz” learned about General von Riedesel in the English harbor of Plymouth.He had returned to England to discuss the military and strategic details with the English General and Commander Sir John Burgoyne. After their arrival in Quebec the entire regiment entered a training camp in La Prairie near Montreal. It was of great importance to combine the entire British force into a solid army. However, this consolidation was far away from happening.

Sir John Burgoyne was in good standing with King George III and with his brilliantaction plan to defeat the American Rebellion, so he thought, had become thecommander in chief of all forces. His plan was to attack the stronghold of the rebels by using three battle ready armies who were to approach thetarget from three different locations and to capture it. Thus a smallerunit commanded by Lt. Colonel Barry St. Leger of Oswego, Ontariowas ordered to move eastward towards Albany; great emphasiswas given to the use of water ways to save the soldiers from thedangers of the wilderness surrounding them. Sir John himselfhad orders to move southward from the British stronghold atMontreal, Canada towards Albany via Lake Champlain and theupper Hudson River with the help of the other two units ofthe second Army. Finally the third Army of General Howe stationed near New York was to cross the Hudson River and to move in a northern direction towards the final destinationof Albany. The second war plan called for Burgoyne to capture New England after the merger of the three armies in Albany. General Howe, commander of the main army was to move towards Washington.

8

His at least theoretically convincing strategy found approval with the respective authorities in England, but his plan andpersonality were not accepted everywhere. Sir William Howe, however, a big supporter of the Burgoyne plan felt a lack of respect and felt betrayed. Lord Germain, British Secretary of State of the colony, also did not consider him a favorite. Sir William Howe who was an important supporter of the Burgoyne plan for example felt neglected and was not givenenough respect.

However, the strategy stood firm and all measurements were taken to be prepared for the attack in a timely manner.Much had to be accomplished and coordinated during the summer of 1776 until the entire army had grown into a strongand well trained force. The merger of the army showed many challenges which had to be met. Thus the regiment of Burgoyne consisted of 9.861 British, German and Canadian men from provincial locations and approximately 400 Indians.

Hessian soldier.

The enormous language problem and the unification of the top commandos presented a great challenge that had to be solved. Another challenge which later on became an important aspect in the defeat, was the equipment of the soldiers.

Europe’s national and international military traditions in regardsto the uniforms of the soldiers that had developed, were adoptedby Burgoyne’s army. The image and the equipment of a Hessiangrenadier presented the following look: His hat showed a metalplate in front and he wore a mustache which was colored thesame color as his shoes. His hair was long and styled into a braidand locks. With his blue uniform he wore a wide leather belt, anammunition pouch, his brass sword and a bayonette. Underneaththe uniform coat was a yellow vest and the pants were tuckedinto high boots.

American soldier.

9

In contrast, the American uniform consisted of a lightweight hat made of felt and a knee length woolen coat with alightweight woolen shirt underneath. The pants were made of leather and the soldier wore a belt with gun powder and a hunting pouch. A gun and knife and sometimes a tomahawk were his weapons. It was so much easier for an Americansoldier to move through the rough wilderness than the Hessian soldier who in addition had to carry a heavy metal caseplus other unneccessary utensils. A perfect example was Sir John himself who insisted on his life essential supply of grooming paraphernalia and alcohol, filling three carts which had to be pulled along.

The Baroness Friederike von Riedesel’s comment on this situation was: “Burgoyne was indeed a happy fellow who spent halfthe night singing and laughing with his mistress and drinking his beloved champagne”. Numerous wives of the officersand brides of the soldiers were also found in the camps. This prompted the above cited Friederike Charlotte Louise vonRiedesel and her three chilren to travel to America to be at the side of her husband, Major General Friedrich AdolphBaron von Riedsel as his assistant. The Baroness, with her sharp sense and great down to earth vision was well respectedand admired. In her diary she recorded important background information which was later published. Burgoyne’s Army spent the summer months in their camp near La Prairie before the entire unit moved to their wintercamp by the end of October of 1776. Bardieux and Masquinonge were located approximately five hours from Montrealand Trois Rivers.

