View source for Nicholas Haussegger

{{Infobox military person
| name          =Nicholas Haussegger
| image         =
| caption       =
| birth_date    =1729
| death_date    =July 1786
| birth_place   =[[Bern]], [[Switzerland]]
| death_place   =unknown
| allegiance    ={{flagicon|Dutch Republic}} [[Dutch Republic]]<br>{{flagicon|Great Britain}} [[Great Britain]]<br>{{flagicon|USA|1777}} [[United States]]<br>{{flagicon|Great Britain}} [[Great Britain]]
| branch        =Infantry
| serviceyears  ={{flagicon|Dutch Republic}} ?&ndash;1756<br>{{flagicon|Great Britain}} 1756&ndash;1764<br>{{flagicon|USA|1777}} 1776&ndash;1777<br>{{flagicon|Great Britain}} 1777&ndash;?
| rank          =[[Colonel]] ([[Continental Army]])
| battles       =[[Forbes Expedition]] (1758)<br>[[Pontiac's War|Bouquet Expedition]] (1764)<br>[[Battle of Trenton]] (1776)<br>[[Battle of the Assunpink Creek|Battle of Assunpink Creek]] (1777)
| awards        =
| laterwork     =
}}
'''Nicholas Haussegger''' (1729 &ndash; July 1786) was a [[Swiss mercenary]] who arrived in the [[British colonies in North America|British Colonies in North America]] about 1756 as a [[Subaltern (military)|subaltern]] officer in the British army during the French and Indian War. After the war he purchased a farm in [[Lebanon County, Pennsylvania|Lebanon county]] and became a leader in the local Pennsylvania German community. At the beginning of the [[American Revolutionary War]] Haussegger joined the [[5th Pennsylvania Regiment|4th Pennsylvania Battalion]] as a [[field officer]]. He was placed in command of the [[German Battalion]], a unit of ethnic Germans from Pennsylvania and Maryland, on July 17, 1776.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kJ1uAAAAMAAJ&q=Nicholas+Haussegger|title=The Pennsylvania-German in the Revolutionary War, 1775-1783: Volume 17|last=Richards|first=Henry Melchior Muhlenberg|date=1906|publisher=The Pennsylvania German Society|location=Pennsylvania|language=en}}</ref> He led his battalion at [[Battle of Trenton|Trenton]] in late December 1776. A week later, he was taken prisoner at [[Battle of the Assunpink Creek|Assunpink Creek]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/franheitmanreg00bernrich/page/280/mode/2up?q=Haussegger|title=Historical register of officers of the Continental Army during the war of the revolution, April 1775, to December, 1783|last=Heitman|pages=27,50,280|first=Francis B. (Francis Bernard)|date=1914|publisher=Washington, D. C., Rare Book Shop Publishing Company|others=University of California Libraries}}</ref> and investigated over allegations of [[desertion]] and attempting to persuade American prisoners-of-war to join the British army. Evidence credible enough to bring him to trial apparently never materialized,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-08-02-0087|title=To George Washington from Colonel Nicholas Haussegger, 16 January 1777|publisher=National Archives|website=Founders Online|language=en}}</ref> but he felt "neglected and injuriously treated" by the incident and eventually resigned his commission in 1781.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/99-01-02-04761|title=Founders Online: To George Washington from Nicholas Haussegger, 5 February 1781|website=founders.archives.gov|language=en|access-date=2019-01-03}}</ref> He is believed to have died at his farm in Pennsylvania in 1786, however there were also contemporaneous claims made that he went to Canada with his wife.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=1883-11-02 |title=An account of the estate of Nicholas Haussegger, traitor |pages=1 |work=The Daily News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/92363576/an-account-of-the-estate-of-nicholas/ |access-date=2022-03-09}}</ref>
==French and Indian War==
Haussegger was born in 1729 in [[Bern]], [[Switzerland]].<ref name="Pinnick">[https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/32130184/person/20236071120/gallery Bible of Jacob Weidel, Son Of Daniel Weidel (Daniel was the husband of Sara Haussegger)]</ref> By 1756 he was a [[sergeant]] in the ''Struler'' Swiss Regiment, which was in the pay of the [[Dutch Republic]]. That year [[Jacques Marcus Prevost]] enlisted him and 48 others in the newly formed British [[60th Foot]], the Royal Americans. During the [[French and Indian War]], he was in action during the [[Forbes Expedition]] in 1758 and received promotion to [[lieutenant]]. When [[Pontiac's War]] broke out, he marched with [[Henry Bouquet]]'s column to recover Indian captives in 1764.

