Documents List Re: Hessians

These are War Office documents I believe pertain to the von Scheither Hessians, held at the National Archives in Kew:

First, there is the Correspondence of the Secretary-at-War.

1. WO 4/96, pp. 257, 389, 462 (Secretary-at-War, general letters, January to April, 1776) **
2. WO 4/98, p. 439-440 (Secretary-at-War, general letters, July 1776 to January 1777)
3. WO 4/99, page 198 (Secretary-at-War, general letters, January to May 1777)**
4. WO 43/405, (Colonel G.H.A. de Scheither of Hanover recruits 4,000 Germans for British army service. Details of transport of soldiers and their families to Dover and other ports. Letters from Lord North, Viscount Barrington, Deputy Adjutant General, Colonel W. Faucitt.)

William Barrington, 2nd Viscount Barrington, served as Secretary at War, so this is his correspondence. Much of it with Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford, the Prime Minister; George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville, Secretary of State for the Colonies;  and General William Howe, later 5th Viscount Howe, who commanded the British Armies in North America until 1781. My sources are "Forty German Recruits" by Don Hagist on REVWAR75 (http://www.revwar75.com/library/hagist/FORTYGERMANRECRUITS.htm#10) and page 16 of what seems to be an unpublished book on Oxford University Press (http://fds.oup.com/www.oup.com/pdf/13/9780198206590.pdf).

Then there are Muster Rolls for the 23rd Foot at WO 12/3960 for the period 1774-1785.

1. New York, 8 Jan 1777 
2. Philadelphia, 24 Feb 1778 
3. Camp at New York Island 23 July 1778 
4. New York, 20 Dec 1778 
5. Staten Island, 16 Sept 1779 
6. Herricks, Long Island, 13 Mar 1783 
7. Herricks, Long Island, 3 July 1783

In the Public Records Office there are also the Headquarters Papers of Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester, who served as Commander-in-Chief after the surrender and thus collected the documents of earlier royal officials. PRO 30/55 p. 200 is an "Embarkation Return of 402 German Recruits". It may include a duplicate of a list contained in WO 43/405 mentioned above.

The Carleton Papers are available in a 58 volume work, Report on American Manuscripts in the Royal Institution of Great Britain. Volume 1, Correspondence between Sir Wm. Howe, Lord Barrington, Sir Geo. Osborne and Capt. Mackenzie, American War, 1775 to 1777 contains:

Lord Barrington to General Howe 1776, May 28. War Office - A body of German recruits being directed to embark for North America to be incorporated into the regiments, he sends copy of distribution of the same. Sergeants and corporals are to continue to do duty and receive pay and clothing as sergeants and corporals according to the rank in which they have been sent over. And the difference of pay and clothing between non-commissioned officers and privates is to be made a charge in the contingent bill of the regiment to which they belong. Duplicate signed letter. Vol. 1. No. 33. 3 folios.

Enclosure: - Distribution of the German recruits for the forces with General Howe. Shewing forty or forty one recruits each for the 4th, 5th, 10th, 15th, 17th, 22nd, 23rd, 28th, 35th and 38th Regiments. Vol. 1. No. 33. 1 page.

And Volume 2, Correspondence between Sir Wm. Howe and the Treasury Office, 1775 to 1777 contains:

German Recruits. 1776, June 1. Portsmouth - Embarkation return of 402 recruits for the regiments of foot in America. Vol. 2.  Number 74. 1 Page. Enclosed by Lord Germain to Gen. Howe, 21 June.

I reviewed references to the regiment by folio number in the index, the following are not relevant to our search: 23rd Foot, 42, 161, 163, 169, 217, 231, 439; Welsh Fusiliers [23rd regiment], 97. I also reviewed references to Major Blakeney without success. I might be able to locate potential lists by a careful review of this index. (http://www.archive.org/stream/reportonamerican12greauoft)

There are negative photocopies of these 30,000 manuscript pages in 44 boxes at the New York City Public Library, with a 4 volume index, called British Headquarters Papers, 1775-1783. The index volumes cover these dates:

1. 1747-July 1779
2. Aug. 1779-June 1782
3. July 1782-Mar. 1783
4. Apr.-Dec. 1783

There is a Royal Welch Fusiliers Regimental Museum in The Queen's Tower at The Castle of Caernarfon, Wales. Its old records have been transferred to the National Archives. What does that mean? How old? It's between curators so I can't inquire whether there are relevant records of service, diaries, or orders.

I reviewed microfilm of individual soldier's records through the local Family History Center. The records, part of WO 97/427, are described as Soldiers documents: service documents of soldiers, containing particulars of age, birthplace and trade or occupation on enlistment, a record of service, including any decorations and the reason for discharge to pension, 1760-1872. But the roll I reviewed, v. 427 23rd Rgmnt. of Foot: Cherry-Fellow 1760-1854, didn't include anything from the eighteenth century.

And what's in the Frederick MacKenzie Papers, at the William L. Clements Library of the University of Michigan?  There are a number of seven bound volumes of which Volume B contains approximately 95 pages of regulations and orders concerning the Royal Welch Fusiliers for the years 1755-1764. It conveys policies concerning military rank, provisions, prices of commissions, the compiling of returns, and other administrative matters. Also included are marching orders for the 23rd Regiment, information on their summer cantonment for the year 1768, and lists of necessary camp supplies.

Clements Library also holds German Auxiliaries Muster Rolls, 1776-1786 including for Knyphausen Regiment 1780 and 1781, in Box 1, folders 36 and 37.

And another possible source is the David Library of the American Revolution in Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania. They hold microfilm called "Recruitments by Lieutenant Colonel von Scheither and others for the English Crown; permission of places for recruitment as only residence in the electorate of Hannover and transportation of the foreign recruits: Hann. 41 V Nr. 4 [microform]."And they may have another copy of the British Headerquarters Papers, 1775-1783.