There was plenty of time to shape a group of young men, originally from many different countries and who spoke different languages into a consolidated army with military readiness. An army that was not only capable to execute aspecific plan of war but who was also trained to sustain the hardship that was brought on by the wilderness of the region. One year later, on Jun 02, 1777, the entire Army received the order to move southward via Lake Champlain.

The date to start the movement put Burgoyne one month behind schedule but he nevertheless decided to spend the restof the summer in Albany. The seemingly impressive army, at the onset of the movement was, however, unable to sustainthe hardship the regions put upon them. Accustomed to developing a strong battle force over a short distance only, likein Europe, they were unable to overcome the stressful conditions of the wild and undisclosed regions during a longermarch. Taking these circumstances into consideration was one of the top priorities of the commanding General Burgoyne,

10

or “Gentleman Johnny“, as he was called in England. The takeover of Fort Ticonderoga on the way to Albany was the firsttouchstone of their mission. The Fort was located at the end of Lake Champlain in a small area where the lake mergedwith Lake George. Under the command of Major General Arthur St. Clair, 2000 unmotivated soldiers in poor health tookoccupation of the camp. 2000 more troops were stationed 40 miles away at Fort Edwards under the command of MajorGeneral Philip Schuyler and later by Major General Horatio Gates.

On July 02, 1777 Burgoyne’s Army was moving southward on the waters of Lake Champlain to reach Fort Ticonderoga. A clever but life threatening idea to position cannons across the Fort on top of Mount Defiance, which was declared insurmountable with military equipment, caused the American soldiers to flee during the night and to move southwardto unite with the rest of the troops.

Major General William Phillip, a British vice commander who was advised of the strategic value of Mount Defiance by an officer replied:

“Where a mountain goat can go, so can a soldier, and where a soldier goes, so can a cannon.”

Accordingly, under enormous physical stress soldiers worked all through the night to transport two cannons and their ammunition to the top of the mountain.

After his first successful mission, however, “Gentleman Johnny“ unfortunately made another poor decision besides the already known basic mistake of equipping his troops with too much unneccessary and heavy gear. Instead of retreating to their sieged Fort to gather new strength for the difficult march, he ordered his troops to reach Fort Edwards, whichwas 50 miles away by land and not via Lake George, as previously planned, to form an attack. Instead of a blitz attack,the Army was moving at the pace of a snail which had numerous consequences. It took the army 24 days to move the 50 miles, where 40 bridges had to be built with one bridge measuring as much as two miles. The further hardship and losses are not mentioned at this point.

11

The enemy, however, did everything possible to make the advance of the British troops as difficult as possible. Trees were felled, rivers raised to flood the surrounding areas to delay the advancing of their enemy as long as possible and to demoralize the enemy soldiers whose physical strength was vanishing and their provisions running low.

Following the war plan and at the same time as the Army set out fromMontreal, the division stationed in the west and under the command ofSt. Leger was to move eastward on the water. Their task was to take theenemy’s Fort Stanwix and unite with the remaining British troops nearAlbany. This mission also did not follow as planned. The takeover of the Fort proved enormously difficult despite the fact that the attackingtroops were outnumbering the enemy and their equipment was superior.This resulted in a long lasting siege of the Fort instead of a takeover,thus deviating from the main strategy. Matters got worse for St. Leger as General Nicolaus Herkimer hurridly recruited a troop of 800 men, mostly young men from the region and several friendly Indians. On Aug 6, they attacked the soldiers holding siege and caused them to flee and break up the unit. The news about the success of theAmericans spread quickly among the population and had great influenceon the morale of the American people and the Army, realizing their capability to defeat an enemy.

BURGOYNE’S ROUTE

ST. LEGER’S ROUTE

HOWE’S ROUTE

NEW YORK

ALBANY

QUEBEC

12

In the meantime, the consequences of Burgoyne’s bad decisions unfolded. The procurement of provisions for the soldiersfell apart. On Aug 11, he ordered Lt. Friedrich Baum and 800 men, mostly German, to march to nearby Bennington, Vermont, to rob a military storehouse of its provisions and to bring them back to the troops.

