Creuzbourg's Jäger Corps ''(Jäger-Corps von Creuzbourg)'' was an independent
Jäger battalion raised by the
count
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
y of
Hesse-Hanau
Hesse-Hanau was a territory in the Holy Roman Empire. It emerged when the former county of Hanau-Münzenberg became a secundogeniture of Hesse-Cassel in 1760. When the reigning count, William IX, also became landgrave of Hesse-Cassel in 1785, th ...
and put to the disposition of the
British Crown
The Crown is the state (polity), state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, British Overseas Territories, overseas territories, Provinces and territorie ...
, as part of the German Allied contingent during the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
. The corps fought at the
Battle of Oriskany
The Battle of Oriskany ( or ) was a significant engagement of the Saratoga campaign of the American Revolutionary War, and one of the bloodiest battles in the conflict between the Americans and Great Britain. On August 6, 1777, a party of Loy ...
, although mostly serving as garrison of different
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
posts.
Formation
![Blick vom Knoten](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Blick_vom_Knoten.jpg)
When the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
began, the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
was too small to overwhelm the rebellious colonies with armed might. Subsequently,
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
entered treaties with a number of German principalities, which provided the British Crown with allied contingents for service in North America in return for monetary subsidies. A mutual aid- and alliance treaty between United Kingdom and Hesse-Hanau was entered in February 1776.
A Jäger corps under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Karl Adolf Christoph von Creutzburg was among the units in the Hesse-Hanau contingent.
[''Hessische Truppen in Amerika:'' "Creutzburg, von, Karl Adolf Christoph (* ca. 1733)"](_blank)
Retrieved March 22, 2013. The Jägers were recruited from state
forester
A forester is a person who practises forestry, the science, art, and profession of managing forests. Foresters engage in a broad range of activities including ecological restoration and management of protected areas. Foresters manage forests to ...
s and other professional
hunter
Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...
s. They were selected for their marksmanship, and were all
volunteer
Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...
s, in contrast with the
draft
Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to:
Watercraft dimensions
* Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel
* Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail
* Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vessel ...
ed or pressed soldiers that filled the ranks of the Hesse-Hanau
infantry
Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...
. The pay was higher than for ordinary troops. The British government especially requested Jägers for the American campaign, as they were perceived as better able to endure the North American wilderness.
[Virginia Easley DeMarce, ''The Settlement of Former German Auxiliary Troops in Canada After the American Revolution'' (Arlington 1982).](_blank)
Retrieved March 22, 2013.
Operations
![Near the Whirlpool, Niagara Gorge](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Near_the_Whirlpool%2C_Niagara_Gorge.jpg)
The Hesse-Hanau contingent arrived to Canada in the summer of 1777 and became part of
General Burgoyne's army that after the
Battle of Saratoga
The Battles of Saratoga (September 19 and October 7, 1777) marked the climax of the Saratoga campaign, giving a decisive victory to the Americans over the British in the American Revolutionary War. British General John Burgoyne led an invasion ...
became
American prisoners of war. Creuzbourg's Jäger Corps, however, escaped defeat and imprisonment, as it was to be a part of
Barry St. Leger's western offensive during the
Saratoga Campaign
The Saratoga campaign in 1777 was an attempt by the British high command for North America to gain military control of the strategically important Hudson River valley during the American Revolutionary War. It ended in the surrender of the British ...
. Due to the slowness of wilderness travel, only one of the Corp's companies arrived in time to participate in this campaign. This single company made, however, a significant contribution to the American defeat at the
Battle of Oriskany
The Battle of Oriskany ( or ) was a significant engagement of the Saratoga campaign of the American Revolutionary War, and one of the bloodiest battles in the conflict between the Americans and Great Britain. On August 6, 1777, a party of Loy ...
. The remaining companies did not join St. Leger until after the
Siege of Fort Stanwix
The siege of Fort Stanwix (also known at the time as Fort Schuyler) in 1777 began on August 2 and ended August 22. Fort Stanwix, in the western part of the Mohawk River Valley, was then the primary defense point for the Continental Army against B ...
had ended and the Crown forces were retreating northward.
[Gavin K. Watt, ''Rebellion in the Mohawk Valley'' (The Dundurn Group, 2002), p. 234, 265.](_blank)
Retrieved March 20, 2013.Clifford Neal Smith, ''German Mercenary Expatriates in the United States and Canada'' (Heritage House 1973), p. 63.
