Friedrich Wilhelm von Lossberg

Early life

Von Lossberg was born in Sylbach, County of Lippe on 20 April 1720 Friederich Wilhelm von Lossberg never personally commanded the regiment in North America, since he was detached for brigade command before departing Germany and moved continually higher in the Hessian command structure; first becoming a major general (1779) and then a lieutenant general (1780) and commander of all German forces serving in North America in 1782.

Friedrich Wilhelm von Lossberg did become the commander of the Von Lossberg Regiment (Young) in 1780. This regiment, not to be confused with the Von Lossberg Regiment (Old), was made up of the Mirbach Regiment, renamed in 1780.

American service

Mobilization The strength of the Von Lossberg Regiment at the end of 1775 was 437 men, including 21 officers and 60 non-commissioned officers. The uniform of the regiment was distinguished from other Hessian regiments as the facing color of the coat was scarlet as was its cuffs. In North America the regiment consisted of five companies, all armed with muskets. The companies served as a single unit, rather than in two battalions as they had in Europe.

The Fusilier Regiment von Lossberg, departed from Rinteln on 10 March 1776. It first sailed to Portsmouth where it joined a British convoy and arrived in Sandy Hook, New York in October 1776.

While Von Lossberg accompanied the regiment to America, he did not command it, as he was at the time commander of the Leib-Infanterie-Regiment, that also sailed in the same convoy. The regiment with Heinrich Anton von Heringen in command, left Rinteln on 10 March 1776 for the 120 mile march to the port of Lehe (today Bremerhaven) for embarkation. The Von Lossberg Regiment was reported to have had the most deserters during the march, with a loss of 15 men. Heringen in being ordered by Heister to determine the cause reported that it was due to the existence of a rumor of a free pardon in Schaumberg, where Rinteln was located. Most of these men were married and felt that they were therefore exempt from foreign service.

On 7 April the regiment reached the staging area for embarkation and the oath of loyalty to the crown of England was administered. The regiment embarked on 13 April and a fleet of fifty-four vessels, including four carrying the Regiment Von Lossberg, set sail on 17 April 1776. The ships met a larger British fleet at Spithead off the Isle of Wight on 26 April and the entire fleet of 150 ships sailed for North America on 6 May.

New York

Von Lossberg landed in New York on 12 August 1776, together with the Regiment von Lossberg and the First Division under the overall command of Heister.

Trenton

Although Friedrich Wilhelm Von Lossberg was not in attendance at the battle, being at the time posted as a brigade commander in Newport, The Regiment Von Lossberg played a prominent role at the Battle of Trenton.

Newport, 1778

In early May 1778 von Lossberg moved to the northern end of Rhode Island with 1,000 men from the Landgrave and Von Ditfurth regiments. Newport had a garrison of 6,000 men, which George Washington hoped to capture. For this a force of 11,000 Americas under Major General John Sullivan were to coordinate an operation with the French Vice Admiral Count d'Estaing. On 9 August Sullivan landed his troops at Howland's Ferry and began to march on Newport, anticipating that French troops landed by D'Estaing would join him. At that time a British fleet under Admiral Richard Howe appeared. D'Estaing reembarked the French troops and sailed away to meet the British further out at sea. This frustrated Sullivan's advance and he decided to wait for the French to return. This they were prevented from doing due to a violent storm on 12–13 August, which then forced D'Estaing to sail to Boston to repair his damaged ships.

At the conclusion of the battle von Lossberg wrote to his superiors: "During the retreat of the rebels and our pursuit, we lost altogether 231 men including English, Hessian and Ansbach troops, comprising dead, wounded, captured and missing personnel." He added: " Sullivan [General] in his report to Congress made a lot of noise about having annihilated us so we left more than 1,000 men on the battlefield... All men are liars-this man is no exception."

All British and Hessian troops were fully evacuated from Newport by 25 October 1779. Von Lossberg returned to New York under the command of von Knyphausen, then commanding all Hessian troops in North America after replacing Heister on 24 June 1777. Von Lossberg was promoted to lieutenant general on 7 March 1781.

Commander of the Hessian Forces in North America

With the departure of Lieutenant General von Knyphausen on 15 May 1782, together with Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton, von Lossberg became the commander of the Hessian troops in North America while Lieutenant General Sir Guy Carleton became overall commander of the British Allied Forces.

Generals Clinton and von Knyphausen departed to England on board the frigate HMS Pearl.

In his role von Lossberg was responsible for the repatriation of the Hessian troops remaining in America. Both Congress and the British Government offered German soldiers land if they remained in America or in Nova Scotia, and about 1/4th of the men accepted. The other German troops had begun their return voyage from Halifax and Quebec from the first of that month.

Von Lossberg himself left New York on 16 November 1783 and arrived in Portsmouth aboard the transport ship Duchess of Gordon on 26 December 1783. He returned to Hesse and died at Hesse-Nassau on 25 June 1800.

Correspondence with George Washington

In July 1782, after the surrender of British forces at the Battle of Yorktown the previous October, von Lossberg wrote to George Washington asking for help in obtaining documentation that would enable the passage of supplies to assist Hessian prisoners of war within the city of Philadelphia. Von Lossberg said in his letter that, "this indulgence will in all human probability save the Lives of many Men".

Washington wrote back, and although he expressed concern that there had been, "many abuses", that had been, "practiced under Cover of passports granted for the relief & Support of the prisoners of War", nevertheless issued von Lossberg a passport specifically intended for, "Money ready made Cloathing & Medicine", intended, "for the Use of your prisoners in Phila—".