Baron von Riedesel was not in favor of the order. It was his decision that another 30 mile long and stressful march would weaken the soldiers and the Army. Furthermore, the region was crawling with scattered enemy soldiers who wereexperienced with the landscape and whose superior physical condition would threaten the return of the soldiers. Burgoyne’s stubborness revealed the expected. Baum’s troop never reached Bennington and had to endure numerous surprise attacks.

Picture of Baum’s death, painted by Roy Williams.

Finally the rest of the unit that managed to stay alive,met the unit of the American Colonel John Stark whichforced them to take refuge und to deliver a message toGeneral Burgoyne for immediate help. On Aug 16, theywere attacked by Stark’s unit long before the help fromBurgoyne arrived. Stark’s troops defeated the unit during the very first attack.

Heinrich Breymann, commander of the 550 soldiers who came to their rescue also was attacked by Stark and his unit was defeated as well. As the result of“Gentleman Burgoyne’s” poor decision, 207 soldiers on the British side died and more than 700 men weretaken prisoner. Lt. Friedrich Baum paid with his life for this senseless mistake.

13

For Johann Heinrich Aumann, who was recruited by Lt. Gall and at the time belonged to the chief regiment of Baron von Riedesel, more calamity lay ahead. Demoralized and with little physical strength left, the Hessian mercenaries werewaiting for further orders. Many of them missed their homeland in Germany and had regrets over their brave decision to endanger their lives for a cause unrelated to them, while serving under an incompetent and displaced British General.As the morale of the British Army was sinking, a sense of victory was rising amongst the rebels. More and more youngmen were determined to defeat the British command on the American continent and to fight for their independence.American and British chroniclers recorded the details of the course of war for many years later and enabled us to presenta short version of the end of Burgoyne’s war mission as follows.

On Sep 13, the rest of General Burgoyne’s Army crossed the Hudson river near Saratoga via a pontoon bridge. Sir Johnagain deviated from his original strategy, thereby cutting off his supply channels to Canada. Depending on himself onlyand without backup, his plan resembled a gamble of “all or nothing at all”. This was the last link in a chain of fatal mistakes. Burgoyne deserved a high grade for his vanity but his lack of accomplished war strategies left a lot to be desired.

The decisive battle was yet to come. At the time when Burgoyne and his troops were crossing the Hudson, the Americansunder the command of General Gant, were stationed 24 miles north of Albany in Bemis Heights where they took theirfortified position. At this point General Burgoyne divided his Army into three wings to create a wide field for the attackof the enemy and to eliminate snipers and ambush from both sides. The right wing was led by Simon Fraser, Sir John himself led the center field and Baron von Riedesel positioned himself in the left wing. The British troops marched forward until one o’clock when the troops of the center encountered the enemy soldiers led by Commander Morgan near the Freeman Farm, a small settlement the size of 6 acres. A hail of bullets killed several “Redcoats” and the survivingsoldiers returned to their Infantry for their safety. Attacks on both sides followed until the territory was completely inthe hands of the British troops.

14

The battle of Saratoga on 19 September 1777. Painting by Charles H. Hutchins.

New fights arose constantly and thesnipers of the American troops werehighly successful to intimidate theenemy and to widen the battlefield. By 2 o’clock, Commander Morgan,with the support of the New HampshireContinentals, launched a massive attack on Burgoyne’s position andwith six attacks drove the British backinto the almost inaccessible forest behind the Freeman Farm. This fiercefighting by both sides went on formore than three hours until Bugoyne’smen were forced to retreat because of too many losses. It seemed like thethird Wing of the British attack was to collapse.

Seemingly at the right time, the Regiment of Baron von Riedesel came to the rescue of the desperate British and forcedPoor’s Brigade to retreat. With this attack by Baron von Riedesel, the first battle for the Freeman Farm had come to endand the American troops retreated to their support camp in Bemis Heights.

