German Patriots in the Revolutionary War

Fred T. May An essay prepared for Andrew Carruthers Chapter National Society Daughters of the American Revolution Austin, Texas November 2003 This essay briefly introduces you to the German-American soldiers that answered the call from Congress in Philadelphia in June 1775, when it became apparent that the British Parliament was determined to enforce their demands for taxes on the Colonies with armed British troops. Early encounters in Massachusetts and Canada were supported by these brave young men who marched from the backwoods of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. The accounts given here focus on the months prior to July 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was signed, but the personal sacrifice of German-Americans, along with loyal members of other ethnic groups [primarily English, Irish, Scotch-Irish, Dutch, Swiss and Welsh] residing throughout the Colonies, continued until the Continental Army finally won its decisive victory at Yorktown, Virginia on October 19, 1781. Among the thousands of young German-American men who served were John May [1760-1813] of Berkeley County, VA and his first cousins, sons of Leonard May. Establishment of Pennsylvania Penn's Woods | Early German Immigrants | Years of the Great Migration French & Indian War | German Settlers in the Shenandoah Valley Revolutionary War Lexington Green | Preparation for Battle | Virginia & Maryland Volunteers Lancaster County Patriots | Early Encounters with the British | 1776-1781 Appendix Behind the Front Lines | Hessian Soldiers | Pennsylvania Rifles Daniel Morgan's Riflemen | Major-General Peter Muhlenberg Bibliography © 2003 Fred T. May