After the war, Haussegger settled down in [[Lebanon, Pennsylvania]] to raise his family. A homeowner and tavern keeper, he participated in the community, becoming a member of the fire association and a constable. He married Cathrin Elizabeth Guth on 10 Jun 1758,<ref>Original marriage record on file at Lebanon County Historical Society, PA</ref> and the couple had three daughters, Catherina (b. 1760), Elizabeth, and<ref name=Weaver>[https://archive.today/20130209172951/http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Revlist/message/79810 Weaver, ''German Battalion traitor'']</ref> Sara who was born on 2 November 1761 in [[Myerstown, Pennsylvania|Heidelberg, Lebanon County Pennsylvania]] and died on 19 October 1826 in [[Jonestown, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania]].<ref name=Pinnick/> Sara was married to Daniel Weidel on April 12, 1779 in Lebanon County Pennsylvania, and together they had 11 children.

==American Revolutionary War==
[[Image:Henry-revolutionary-war.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.2|alt=Black and white print shows George Washington on horseback leading his soldiers and pointing with his sword. The combat is taking place on a town street with Hessian soldiers visible in the background.|Haussegger led the German Battalion capably at the Battle of Trenton. Washington directs his troops.]]{{Original research section|date=January 2019}}
At the outbreak of the [[American Revolutionary War]] one of his neighbors, [[John Philip De Haas]] became commander of the [[2nd Pennsylvania Regiment|1st Pennsylvania Battalion]].<ref name=Weaver/> Haussegger joined the [[Continental Army]] and became a [[Major (rank)|major]] in the [[5th Pennsylvania Regiment|4th Pennsylvania Battalion]] on 4 January 1776.<ref name=Boatner494>Boatner (1994), 494</ref> Meanwhile, on 25 May the [[Continental Congress]] began recruiting the [[German Battalion]] from ethnic Germans in Pennsylvania and Maryland. Later, Haussegger was appointed [[colonel]] in command while Marylanders George Stricker and Ludowick Weltner became [[lieutenant colonel]] and major, respectively.<ref>Wright (1989), 81</ref> His commission dated from 17 July 1776.<ref name=Boatner494/> However, he only found out about his appointment in August while campaigning in the north and did not assume command of his battalion until October.<ref name=Weaver/>

The German Battalion assembled at [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]] between 6 July and 25 September 1776. The unit was made up of five companies from eastern Pennsylvania and two companies each from [[Frederick County, Maryland|Frederick]] and [[Baltimore County, Maryland|Baltimore Counties]] in Maryland. On 23 September the battalion was assigned to [[George Washington]]'s main army.<ref>Wright (1989), 320</ref>

Haussegger led his 374-man battalion at the [[Battle of Trenton]] on 26 December 1776 where his men served in [[Matthias Alexis Roche de Fermoy]]'s brigade. The other unit in the brigade was the [[1st Continental Regiment]] under [[Edward Hand]].<ref>Fischer (2004), 391</ref> During the engagement, [[George Washington]] deployed the brigade to the east to keep the Hessians from escaping to [[Princeton, New Jersey]].<ref>Fischer (2004), 237</ref> When Hessian commander [[Johann Rall]] attempted to break out to the north, Fermoy's brigade quickly shifted farther east to block the thrust.<ref>Fischer (2004), 246</ref> Near the end of the fight, Haussegger's men called out to the Hessians in German to lay down their weapons and surrender. Soon afterward the Hessians did so.<ref>Fischer (2004), 251</ref>