After this unsuccessful battle which caused many casualties, few of the British officers were as hopeful as “GentlemanJohnny” who accredited this victory of the day to the British side and announced a new attack the next day, Sep 20. The overestimation of himself was lowered only when news arrived that British General Sir Henry Clinton was about toattack an American Fort located at the lower Hudson river and later offered his aid to the Regiment of Burgoyne.

15

He, Burgoyne, considered Clinton’s plan but preferred to position himself in the same location. Despite the fact that thetroops were in need of rest, the general condition of the troops was worsened by illness and lack of nutrition. In themonths to follow, many of the soldiers searching for food were killed by snipers. Dozens of soldiers deserted, having lostfaith in a victory.

By the beginning of October, the entire Regiment was in such bad shape that Burgoyne abandoned the plan to wait forClinton and on Oct 7, launched a new attack on the Americans. In the morning, around 11 o’clock, Burgoyne led his menforward for a last battle. After an hour into the march he gave the order that the Regiment was to divide once more intothree Wings. This time, Baron von Riedesel’s unit was to take the center position, Fraser the right side and Major Aclandthe left one. This plan of the British, however, was closely observed by enemy spies who brought the results back to BemisHeights. Gates was not alarmed by the actions of Burgoyne’s Army and with a cool head and determination planned forthe counter attack by his Brigade. His tactic was to aggressively attack the right and left wings of the enemy in order to weaken them, and to have Learned and his brigade attack the troops covering the center.

The actions by the Wings that followed showed the same pattern as the fighting at the Freeman Farm. Each attack was followed by a counter attack and soon theBritish soldiers were incapable of enduring the physicalstress. The many casualties, among them Major Aclandwho lost his life in the attack, made the surrender of theleft and right Wings ominous. Morgan positioned CaptainAlexander’s support troops in front of him and they werefinally able to retreat to safety. Learned finally advancedwith his Brigade, which was five to six times the size ofGeneral Riedelsel’s unit thereby seizing control of the entire British front.

Surrender of Burgoyne. Painted by John Trumbull.

16

For the British soldiers the only options in this situation were to be taken prisoner or to reach the pontoon bridge on the Hudson and to find an escape route to Canada. The Americans, however, realized the intentions of the enemy and followed them along on both sides of the river to pass them and thereby preventing their retreat.

On Sep 14, Burgoyne and his remaining minute unit realized that they were completely surrounded and unable to resistthe 20.000 American enemy soldiers. In the end, this hopeless situation gave him the chance to finally make a sound decision – to declare his surrender.

Thus the campaign had found its bitter end. The signal that was received, undoubtedly showed the change in the Americanand British War of Independence. Numerous fighting preceded the battle of Saratoga with more or less consequences forEngland, like the battles of Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill, as well as Trenton, Princeton and Germantown. Since thebattle of Saratoga, the American Army was convinced of a final victory which gave it new strength and the feeling ofmoral superiority. The battles of Monmouth, Cowpens and Yorktown were the result. The War of Independence had officially ended with the signing of the Declaration of Independence by England on Oct 19, 1781.

Let us briefly look at the question of what happened to “Gentleman Johnny”. It was said that for the rest of his life hecould not understand the cause of his defeat and found the Hessian soldiers at fault. After returning to England heacquired a seat in the British Parliament, moved to London and spent his remaining time writing unsuccessful stories andtrying his luck at the casinos. In his book “Gentleman Johnny Burgoyne”, F.J. Huddleston tried to reinstate Burgoyne’scharacter and to justify his actions. The facts, however, could not be ignored and the book turned into fiction.

The soldiers taken prisoner at Saratoga on Oct 17, 1777, gave little merit to Burgoyne. Their main pursuit was, especiallyby the soldiers from Germany, that the uncertainty of the war must come to end and that their time of imprisonmentwere short and bearable.

17

The first command which included approximately 5000 English soldiers, Indians and mercenaries from Braunschweig andHessia-Hanau, was to march to Winter Hill to gather at a prisoners’ camp near Boston. They spent the usually long andcold winter in the barracks of the camp until the rest of the year 1777. On November 1778, they received further ordersto march to a camp in Charlotteville, Virginia. The almost 621 miles from Winter Hill to Charlotteville took three fullmonths and they finally arrived in Virginia in February of 1779.

