The Musketeer Regiment Prinz Carl was a regiment of Hessian troops that served Great Britain 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 ...

. It was raised in 1702 by Colonel C. F. E. von Wartensleben and became a regiment of the princes of the Landgraviate family. It became 1st Battalion of the 3rd Hessian Infantry Regiment in 1821, and was disbanded in 1832."Regimenter: Prinz Carl" ''Hessische Truppen in Amerika.''
Retrieved 2021-05-08.

American Revolutionary War

According to German military records, the regiment was raised in

Bad Hersfeld The festival and spa town of Bad Hersfeld (''Bad'' is "spa" in German; the Old High German name of the city was ''Herolfisfeld'') is the district seat of the Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in northeastern Hesse, Germany, roughly 50 km southe ...

Hesse-Kassel 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 ...

(or Hesse-Cassel),

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 ...

. On January 21, 1776, the regiment marched from Hersfeld, embarking in Carlstadt at Bremerlehe on March, 23. They sailed for America on April 17, 1776, and landed at Staten Island, New York on August 15. They fought in the

Battle of White Plains The Battle of White Plains was a battle in the New York and New Jersey campaign of the American Revolutionary War, fought on October 28, 1776 near White Plains, New York. Following the retreat of George Washington's Continental Army northward f ...

on October 28, 1776, and participated in the capture of

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New Yor ...

July 29 to August 31, 1778, as well as other minor actions. On November 12, 1783, the regiment sailed from New York for Bremerlehe, returning to the garrison at Hersfeld on May 28, 1784. Some of the men were sent to

Whippingham Whippingham is a village and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. The population of the Civil Parish at the 2011 Census was 787. It is located south of East Cowes in the north of the Island. Whippingham is best known for its connections with Qu ...

on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

to convalesce: many died there and are buried at the parish church. Although the official history of the unit does not give precise details of its movements, there are indications of other operations: According to a Sep. 23, 1777 letter from Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton, to Gen. Sir William Howe, the regiment participated in an incursion into

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

from the 12th to the 16th of September, 1777. Also, a report of a Hessian deserter from 28 August 1782, found in George Washington's papers, indicates this regiment, along with "the Regt. of Wesebach & Angenella together with Fanning's Corps., & 7th British Reg., came lately from Savannah & are now on Long Island, very weak in number and very sickly.Source: George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress, 1741-1799: Series 6. Military Papers. 1755-1798 British Deserters, Names and Interrogations, April 15-December 12, 1782, Image 13 of 32, available at http://memory.loc.gov/mss/mgw/mgw6a/117/1500/1510.jpg" In this report, "7th British Regt. is likely the "

7th Regiment of Foot 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion, mythology, ...

(Royal Fuzileers)" under Lt. Gen. Richard Prescott, who had been ordered to Savannah on 22 December 1781. "Fanning's Corps." is probably the loyalist "

King's American Regiment The King's American Regiment, also known as the "Associated Refugees", were a Loyalist regiment during the American Revolutionary War. The King's American Regiment was raised on Staten Island in the Province of New York in December 1776 by Colon ...

" "Angenella" is probably the "Grenadier Regt. von d'Angelelli." And, the "Regt. of Wesebach" likely refers to the Hessian "Regt. von Wissenbach", although von Knoblauch had taken command by that time. The British forces evacuated Savannah on July 11, 1782.

Officers

;Leibkompanie ;Kompanie 2 *(1775–80) Generalmajor Martin Konrad Schmitt *(1780–84) Generalmajor Ephraim v. Gose ;Kompanie 3 *(1775) Obrist (Colonel) Ephraim v. Gose *(1776–84) Obrist George Emanuel v. Lengerke ;Kompanie 4 *(1775–84) Obristleutnant Johann Wilhelm Schreiber (promoted to Obrist) ;Kompanie 5 *(1775–84) Major Wilhelm v. Loewenstein (promoted to Obristleutnant, then Obrist) Source:

References

{{reflist German units in British service in the American Revolutionary War Infantry regiments of Germany