Johann Ewald

Ewald's map depicting the Battle of Bound Brook

In late 1775 Frederick II signed an agreement with King George III of Great Britain to supply him with troops for use in North America in suppressing the rebellion that had broken out in the Thirteen Colonies. The troops supplied by Frederick included the Leib Regiment, and Ewald arrived in New York City in October 1776. Sent forward to New Rochelle, his jäger company was given a lead position in the army of General William Howe, and was first engaged in the 28 October Battle of White Plains. His position in the advance became quite normal for his company, which was consequently often engaged in skirmishes and the leading edges of battles. Ewald served with some distinction in the New Jersey and Philadelphia campaigns, where he was involved in (among others) battles at Mount Holly,[7] Brandywine, and Germantown. On the direction of General Charles Cornwallis, Ewald developed a plan of attack against a Continental Army position at Bound Brook, New Jersey in March 1777. In the April battle, the Continentals were surprised, and their commander, Benjamin Lincoln, narrowly avoided capture.[8]

During the Philadelphia campaign, Ewald's jägers were also involved in the Battle of Red Bank. They covered the retreat after the Hessian Brigadier General Carl von Donop's disastrous attempt to take the fort by assault was repulsed, killing Donop and a number of his officers, including some that Ewald considered friends. Ewald analyzed the debacle in his journal, pointing out that the garrison should not have been summoned to surrender (removing the element of surprise), and that the main thrust of the attack was misplaced.[9] Ewald's unit was involved in many of the minor engagements during the occupation of Philadelphia, and was almost constantly engaging the Americans during the British march across New Jersey. Ewald noted of that march, "One can truly state that this march cost two thousand men."[10]

In 1779 Ewald's company was involved in British operations to capture key American defenses at Stony Point, New York. It was not involved in the American response, a raid by Brigadier General Anthony Wayne that captured more than half the British garrison. Most of 1779 was spent on guard duty, until December, when his unit, specifically requested by Generals Clinton and Cornwallis, was selected for the expedition to take Charleston, South Carolina. His company was again in the vanguard on the march from the landing place to the city. At one point he used a ruse to reconnoiter an enemy position on the Stono River. After waving his handkerchief, he approached an enemy outpost, and inquired whether the unit, which he ascertained to be Pulaski's Legion, had a supposed acquaintance of his serving in it. During the conversation he carefully noted the surrounding features, before returning to his unit. This action drew praise from General Clinton.[11] After the successful siege, Ewald's company returned to New York with General Clinton, leaving Cornwallis the task of taking control of South Carolina. He spent the remainder of 1780 on guard duty around New York, until he learned in December that his company had been chosen to be part of Benedict Arnold's expedition to Virginia.

Landing in Virginia on 31 December 1780, the expedition moved up the James River, Ewald's company and the Queen's Rangers of John Graves Simcoe in the lead, and raided Richmond on 5 January 1781. The force then made its way to Portsmouth, destroying military and economic targets along the way. Ewald's company reached Portsmouth on 19 January, and began the task of fortifying the town. The arrival of a small French fleet in the area was accompanied by a flurry of defensive activity, but the French left without taking any action. Rumors of French and American forces (both land and naval) to attack the position led Arnold to order additional work to fortify the Portsmouth area against possible attacks. When French ships were again sighted (probably consequent to the 16 March Battle of Cape Henry), tensions rose again in the town, and Ewald was wounded in the knee during a patrol on 19 March.[12] At the time, a small detachment of Ewald's jägers was apparently the only force providing defense against a large detachment of American militia on the far side of a creek. Arnold's failure to mention the jägers' valor in holding off this force rankled Ewald, and he complained of it to the commander. Arnold ensured that recognition of their work was given that evening.[13] The French flag sighted turned out to have been a false flag; the ships had in fact been British, and were followed on 31 March by the arrival of more than 2,000 men under the command of William Phillips. While Ewald recuperated from his injury at Norfolk, Phillips led the combined forces on further raids into Virginia. His forces were eventually taken over by General Cornwallis, who joined his southern army with then at Petersburg in May.

On 29 May, General Alexander Leslie arrived in Portsmouth to take command of the establishment. Feeling recovered from his injury, Ewald requested and received permission to rejoin his unit with Cornwallis's army. He was with that force through its movements in Virginia. During the later stages of these movements, Ewald's unit was often detached along with Simcoe's on foraging and raiding expeditions. On the morning of 26 June, Simcoe's force was resting before rejoining Cornwallis in Williamsburg, when it was surprised by an advance company of Americans. These were from a larger detachment of the Marquis de Lafayette's army led by General Wayne that was chasing after Simcoe, hoping to bring him to an engagement. The resulting battle was somewhat confused, and both sides broke off the battle, fearing the supporting force of the other was near. Ewald, as soon as the alarm was raised, coolly organized his jägers in a position to attack the American flank. The British eventually withdrew, only to meet Cornwallis and his advance units a few miles down the road.[14]

Although Ewald was not involved in the Battle of Green Spring that attended the British army's crossing of the James River on 6 July, he was with the army when it arrived at Yorktown. As the American and French forces began to concentrate around them, Ewald and his jägers continued to be on the edges, making forage raids and skirmishing with the enemy; however, sickness took its toll on his unit. He reported on 18 September that his unit had shrunk to 29 men, half of whom were sick.[15] As the siege neared its end, Cornwallis released all of the former slaves that had accompanied his army, intending to force them to become a burden on the Americans. However, Ewald recounts making a patrol into the no mans land between the two forces, and having to force groups of those unfortunates to move further toward the American lines.[16] Following the British surrender, Ewald returned to New York on parole. His depression over the circumstances was lifted by a letter from Frederick II, specifically citing Ewald for "fine conduct" and rewarded him with "my extraordinary satisfaction and the assurance of my entirely special favore and grace."[17]

Ewald spent 1782 and 1783 with the rest of the jäger corps on Long Island. Sickness acquired in the south recurred, and he was eventually released from his parole as part of a prisoner exchange. However, the war was effectively at an end, with peace concluded in September 1783. In October of that year, Ewald left New York with a friend to visit West Point, due to its reputation as the most important American stronghold of the war.[18] General Henry Knox graciously allowed them access, and had his adjutant show them around.[18] On 21 November, the jäger corps was among the last units to leave New York. On 22 April 1784, Ewald returned to Kassel.[19]