According to hearsay, the Americans were in hope that during the march many of the prisoners would escape to cut thecost of their maintenance and provisions. The inattentiveness of the guards made it possible for many of them to escapeto freedom.

During the first days of the march to Enfield, sixteen prisoners from the Hanau Regiment took a chance to flee. Duringthe long and stressful march, the number of deserters steadily increased. On Christmas Eve, the demoralized troops arrived at Lancaster, a city with a mostly German population. They were celebrating Christmas in the German tradition in their five churches and the soldiers were overwhelmed with sentiment. During the night at least 18 soldiers, whomissed their German homeland, separated and stayed behind in Lancaster and the surrounding area.

After a short break the journey continued and they arrived in York on December 31. It was here that Johannes Bluemlerfrom Babenhausen and his friends made the decision to escape, and they never left York. More and more small groups ofsoldiers separated from the troop. They were tired of the ongoing war and longed for a normal and civilized new life.

18

Johann Heinrich remained with the convoy and most of his friends from the German homeland and together they patiently awaited their fate.The new camp at Charlottesville, Virginia, still did not promise a release of the prisoners since the war had not officiallyended. Reflections of this time period, recorded by Baroness Riedesel, look like this:

“We arrived in the middle of Feb, 1779 after traveling on foot from Boston through the provinces of Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland. It took 12 weeks to travel the 678 miles. The troops were stationedtwo hours away in Charlottesville. To reach them we had to march through heavy forests and in the beginning their quarters were poorly built and they had to brave the cold in block houses that were unsealed and without window panesand doors. They worked very hard to build better homes for themselves and in a short period of time, it looked like apretty village. Behind each dwelling there were lovely gardens with nice fencing for the poultry. As the old provisionswere coming to an end, they received fresh meat and plenty of flour for baking bread and making pancakes and dumplings. They were missing nothing except money. From England they received very little and credit was hard to get,especially for the common soldiers.”

At the beginning of May 1781, after a two year stay in the camp, a new order to march towards Reading in Pennsylvaniawas issued. Since the beginning of the war numerous prison camps had been built in the towns of Reading, Lancaster and York plus several town halls, churches and other public facilities were provided to the prisoners. Furthermore, Pennsylvania was one of the preferred states for German immigrants to settle in since the 16th century. The young menfrom Hanau realized that here they would be treated with dignity and saw an opportunity to establish contact with German soldiers who were previously taken prisoner, while fighting in the battles of Trenton and Princton. Many of them took advantage of the rule of 1777, to help the farmers with their agricultural tasks, especially during harvest time. Other trade sectors also had the opportunity to hire prisoners of war for cheap labor which was well received from bothsides. The two Hessian Regiments were divided between the towns of Lancaster and Reading and from a historical notation7, I learned that Hessian troops were housed in the poor house of Lancaster. At their arrival in November of 1781,the German settlers received them with politeness, speaking German and offering gracious hospitality.

7 Notes and Queries, Historical and Genealogical, William Henry Egle, Fourth Series Vol. II.

19

Baron von Riedesel and his German officers enjoyed the privilege that upon their word of honor, the prisoners were allowed to freely move about. Furthermore, depending on their rank, they were allowed up to three personal aides. It is likely that Johann Heinrich, after his arrival in Reading found work on a nearby farm during the day and so did his 100 fellow prisoners from Babenhausen who were imprisioned nearby. On one side, the friendliness of the German settlers could changethe monotony of imprisonment into a meaningful life experience. On the other hand, it made it possible to establish lifelong relationships after imprisonment.

At the time, Johann Heinrich was a young man of 26 years and willing to work hard continuing in the tradition of theskilled and ambitious craftsmen of his Aumann ancesters in Germany. He looked to the future with a positive attitudeand utilized every opportunity that was given to him. Hard working German men were desired to work in the fields ofagriculture, but also in making shoes, forging of cannons and as a blacksmith. The opportunity to change from life in imprisonment to having a profession and family life, was hereby given to the abused and mistreated former mercenaries.

