Details

Subjects:

Waldeck (Fürstentum). Waldeckische Regiment, 3te.
Hessian mercenaries -- Diaries.
History.
Hessian mercenaries.
United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 -- Personal narratives, German.
United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 -- Participation, German.
United States.

Form/Genre:

Codices.
Diaries.
Manuscripts, German.
Manuscripts, European.
Personal narratives -- German.
Personal narratives.

Language:

German.

Summary:

Diary kept by Philipp Waldeck, chaplain of the Third Waldeck Regiment, during the regiment's participation in the American Revolution on the side of the British. The diary begins with the departure of the regiment from Korbach (Hesse, Germany) on 20 May 1776, and ends with an entry on 11 March 1780, when the regiment was stationed in the vicinity of Pensacola, Florida. Throughout most of the manuscript the pages have headings that give the date and place, including localities in New York, New Jersey, Jamaica, and Florida. According to Marion Dexter Learned, this manuscript reflects editing (mainly deletions), in comparison to the manuscript version of the same diary that is owned by the New York Public Library (George Bancroft Collection), and likely was produced by Waldeck himself with an eye to presentation or publication. The manuscript ends abruptly and covers a shorter time span than the other version.

Notes:

Ms. codex.
Title from title page (f. 1r).
Pagination: Paper, fols. 194. Contemporary (?) pagination in ink, upper outer corners: 1-147, 149-201, 201-343. Blank pages throughout the manuscript (about 20 leaves) are not paginated; only 1 page with text is unpaginated (f. 40r). Modern foliation in pencil lower right recto.
Layout: Written in 15-25 long lines; frame-ruled in pencil.
Script: Written in a German cursive hand by Philipp Waldeck (?).
Binding: Contemporary (?) paper covers.
Origin: Written in the United States (?) ca. 1780-1784.

Penn Provenance:

Formerly owned by Prof. Dr. Schacht (Lemgo, Germany) (Learned).
Formerly owned by Rudolph Cronau (New York); acquired from Schacht in or before 1907 (Learned).
Gift of Joseph G. Rosengarten (Philadelphia), 1924 (note in pencil, f. 2r).

Publications about:

Learned, Marion Dexter. Philipp Waldeck's diary of the American Revolution. Printed from the original manuscript, with introduction and photographic reproduction of the list of officers (Philadelphia: Americana Germanica Press, 1907).
Dornemann, William E. "The diary of Chaplain Philipp Waldeck - 20 May 1776 through 7 October 1777, Part I," Journal of the Johannes Schwalm Historical Association, vol. 2, no. 3 (1983); "The diary of Chaplain Philipp Waldeck - October 1777 through 13 December 1778, Part II," Journal of the Johannes Schwalm Historical Association, vol. 2, no. 4 (1984); "The diary of Chaplain Philipp Waldeck - Dec. 1778- March 1780, Part III," Journal of the Johannes Schwalm Historical Association, vol. 3, no. 1 (1985).

Cited as:

UPenn Ms. Codex 1121

Contributor:

Rosengarten, J. G. (Joseph George), 1835-1921, former owner.
Cronau, Rudolf, 1855-1939, former owner.

OCLC:

191749751