[[Image:Hessian jager.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.0|alt=Print shows two soldiers in dark blue coats, yellow lapels and waistcoats, white breeches and gaiters, and tricorne hats. The officer of the left holds a half-pike while the private on the right holds a musket.|A Hessian officer (left) and private (right)]]
On 31 December 1776, Washington learned that a British force under [[Lord Charles Cornwallis]] was assembling in [[Princeton, New Jersey]]. The American army commander sent 1,000 men and six guns to delay their approach. [[Charles Scott (governor)|Charles Scott's]] Virginians, Hand's Pennsylvanians, Haussegger's Germans, and [[Thomas Forrest (politician)|Thomas Forrest]]'s artillerists took a position behind Shipetaukin Creek, then called Eight Mile Run. When the British 1st Light Infantry Battalion and two companies of Hessian Jägers appeared at dawn on {{Nowrap|1 January 1777}}, the defenders opened fire. The light infantry were repulsed until Hessian and British grenadier battalions were committed to the struggle, whereupon the Americans pulled back. A Hessian eyewitness, [[Johann von Ewald]] reported that both armies together lost 140 casualties and that the British side lost the greater number. Ewald admitted that his own company lost seven men.<ref>Fischer (2004), 280-283</ref> On New Year's Day, the German Battalion's muster roll reported 410 men present for duty.<ref>Fischer (2004), 409</ref>

On 2 January, the [[Battle of the Assunpink Creek]] began in earnest. Soon after Cornwallis' column resumed its advance, an American rifleman shot a British cavalryman dead and near [[Lawrenceville, New Jersey|Lawrenceville]] (then called Maidenhead), a mounted Hessian jäger suffered the same fate. The Americans deployed in woods behind Little Shabbakunk Creek, then known as Five Mile Run. At this point Fermoy, an alcoholic, galloped away to Trenton, leaving his troops to fend for themselves. Hand assumed command of the force and neatly ambushed the British vanguard, forcing Cornwallis to deploy his column and pound the woods with his guns. An attempt to turn Hand's right flank was blocked when a large force of Americans appeared along [[Assunpink Creek]] to the east. When the British advanced they found that Hand's men slipped back to another position at Stockton Hollow. Hand's riflemen took position on the left, Scott's men on the right, and Forrest's guns in the center. The position of the German Battalion was not given. Just before 5:00 PM, heavy pressure forced Hand to order a retreat. As the Americans fell back through Trenton to the lower fords and the bridge across Assunpink Creek, the retreat became disorderly. The bulk of the troops successfully withdrew behind the creek where they subsequently repelled several British and Hessian attacks with heavy losses.<ref>Fischer (2004), 293-299</ref>

During the retreat, Haussegger was captured along with a number of his soldiers near the lower fords.<ref>Fischer (2004), 300</ref> According to a second account, on 1&nbsp;January he insisted on marching his battalion into Princeton. Major Weltner argued strongly against this, and when the colonel and 10 men continued into the town, they were made prisoners. While he was in [[New York City]], other prisoners including [[Ethan Allen]] and [[Alexander Graydon]] reported that Haussegger told them that the American cause was finished. He suggested to the others that they ought to ask forgiveness and make peace with the British. Haussegger bragged that he dined with Hessian General [[Leopold Philip von Heister]].<ref name=Weaver/>

After being paroled by the British, Haussegger was able to convince [[Robert Morris (financier)|Robert Morris]] that he was a patriot. Nevertheless, Washington gave instructions to his parole commissioner [[John Beatty (Continental Congress)|John Beatty]] that Haussegger was not to be exchanged because of the suspicious manner in which he was captured.<ref name=Weaver/>

== Post-Capture and Death ==
Haussegger retired to his home in [[Lancaster County, Pennsylvania]] where Washington had him watched. On 19 March 1777 he was struck from the army rolls for "having joined the enemy".<ref name="Boatner4942">Boatner (1994), 494</ref> In 1778 his township marked him as a "Tory" and denied him a tavern license. British Major [[John André]] was in contact with him in 1779 and he may also have communicated with [[Joseph Brant]].<ref name="Weaver2">[https://archive.today/20130209172951/http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Revlist/message/79810 Weaver, ''German Battalion traitor'']</ref> On 1 Feb 1781, Haussegger wrote a letter to General Washington resigning his commission, as follows:<blockquote>"Sir,

The principles of the present Contest have been so totally changed, from what they were, when I first accepted a Commission under your command, and myself so much neglected and injuriously treated by those in whose service I was, that I cannot consistent with the honest Man, and in justice to myself hold it any longer.