When forced to march from camp to camp, they put hundreds of miles behind them, and the march to Charlottesville,was a mere 621 miles long. It made it evident that such physical endurance could only be performed by men in excellenthealth and with great determination, of which few were left.

Johann Heinrich seized his chance with great enthusiasm. When the American Government enacted a law at the end of 1782 that offered the possibilty to be ransomed by a farmer or manufacturer, Johann Heinrich immediately found apromoter who freed him on Oct 24, 1782 for the amount of 80 dollars. This amount was the fixed price for a German prisoner to be released from all military engagements. The commitment to be a “servant to his Master”, however, remained for another 3 years.

20

● Charlotteville

➀ Marching route of the prisoners from Saratoga to Winter Hill on Oct to Nov 1777.

➁ Marching route from Winter Hill to Charlottesville in 1778 to 1779.

➂ Marching route from Charlottesville in 1781.

➀

➁

➂

● Lancaster

● Reading

Frederick ●

Newsburgh ●

● Winter HillSaratoga ●

Albany ●

21

A description of Johann Heinrich’s life after bail is not availabe but it is recorded that he married the love of his life,Maria Beatom, on July 03, 1784. The marriage was consummated by the Reverend William Boos. It was a desirable andunforgettable time for Johann Heinrich who until now had spent his youth separated from his parents and homeland,training in the military and learning the skills and duties of a soldier. Here in Reading, Pennsylvania, his life took on ameaningful purpose and human dignity, with the help of the German settlers who had left Germany in early 1600 for religious reasons. Over the next several years, he was blessed with seven children who established the roots of the Auman line in Pennsylvania until this day and whose existence was spreading to other states of the USA as well.

Zion Spiess Church.

Tracing the history and influential events of the Hessian soldiers during the War ofIndependence in America, have long raised a new curiosity in myself and my wife.We decided that part of our vacation in America during the month of October2000, would be spent with research of our ancestors in Pennsylvania. The focalpoint of our exploration was Reading because of its two Archives which held the records of the history of the settlers and the genealogy of its people.

For three days we spent the afternoon in the Archives where an outstanding supply of records of genealogy, copies of church and cemetery registries and census lists were available. With the help of these resources and the friendly help of the volunteer staff of the Archives, we were able to establish the marriage of Johann Heinrich to Maria Beatom in the Zion Spiess Church, as well as the dates of birth of their children. A visit to the church was a great experience for us, despite the fact that the original church building was replaced with a larger one.

22

The visit to the St. Paul Union Church near Amityville was a pleasantsurprise as well in that the small old church was still in existence,when only a few feet away a second and larger church was built.

The biggest surprise, however, was the cemetery of the church wheregravesites dated back to 1700 and showed the original headstone. At the office of the church we were able to obtain a list of peopleburied here and a copy of excerpts from the Church Registry. It wasamazing that the gravesite of Johann Heinrich’s daughter Sarah,April 04, 1798 – March 03, 1860, as well as two gravesites of the two children of Jeremias Aumann, as well as the grandson of JohannHeinrich and Maria Beatom, born on Sept 09, 1814, were preserved.The names of the two children were Daniel and Albert.

Headstone of Daniel and Albert.

St. Paul Union Church.

23

While visiting Reading and its surrounding area, we also incorporated a visit to Weavertown, Yellow House and Amityville.Traveling the countryside, it became obvious why the German settlers took a liking to this region with its rambling mountainside resembling the homeland regions of the German Odenwald, Spessart and Taunus. The prevailing of the German language in schools and church services contributed to overcome the longing for the homeland. We learned thatJohann Heinrich and his family relocated to Weavertown, in the township of Amity in Pennsylvania, where he taught theGerman language in the churches of Amityville and Yellow House. After a long and eventful life and at the impressiveage of 83, Johann Heinrich passed away in Weavertown on Mar 13, 1839. It is gratifying to know, that after all the hardyears of war, long imprisonment and sacrifices to establish a new life, he was fortunate to spend many peaceful andhappy years with his family in his new homeland.

