Answer Page

That is the correct answer.

         The German soldiers, known as Hessians because they came from the Germanic region of Hesse-Cassel, who were taken captive at Trenton on 26 December 1776 were taken to a prison established at Allentown, Pennsylvania. They were held the entire time in prison from January 1777 until the British evacuated New York City on 26 November 1783. During the transfer of those prisoners in October, 1783, a few of the Hessian prisoners might have escaped, but those escapees would have been few and far between. Nearly every descendant of a Hessian soldier claims that their ancestor escaped and often those tales include the 'fact' that General George Washington either gave their ancestor a sword or musket ~or~ that that escapee became one of General George Washington's personal guard. The wanna-be Patriot descendant believes that there was some reason that General Washington would even have needed a 'guard' when the fighting was no longer active.

Click on the "Betsy Ross Flag" below, or use your browser's "Back" button, for the next question.