Richard Leighton

Reflections of a Hessian Richard Leighton

The book probes the reasons why my Hessian ancestor came to this country to put down the Patriot rebellion, then defected to make the Patriot cause his cause. Except for his birth and death dates and the year of his defection, nothing is known about this man prior to his desertion, after which he became a farmer in what's now West Virginia. The manuscript creates his background in his German state and traces his journey through battles of the Revolutionary War, an incident that led to the death of a fellow countryman for which he felt responsible and his tutelage by an American woman who would become his wife. His course of action is contrasted with that of a childhood friend, also a Hessian soldier, who spent five and a half years in American prison camps but felt obligated to return to his home country. This book should be of interest to the many Cale descendants and to devotees of American history, especially to people who are interested in the history of the American Revolutionary War.