Friedrich Wilhelm von Lossberg

The strength of the Von Lossberg Regiment at the end of 1775 was 437 men, including 21 officers and sixty 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. The Hessian troops were initially divided into 2 Divisions. The First Division was under Lieutenant General Leopold Philip von Heister and consisted of 8 regiments, plus 2 grenadier battalions, the Jägers and an artillery company, sailing from Bremerlehe on 17 April, 1776. The Second Division under Lieutenant General Wilhelm Freiherr von Knyphausen, of which the Regiment von Lossberg formed a part, consisted of 6 Hessian regiments, two grenadier battalions, plus Jägers and troops from Waldeck. The Second Division consisted of two Brigades. The First Brigade was commanded by Friedrich Wilhelm von Lossberg and consisted of the Regiments v. Mirbach, v. Donop, v. Wutgenau, Crown Prince and the Grenadier Battalion v. Köhler. The Second Brigade was commanded by Major General Schmidt and consisted of the Regiments v. Lossberg, v. Wissenbach, v. Bünau and the Grenedier Battalion Köhler. The Second Division sailed from Ritzebūttel in June 1776. It first sailed to Portsmouth where it joined a British convoy and arrived in Sandy Hook, New York in October 1776.

The Regiment, with Heinrich Anton von Heringen in command, left Rinteln on the 10th of March 1776 for the 120 mile march to the port of Lehe (today Bremerhaven) for embarkation. The Lossberg Regiment was reported to have had the most deserters during the march, with a loss of 15 me. Heringen in being ordered by Heister to determine the cause reported that it was due tother being 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. [4]On the 7th of 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 the 13th of April and a fleet of fifty-four vessels, including four carrying the Regiment von Lossberg, set sail on the 17th of April 1776. The ships met a larger British fleet at Spithead off the Isle of Wight on the 26th of April and the entire fleet of 150 ships sailed for North America on the 6th of May.

After landing in Sandy Hook in October 1776, the Second Division was quickly put into the lines for the Battle of White Plains on October 28th, the attack on Fort Washington on Manhattan Island and Fort Lee across the Hudson in New Jersey. The attack on Fort Washington was a joint British-Hessian operation that took place on 16 November 1776. The Hessian forces were led by General von Knyphausen. The Von Lossberg regiment played a key role in the attack and the operation succeeded with the capture of 2,600 American defenders. Fort Washington was renamed Fort Knyphausen in honor of the Hessian General.

Lord Howe, the Commander of the British forces in North America, ordered the occupation of Newport on Rhode Island to secure a seaport; after the loss of Boston, Narragansett Bay, being recognized as one of the best anchorage for a fleet on the coast. As a result British and Hessian troops under General Sir Henry Clinton landed at Newport on 7 December 1776, securing the town and nearby Conanicut Island. Among the Hessian contingent was Colonel von Lossberg. The Von Lossberg Regiment was at that time settling into winter quarters in Trenton. On arrival at Newport, Lossberg while still a Colonel was given the command of a brigade consisting of the von Ditfurth Regiment, DuCorps Leib Regiment and Prinz Carl Musketeer Regiment. He was promoted to Major General on October 18, 1777 and assumed command of all Hessian troops in Newport and on Rhode Island [5]

The Regiment von Lossberg played a prominent role at the Battle of 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 was quartered in the northern part of the town, together with that of Colonel Johann Rall, who commanded the Hessians at Trenton. The regiment was commanded by Lt. Col. Francis Scheffer (acting) with a strength of 345 men. Much of the regiment was killed or captured during the battle. It lost 27 killed and wounded (Captains v. Benning and Reise, as well as Lieutenant Kimm, were killed and Captain v. Altenbockum, Lieutenants Zoll and Schwabe were wounded). Only 199 men were brought back to Philadelphia.[6] The Regiment became the focus of a Court Martial ordered by Landgraf Friedrich II of Hessen-Cassel, which was presided over by Major General Heinrich Julias von Kospoth.[7] Lt. Col Francis Scheffer was exonerated by the Court, despite having taken over command of the troops at Trenton after Rall's death and surrendering to George Washington. In 1783 Scheffer received the Pour la vertu militaries and was promoted to Major General in 1784[8]

In early May 1778 Lossberg moved to the northern end of Rhode Island with 1000 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.[9] This led Sullivan to decide to evacuate his troops from Rhode Island.

