My, Oh, My

I've been totally saving this picture to share on here!

It's the most wonderful time of the year (kinda, sorta, almost, good enough)

Its been a long year. So long that my banner from last Halloween is still up! I'm going to go hide now! I've been feeling inspired to write on The Hessian Prince because of my favorite season coming up. So far, I've been accepted into Daytona State and I am finally "finishing" (according to DSC, even though it is finished) my A.A degree. I hope that soon I will start on my bachelors and become an elementary school teacher. In the meantime, I am going to start volunteering for field experience in a kindergarten classroom. Because it was so difficult to find a "college kid" job while going to school, I have finished my online course and followed all of the steps to become a substitute teacher! While it doesn't pay so great, the experience will be priceless. This will also be a key turning point for me into getting known in the local schools. 

So no surprise, it has still been hot and eternal summer like in Florida. I couldn't wait and decided to already decorate my place like the Halloween freak I am-- my Mom already commented "Your condo looks like a Halloween store." I love it, haha! No regrets, especially the early candy bowl.

Now that I have a *few* post ideas in mind, I'll let you know what I may write about in the next few days/weeks: 

-- Books to read as Halloween nears!

-- My friend Eliza's impression and her Revolutionary War make-up knowledge

-- Some of the coolest German castles

-- ? ? ?

Reenactors, if you want to talk about something interesting on my blog, you know where to find me ;)

Hope Lodge

The Jagers were at Hope Lodge this weekend. I am so happy to see more people attending events and my unit is getting bigger. I miss reenacting. I miss the smells and sights and people. 

I'd talk about Hope Lodge if I wasn't so tired from work. But do check out their website! 

They'll tell you all about it.

Registration starts for spring semester tomorrow and I don't even have all of my residency stuff together because my life has been up in the air for the pass 3 months. I just wish that I will be happy soon.

Black Forest, Germany

It's 1784 and I'm drunk

Found from a reenacting friend! This picture is Jagers from 1784. Beautiful.

 Google translate worked pretty well! 

History

1631 first Hessian fighter units in the Thirty Years' War

1688 formation of a Jägertruppe (one company hunters on foot and on horseback ) , but it was finally the resolution

1758 Neustiftung

Dissolved in 1763 to huntsman (15 man)

1774-1784 set up again , then released

1786 reorganization as a Rifle Corps

1799 Rifle Battalion

1806 leave of absence

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Organization

1758 only 2 (about 200 men ) , then 6 companies (about 600 men )

1759 Hunters get 2 own artillery

Rifle Corps in 1786 with 1 Company

1787 4 companies

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Chefs

commanders

1758 Major W. Treusch Buttlar

1759 Lieutenant Colonel of Lindau (Last Colonel , 1761 fallen)

1761-1781 Major of Wintzigerode (Last Colonel )

Staff officers in 1760

Commander : Colonel von Lindau

Major knowledge of Bach

Staff officers in 1762

Commander : Major of Wintzigerode

Major of Linsing

Company commander in May 1762

Hunters on foot

1.Kompanie : Major of Linsing

2nd company : Captain Schenck

3.Kompanie : Captain of Wurmb

4.Kompanie : Captain of Bentheim

Hunters on horseback

1.Kompanie : Major of Wintzigerode

2nd company : Captain of steel

Company commander in the Revolutionary War

1.Kompanie : Ecadron or Cavalry, in use from April 1777

2nd company : Captain John Ewald

3.Kompanie : Major Ernst Karl of Prueschenck (Last Lieutenant Colonel ) , in use from April 1777

4.Kompanie : Captain August von Wrede, from August 1776 Colonel Karl Emil von Donop , from April 1777 Captain A. von Wrede, from May 1779 Captain of Rough, vacant from August , 1781, Captain John Henry 1783

5.Kompanie : Captain Frederick Henrich Lorey , from November 1780 Staff Captain Karl Moritz von Donop ( last captain ), from December 1777 in use

6.Kompanie : Major Philip of Wurmb , in use from December 1777

Hessians in Literature: Sleepy Hollow

Washington Irving published the Legend of Sleepy Hollow in 1820. I was able to read it for free on my phone. This is one of the books that you can grab online with a ton of other pieces of old, classical literature. This is one of Irving's short stories. It's charming, descriptive, and short. Duh... after work tiredness, can't blame me.

I am personally not a fan of modern Sleepy Hollow spin offs. While Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow was a fun and creative movie, it by all means did not serve much homage to Irving. Sorry, I just can't help it as an English major. I wrote an entire paper basically explaining why the movie sucked.

The Hessian in Irving's work is a nameless trooper, who unfortunately had his head knocked off in an unknown Revolutionary War battle. While I don't want to give away Irving's story (it actually is very different from all of the movies, etc), his work revolves more around his character's personalities. Ichabod Crane certainly is a one of a kind major. I guess I can spoil a bit: Unreliable narrator. *Cough*

Irving's work mostly had me hooked because of his descriptions. I enjoyed his characters. They were pretty dimensional for their time period. What I liked the most was the descriptions of New York. Sleepy Hollow / Tarrytown was a half an hour drive south or so from where I lived. While I have never been there, I am familiar with the New York state landscapes and forests, mountains and rivers. Irving brought me back there, at least for a little while. 

Our headless friend was probably based off of German folklore about "The Wild Huntsman", a phantom who was sometimes missing his head.

Around 1776, the British occupied south of the Bronx river, and Americans situated themselves in Peekskill. Apparently, some Jagers were apart of some of the skirmishes. It was actually reported that a Jager's headless body was found after a battle and was buried in a grave by the Van Tassel family. Though, the body was found in White Plains, New York, which is 9 miles from Sleepy Hollow. Ironically enough, an American general, William Heath wrote about a defense on Halloween: 

"A shot from the American cannon at this place took off the head of a Hessian artillery-man. They also left one of the artillery horses dead on the field. What other loss they sustained was not known"

History is pretty cool.