I have therefore taken the Liberty to enclose my Colonels Commission (my Major’s Commission being long since lost), with this my final Resignation thereof, which your Excellency will make acceptable to Congress. And am with respect, Your Excellency’s, most obedt humble Servt

Nicks Haussegger<ref>{{Cite web |title=Founders Online: To George Washington from Nicholas Haussegger, 5 February 1781 |url=http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/99-01-02-04761 |access-date=2022-03-10 |website=founders.archives.gov |language=en}}</ref></blockquote>Other evidence indicated that he may have assisted William Rankin, a [[loyalist]] and spy. Historian [[Mark M. Boatner III]] asserted that he was a "turncoat", <ref name="Boatner4942">Boatner (1994), 494</ref> however there are others who have tried to disprove this.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nead |first=Daniel Wunderlich |date=1975 |title=The Pennsylvania German in the Settlement of Maryland |journal=The Pennsylvania German in the Settlement of Maryland |pages=224–225}}</ref>  In either case, Haussegger was declared a traitor after resigning, and his property was sold in January 1782. The following year he begged for help from [[Frederick Haldimand]] the British governor of Quebec.<ref name="Weaver2">[https://archive.today/20130209172951/http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Revlist/message/79810 Weaver, ''German Battalion traitor'']</ref> He died in July 1786<ref name="Boatner4942">Boatner (1994), 494</ref> and his wife petitioned the British government to be paid for her deceased husband's services to the crown.<ref name="Weaver2">[https://archive.today/20130209172951/http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Revlist/message/79810 Weaver, ''German Battalion traitor'']</ref> His sons-in-law Daniel Weidel and Nicholas Krehl, who both served honorably in the war, petitioned the General Assembly in 1787, requesting bounty land for their service and citing the loss of the land of their ancestors through the Haussegger treason.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Minutes of the First Session of the Twelfth General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Philadelphia, 1787, p15 |url=https://korns.org/gunsmiths/Jacob-Saylor-1182020/Minutes-of-gen-assy-6212020.pdf}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}

==References==
*{{cite book|last=Boatner, Mark M. III |author-link=Mark M. Boatner III |year=1994 |title=Encyclopedia of the American Revolution |location=Mechanicsburg, Pa. |publisher=Stackpole Books |isbn= 0-8117-0578-1}}
*{{cite book|last=Fischer, David Hackett |author-link=David Hackett Fischer |year=2004 |title=Washington's Crossing |url=https://archive.org/details/washingtonscross00fisc |url-access=registration |location=New York, N.Y. |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-518159-3}}
*{{cite web| last=Pinnick |first=Laurel |title=The M. Pinnick family of San Diego, CA: Nicholas Haussegger |access-date=23 February 2012 |publisher=genealogy.com |url=http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/p/i/n/Laurel-Pinnick-1/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0126.html }}
*{{cite web|last=Weaver |first=Thad |title=German Battalion traitor |access-date=23 February 2012 |publisher=yahoo groups |url=https://groups.yahoo.com/group/Revlist/message/79810 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130209172951/http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Revlist/message/79810 |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 9, 2013 }}
*{{cite book|last=Wright, Robert K. Jr. |author-link=Robert K. Wright Jr. |year=1989 |title=The Continental Army |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=US Army Center of Military History |id=CMH Pub 60-4}}

==Other reading==
*{{cite book|last=Davis |first=James F |title=A Man of No Country: The Case of Nicholas Haussegger (1729-1786) |publisher=Lebanon County Historical Society |year=1989 }}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haussegger, Nicholas}}
[[Category:1729 births]]
[[Category:1786 deaths]]
[[Category:Continental Army officers from Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:People from colonial Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Loyalists in the American Revolution from Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:American defectors]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Bern]]
[[Category:Swiss mercenaries]]
[[Category:Immigrants to the Thirteen Colonies]]
[[Category:18th-century Swiss military personnel]]