What Ship?

The 23rd Regiment Royal Welch Fusiliers arrived in New York City in June of 1773. The following spring they were sent to Boston, and flank companies of the 23rd were part of the force sent to seize militia supplies at Concord in the spring of 1775. After their return to Boston, local militia began a siege of the city, and the 23rd were part of the British attack on militia positions on hills overlooking the city. "Bunker Hill" was a victory for the British. But their army was now seen as undermanned.

Blakeney's Company was brought up to a strength of 41 men with these additions:

1.	transfers from other regiments, late 1775	3
2.	new British recruits, Spring 1776	8
3.	von Scheither recruits, October 18th, 1776	4
	total	15

By September 1776 the British had received 1738 Hessians from von Scheither, although he was able to scrape together an additional 129 by March 1777 (WO 04/99 folio 198, Barrington to John Robinson, 3 Mar., 1777). What record is there of the individual von Scheither recruits?

Hundreds of transport and war ships were loaded with tens of thousands of men, and the work spread over a period of months, because the job was too big for the harbors to accomplish at once. Three fleets conveyed troops from Hessen-Kassel. The first is described in a letter to the "London Chronicle" dated May 10th, 1776 from Plymouth: "Yesterday passed by this place all the fleet, amounting to upwards of 120 sail, with the Hessian troops and guards, and train of artillery on board, bound for America." A shortage of ships led to a second, smaller convoy May 26th. But the two convoys arrived together at Sandy Hook below New York Harbor on the morning of August 12th. A third convoy left June 1st and arrived October 20th.

Curiously, Dirlam and his fellow Hessian recruits, Lampman, Murstedt and Burchers all joined the regiment on October 18th. Is that when they arrived in New York harbor? Unfortunately I know of only one list, made June 1st, 1776 in Portsmouth: "Embarkation return of 402 recruits for the regiments of foot in America." I'm told Dirlam's name does not appear. Are there other lists accounting for the remaining 1336 Hessians??

For comparison: the Hessen-Kassel Regiment von Knyphausen was assembled and trained at Ziegenhain and Wolfhagen. They spent most of May marching to ports at Bremerlehe (on the Weser River) and Ritzebüttel (on the Elbe River near Cuxhaven). They embarked onto chartered transport ships and sailed for Spithead Roads (a sheltered place outside Portsmouth Harbor where ships can lie at anchor). From there they traveled in a convoy escorted by warships to New York. They left Spithead on June 28th and arrived at New York on October 18th. A month's marching followed by sixteen weeks aboard ships! Anyway, it's the same date Dirlam joined Blakeney Company's muster.

Altogether, the British Army fielded about 86,000 men, including 30,000 in the Hessian units. How many of them arrived in New York that Fall? On August 12th, there were 300 warships and 400 transport ships in and around the harbor and nearly 32,000 troops. The city had a native population around 30,000. What a scene of chaos that must have been!