Chapter IV.
THE SOLDIERS.
The soldiers whom the German princes let out to
England for the suppression of the American rebellion
were brought together in various ways. In Hesse-Cassel
the country had been cut up into districts, each
of which was to furnish a given number of recruits to
a certain regiment. Officers were, however, instructed
to bring as many foreigners as possible into the
service, in order to spare their own districts, whose
inhabitants would always be at hand, to be called in case
of need. It was announced in the army regulations
that regimental chiefs, or captains, would best recommend
themselves to favor, by striving to enlist foreign
recruits.[1] Forcible recruiting was forbidden; but this
rule was probably intended to apply only to natives.
It certainly does not seem to have diminished the
activity of the recruiting officers, and probably no such
rule existed in the smaller states. In Anspach no
subject could leave the country, or marry, without
permission.[2] It is to be noted that in this case the country
did not mean Germany, but the territories of the
Margrave, and that the foreigners whom the
Landgrave of Hesse wished to see recruited were the sub-
