My "Big Three"
Johann-Christian Burgess
Johann-Christian Burgess was one of the near twenty thousand Hessian soldiers who came to America to fight for the British during the Revolutionary War. The British Empire hired thousands of German Mercenaries to fight for the war. Most of them were press-ganged into joining the forces, or forced to fight. Some records say that the Hessian's ruler would force them to go and accept the pay from the British. About a fourth of the British Army consisted of these German soldiers.
A near twenty thousand Hessians left to America, and about twelve thousand didn't return home. Many died either in action or from illnesses. As shown in Figure 1, a large majority of those that didn't return settled in America, like Johann-Christian Burgess. This was a large risk, because deserters of war would be charged with treason. Johann-Christian changed his name to Burgess; because of this we don't know his other name. There is still controversy over who exactly Johann-Christian Burgess was. All there is record of is that he married Hannah Newland and they had eleven kids.
I find this story very interesting because no one can really find out who he is, and it remains a mystery. I would really like to figure out more of who exactly Johann-Christian was, why he joined the war, or if he was forced to go, and if so is that why he deserted.
A near twenty thousand Hessians left to America, and about twelve thousand didn't return home. Many died either in action or from illnesses. As shown in Figure 1, a large majority of those that didn't return settled in America, like Johann-Christian Burgess. This was a large risk, because deserters of war would be charged with treason. Johann-Christian changed his name to Burgess; because of this we don't know his other name. There is still controversy over who exactly Johann-Christian Burgess was. All there is record of is that he married Hannah Newland and they had eleven kids.
I find this story very interesting because no one can really find out who he is, and it remains a mystery. I would really like to figure out more of who exactly Johann-Christian was, why he joined the war, or if he was forced to go, and if so is that why he deserted.