Saturday, August 11, 2007

Nicholas Henckel’s Military Record



von Knyphausen Regiment Uniform


1755 - Nikolaus Henckel's military records give two different dates for his birth in Treysa (now part of Schwalmstadt), Germany. One date shown is 1754/55 and the other is 1756/57. [Source: HETRINA III, no. 7420 & 7424]
28 March 1755 - Nikolaus Henckel was born in Treysa, Germany to Johannes Hermann Henckel, citizen and shoemaker and Mother, Anna Elisabeth nee Ott according to the Treysa parish records. [Source: Lutheran Kirchenbuch, Treysa, Germany] The records show the father of Nicolaus as being born in Treysa.
April 1775 - Nicolaus’ military records show that he joined his regiment in Germany. He was listed as a Tambour (drummer) in the 3rd Company (von Minnigerode Company) of the Hessen-Kassel Regiment von Knyphausen. [Source: HETRINA III, no. 7420, entered April 1775]
3 March 1776 - Regiment von Knyphausen departed the garrison at Ziegenhain (now part of Schwalmstadt), Germany.
15-17 April 1776 - Embarked Port of Bremerlehe (now Bremerhaven) on board the Claudina for Portsmouth, England. By 26 April there were about 8,000 troops assembled.
6 May 1776 - Sailed from Portsmouth, England for America.
12 August 1776 - Arrived off Sandy Point, Long Island.
August 1776 - Regiment von Knyphausen fought at Long Island [Source: Clifford Neal Smith Monograph No 3]
October 1776 - Regiment von Knyphausen fought at White Plains, NY [Source: Clifford Neal Smith Monograph No 3]
November 1776 - Regiment von Knyphausen fought at Fort Washington [Source: Clifford Neal Smith Monograph No 3]
26 Dec 1776 - Regiment von Knyphausen fought at Trenton, NJ; the Regiment’s only loss; Nikolaus Henckel taken prisoner.. [Source: HETRINA III, no. 7421, entered Feb 1777]
27 December 1776 - Nikolaus was on the List of Prisoners taken directly to Lancaster, Pennsylvania after the Battle of Trenton. Nikolaus Henckel and Henrich Heinman (of Company 5 of the Rall Regiment) were held as a prisoners by Christopher Kucher of Lebanon, Pennsylvania. [Sources: HETRINA III, no. 7421, entered Feb 1777; JJSHA Vol 3, No. 1, p. 12; Johannes Schwalm the Hessian, p. 234] Kucher was a flour miller on the Quittapahilla Creek in Lebanon, whose family had lived there since 1732. [Source: "The Mills of the Quittapahilla", by Henry S. Heilman, 1903] "The Hessian View Of America 1776-1783" a 'List of Hessian Prisoners Who Went Out To Work and Names of Their Employers' states on p 10 that 868...Hessians who were captured at Trenton, December 26, 1976 were marched to Pennsylvania-Dutch country. Many were confined in camps only a short time. Beginning September 10, 1777, and continuing through November 20, 397 prisoners were released to work for civilians.....most worked ....Lancaster, Lebanon, Reading and York.
21 June 1778 - Nicolaus Henckel, on list of prisoners included in the march to Philadelphia for exchange. [Source: HETRINA III, no. 7422] He was later sent back to rejoin his unit in New York. They built huts for the winter about six miles from the city. [Source: "Journal of the Fusilier Regiment von Knyphausen kept by Lt. Ritter; English translation from Harriet Irving Library, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, p. 61]
September 1779 - Troops made up of the von Knyphausen regiment were being sent in transport ships to Quebec to help quell any uprising that might occur. There was concern that the French residents of Quebec might join with the forces sent from France who were aiding the Americans. On their trip from New York to Quebec the convoy of transports encountered a storm, and also the enemy, in the form of privateers. Two of the ships, Molly and Triton, were lost by being battered in the storm and the men aboard were captured by the privateers. [Source: "Journal of the Fusilier Regiment von Knyphausen kept by Lt. Ritter; English translation from Harriet Irving Library, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, pp. 67-69]
27 October 1779 - Five officers and 200 Hessian soldiers commanded by Col. Heinrich Borck of the Regiment Knyphausen aboard the transport Archer arrived at Charlotte Town in Saint Johns Island (Prince Edward Island, Canada). The Archer had made its way safely to the Island by way of Nova Scotia and through the Strait of Canso. They had been on their way to Quebec when it was thought that the ship, after encountering a storm, was not safe enough to continue. [Source: "Journal of the Fusilier Regiment von Knyphausen kept by Lt. Ritter; English translation from Harriet Irving Library, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, pp. 71-73]
16 June 1780 - The remnants of the Knyphausen Regiment left Charlotte Town on the brig Polly, arriving at Quebec City 29 June 1780. [Source: "Journal of the Fusilier Regiment von Knyphausen kept by Lt. Ritter; English translation from Harriet Irving Library, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, pp. 76-77]
October 1781 - The remnants of the Knyphausen Regiment, including Nicolaus Henckel, left Quebec City and wintered in Halifax, NS.
Spring 1782 - The remnants of the Knyphausen Regiment which wintered in Halifax returned to New York.
27 July 1783 - A Nicholas Henkle was married to Betsey Robinson in the Presbyterian Church, Jamaica, Long Island, NY by Rev. Matthias Burnet. [Source: Manuscript owned by the Long Island Historical Society of Brooklyn, NY, copied by Josephine C. Frost (Mrs. Samuel Knapp Frost), Brooklyn, NY, 1914]
15 August 1783 - At the end of the Revolutionary War, the soldiers of the Regiment von Knyphausen sailed for Germany.
16 October 1783 - Regiment von Knyphausen arrived back in the garrison city of the Regiment, Ziegenhain.
April 1785 - Nikolaus Henckel's military records show him taking furlough from his Regiment, but nothing has been found to tell us when or if Nikolaus was ever discharged. [Source: HETRINA III, no. 7424]

2 comments:

bluesma said...

I was under the impression that it had been determined that Nicklous Henkle, the Drummer, was NOT the same Nicholas Henkell Jenkins that settled at PEI abt 1783.
It was thought that data of these two men had been intertwined due to the similarity of their names and the names given to their children.
The Drummer Nicholaus Henkle was in Germany, having children at about the same time that Nicholas Henkell Jenkins was having his family in PEI.

Has there been any further confirmation of there being two different men?

bluesma said...

I would like to purpose that :
OUR Nicholas Henkell was the same man that married Elizabeth Robinson in NY;
That they did not return to Germany, but instead sailed to PEI on the 'POLLY' as cited by William Jenkins in his survey. William claims to have been born at PEI shortly after the arrival of his mother.
That it was Drummer Nickolaus Henkle that DID return to Germany.

However, I am at a loss as to the identity and connection to / of Peter Baum / Ballem and his mother, originally thought to be a wife of Nicholas Henkell Jenkins of PEI.
Where did this info come from and is there any documention?
Certainly there has been much and probably INCORRECT speculation as to the ID of Elizabeth Baum / Ballem's maiden name and the ID of her husband Baum / Balem. Her children were not named in the Will of Nicholas Henkell Jenkins, thus I question the given connection to her.