We were, however, unable to trace the history of his two daughters, Elizabeth, born on Feb 19, 1785 and Maria, born July 19, 1809. The oldest of the three sons, George who was born on Jun 6, 1787, was married to Maria Spiess on May 13,1810. The desire to have more children continued as a tradition and George was blessed with the number of seven. Heinrich, born Aug 29, 1789, married Catharina Breyman and the marriage produced an impressive number of ten children. Finally there is Samuel, born Aug 11, 1803, who married a woman called Catharina whose family name unfortunately could not be determined. Unlike his brothers, he had to settle for the birth of only two children. Daughter Sarah, born Apr 28, 1798, whose gravesite was described earlier, remained unmarried. It is of interest that Catharina, born Oct 23, 1793, was married to Christian Breyman, born May 14, 1814, the son of Lt. Heinrich Breymann, a then high ranking officer in the Regiment of Baron Riedesel. The wife of the forementioned Heinrich, with the name of Catharina Breyman, belonged to the same family who had changed the Breymann name to Breyman.

The following facts demonstrate how exciting and surprising Genealogy can be. While researching the internet about the American version of the name of Aumann, I came across a lady from Nevada, who was in possession of a family Biblewith the mention of the names of Auman, Rosengarten, Winans and Ogden.

24

Auman Family Bible in America.

More research revealed that this was the family bible of William Aumann, the grandson of Johann Heinrich. Four pagesbetween the Old and New Testament revealed in detail the date of birth, marriage and death of the family members. This exciting discovery prompted my internet friend to dedicate the Bible to me where “it rightfully belongs”, as she said. William, a son of the American War of Independence, remained with the military and distinguished himself through hisskilled military capabilities and sense of responsibility, resulting in a steep career and highranking position. By the time of his retirement from the military he had achieved the rank of Brigadier General and received many awards for his actions in the civil war.

25

Samuel Auman in Pennsylvania TWP. Amos Auman in Weavertown, Amity TWP.

He is buried at the military cemetary of Arlington together with his wife Emma Elizabeth, whose maiden name was Rosengarten. Unfortunately, the entries in the Bible show that his sons William Jr. and Frank both died at a young ageduring March of 1888. An early death of one of his daughters is also recorded. No further information is available of bothof his daughters Edith May, married to Edwin B. Winans, and Catharina Regina who was married to Charles Cornel Odgen,who passed away in 1893, the year they got married.

26

In the end all was well as more and more Hessian men and their descendants became citizens and through their ambition and reliabilty helped to build a strong nation.

Their dedication is reflected in the change of names as follows:

Bär ➻ Bear

Buchmann ➻ Bookman

Braun ➻ Brown

Bock ➻ Buck

Gutmann ➻ Goodman

Lang ➻ Long

Mertz ➻ March

Schuhmacher ➻ Shoemaker

Jung ➻ Young

Aumann ➻ Auman

No other state than Pennsylvania reflected more of the influence of the German immigrants. Their superior craftsmanship and artistic talent identifies with the state until this day.

27

Conestoga wagon.

„Pennsylvania Germans“

Pennsylvania Rifle.

8 Named after the Conestoga Valley near Lancaster, Pa.

It was the “Pennsylvania Germans” who invented the Pennsylvania Rifle and the Conestoga wagon8, which was the practical solution to a transport vehicle with the capability to carry heavy loads over a long distance. The influence of the “Pennsylvania Germans” on the economical and cultural development during the development of the Colonies was substantial.

It is not surprising that after the official end of the war,the Count Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand of Hessia, on Feb 08,1783, ordered Baron von Riedesel to initiate the return ofthe troops to Germany. The order, however, included theoption for soldiers who preferred not to return to thehomeland, to be honorably discharged. The rest of thetroops started their return to the homeland where they arrived in October. It was learned later that several of thereturnees decided to emigrate to America for a secondtime.