Retrieved March 22, 2013.
During the winter of 1777-1778, Creuzbourg's Jäger Corps was quartered in the area southeast of
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
. In August 1778 at least one company was based around Terrebonne
Terrebonne, meaning ''good earth'' in French, is a name of several places in North America:
;Canada
*Terrebonne, Quebec, a suburb of Montreal
** Terrebonne station, a commuter railway station in Terrebonne, Quebec
**Terrebonne City Council, the go ...
. The winter of 1779-1780 was spent in cantonment
A cantonment (, , or ) is a military quarters. In Bangladesh, India and other parts of South Asia, a ''cantonment'' refers to a permanent military station (a term from the British India, colonial-era). In military of the United States, United Stat ...
at La Prairie and during the summer of 1781 the corps was part of Québec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...
garrison. The winter of 1781-1782 spent in quarters in Saint-Vallier and Châteauguay
Châteauguay ( , , ) is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, located both on the Chateauguay River and Lac St-Louis, which is a section of the St. Lawrence River. The population of the city of Châteauguay at the 2021 Cens ...
; during the summer of 1782 the corps was posted to Île aux Noix
Île aux Noix () is an island on the Richelieu River in Quebec, close to Lake Champlain. The island is the site of Fort Lennox National Historic Site of Canada. Politically, it is part of Saint-Paul-de-l'Île-aux-Noix.
Background
Île aux Noix ...
and Lacolle, in the Montérégie
Montérégie () is an administrative region in the southwest part of Quebec. It includes the cities of Boucherville, Brossard, Châteauguay, Longueuil, Saint-Hyacinthe, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield and Vaudreuil-Dorion.
The ...
region.
Disbandment
After the Treaty of Paris 1783
The Treaty of Paris, signed in Paris by representatives of King George III of Great Britain and representatives of the United States of America on September 3, 1783, officially ended the American Revolutionary War and overall state of conflict ...
the Hesse-Hanau contingent was repatriated. Nevertheless, almost half of Creuzbourg's Jäger Corps chose to resign and settle in Canada. Their combat experience had been limited, but during long marches they had learned the way of the wilderness with hunting, fishing and snowshoeing, and enjoyed life much more than in Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
.
Organization
Four companies of 100 officers and men each.
Commanding officer and officers commanding companies
* Creutzburg, Carl Adolf Christoph von, Lieutenant Colonel, commanding officer.
* Franken, Hermann Albrecht von, Major.[Eelking, Max von (1863). ''Die deutschen Hülfstruppen im nordamerikanischem Befreiungskriege, 1776 bis 1783.'' Hannover, vol. 2, pp. 268-269.]
* Castendyck, Wilhelm, Captain.
* Hildebrand, Jacob, Captain.
* Hugget, Sigismund, Captain.
* Wittgenstein, Count L. K. von, Captain.
Middle Staff
*Bender, Xaverius, Regimental Surgeon.
* Kaup, Johann Jakob, Judge Advocate
Judge-advocates are military lawyers serving in different capacities in the military justice systems of different jurisdictions.
Australia
The Australian Army Legal Corps (AALC) consists of Regular and Reserve commissioned officers that provi ...
.[''Hessische Truppen in Amerika:'' "Grundliste des Hessen-Hanauischen Jägercorps (Mittelstab), 1777."](_blank)
Retrieved 2018-01-01.
* Staudinger, Ernst Friedrich, Quartermaster
Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land armies, a quartermaster is generally a relatively senior soldier who supervises stores or barracks and distributes supplies and provisions. In m ...
.
* Velden, Wilhelm von den, Adjutant
Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commission ...
.
* Armorers, 2 [Davenport, Frances Gardner & Paullin, Charles Oscar (1937). ''European treaties bearing on the history of the United States and its dependencies. Volume IV: 1716-1815.'' Washington, # 160.]
* Armorer's assistant
* Wagoner for the war chest
* Wagoners for the company wagons, 4
* Provost
Company
* Captain
* First lieutenant
* Second lieutenant
* Sergeant-major
* Sergeant
* Quartermaster-sergeant
* Captain of arms
* Corporals, 6
* Surgeon's mate
* Buglers, 3
* Chasseurs, 78
* Officer's servants, 3
The colonel's company had one officer and one servant more, and two chasseurs less.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Creuzbourg's Jager Corps
category:German units in British service in the American Revolutionary War
Infantry regiments of Germany