Georg Pausch (about 1740 – 1795 or 1796) was a soldier from

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, the ...

. He is noted for the journal he left describing the experiences and those of his company in Canada with

Burgoyne Burgoyne is a surname introduced to England following the Norman conquest of 1066, which denoted someone from Burgundy (''Bourgogne'' in French). Notable people with the name include: *Alan Burgoyne (1880–1929), British soldier, politician a ...

's campaign. The campaign culminated in Burgoyne's surrender 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 ...

Biography

Pausch was chief of the

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

in the Burgoyne campaign. Little is known of him after Burgoyne's surrender. His signature appears on the

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

parole, now in the

Boston Public Library The Boston Public Library is a municipal public library system in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, founded in 1848. The Boston Public Library is also the Library for the Commonwealth (formerly ''library of last recourse'') of the Commonweal ...

. In 1786 the name of Georg Pausch is entered in the official calendar of

Hesse-Cassel The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Kassel), spelled Hesse-Cassel during its entire existence, was a state in the Holy Roman Empire that was directly subject to the Emperor. The state was created in 1567 when the Lan ...

as major in the regiment of light artillery. His name disappears from the calendar in 1796, so that it is probable he died early in that year or late in the year preceding.

Journal

His journal, which was found in the late 19th century in the state library at Cassel, is among the most valuable of the accounts of the German troops in the British service during 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 ...

that have yet been discovered. It gives detailed descriptions of the difficulties that the Hessians experienced in passing through the countries on the lower

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

to the seaboard. It details the fate and fortune of Pausch and his men from 15 May 1776, the day they left

Hanau Hanau () is a town in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km east of Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main and is part of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region. Its Hanau Hauptbahnhof, station is a ...

, to the close of Burgoyne's last battle, 7 October 1777. The journal dwells freely on the personal experiences of its author and his men while in Canada, providing glimpses into the private lives of the Hessian soldiers. Pausch's account is the first of the part played by the Hesse-Hanau artillery in the Battle of Saratoga. It supplements the information in the ''Military Journals of General Riedesel'' on the actions of the Brunswick infantry in the same battle.

Editions

The journal has been translated by William L. Stone, with an introduction by Edward J. Lowell (Albany, 1886).

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pausch, Georg 1740s births 1796 deaths Place of birth unknown Place of death unknown Hessian military personnel of the American Revolutionary War German diarists German male non-fiction writers 18th-century diarists