On the morning of 28 August, the American war council decided to withdraw the last troops from their siege camps. They had engaged the British with occasional rounds of cannon fire for a few days, as some of their equipment was being withdrawn. Deserters had made General Robert Pigot aware of the American plans to withdraw on 26 August, so he was prepared to respond when they withdrew that night.

The American generals established a defensive line across the entire island just south of a valley that cut across the island, hoping to deny the British the high ground in the north. They organized their forces in two sections. On the west, General Nathanael Greene concentrated his forces in front of Turkey Hill but sent the 1st Rhode Island Regiment to establish advanced positions a half mile (1 km) south under the command of Brigadier General James Varnum. On the east, Brigadier General John Glover concentrated his forces behind a stone wall overlooking Quaker Hill.

The British organized their attack in a corresponding way, sending Lossberg up the west road and Major General Francis Smith up the east road with two regiments each, under orders not to make a general attack. As it turned out, this advance led to the main battle.

Smith’s advance stalled when it came under fire from troops commanded by Lt. Col. Henry Brockholst Livingston, who was stationed at a windmill near Quaker Hill. Pigot sent word to the commander of the British reserve, Major General Richard Prescott to dispatch the 54th Regiment and Browne’s Provincial Regiment to reinforce Smith. Thus reinforced, Smith returned to the attack, sending the 22nd and 43rd regiments and the flank companies of the 38th and 54th regiments against Livingston’s left flank. Livingston had also been reinforced with Col. Edward Wigglesworth’s regiment, sent by Sullivan, but was nevertheless driven back to Quaker Hill. Then, with a German regiment threatening to outflank Quaker Hill itself, Livingston and Wigglesworth abandoned the hill and retreated all the way to Glover’s lines. Smith made a probing attack but was repulsed by Glover’s troops. “Seeing the strength of the American position, Smith decided against launching a major assault”. This ended the fighting on the American left.

On the American right, by 7:30 a.m. Lossberg had advanced against the American Light Corps under Col. John Laurens, who were positioned behind some stone walls south of the Redwood House. Lossberg pushed Laurens' men back onto Turkey Hill with the Hessian chasseurs, Huyne's Hessian regiment, and Fanning's Provincial Regiment. Laurens had been reinforced by a regiment sent by Sullivan, but Lossberg stormed Turkey Hill and drove the defenders back on Nathanael Greene's wing of the army before starting a cannonade of Greene's lines.

By 10 a.m., the sixth-rate HMS Sphynx, the converted merchantman HMS Vigilant, and the row galley HMS Spitfire had negotiated the passage between Rhode Island (Aquidneck) and Prudence Island and commenced a bombardment of Greene's troops on the American right flank. Lossberg now attacked Greene. German troops assailed Major Samuel Ward's Rhode Island Colored Regiment but were repulsed, so they bayoneted the American wounded as they fell back. Meanwhile, Greene’s artillery and the American battery at Bristol Neck concentrated their fire on the three British ships and drove them off.

At 2 p.m., Lossberg once again attacked Greene's positions without success. Greene counterattacked with Col. Israel Angell's 2nd Rhode Island Regiment, Brigadier General Solomon Lovell's brigade of Massachusetts militia, and Livingston's troops. Failing in a frontal attack, Greene sent his 1,500 men forward to try to turn Lossberg's right flank. Heavily outnumbered, Lossberg withdrew to the summit of Turkey Hill. By 3 p.m., Greene's wing was holding a stone wall three hundred paces from the foot of Turkey Hill. Towards evening, an attempt was made to cut off the Hessians on Lossberg's left flank, but Huyne's Hessians and Fanning's Provincials drove off Greene's men. This ended the battle, although some artillery fire went on through the night. The British suffered 260 casualties, of whom 128 were German.[10]

At the conclusion of the Battle 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."[11]

All British and Hessian troops were fully evacuated from Newport by October 25, 1779. Lossberg returned to New York under the command of Lieutenant General Knyphausen, then commanding all Hessian troops in North America. He was promoted to Lieutenant General in June 1780. [12]