USA > Louisiana > The settlement of the German coast of Louisiana and the Creoles of German descent > Part 11
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Throat sounds : g, k, ch, hard c, qu, (French) gu, (Spanish) j and x.
Original German
form of name :
Weber.
. changed into Veber, Vebre, Vever, Bevre, Febre, Webere, Febore, Vabure, Weibre, Weyber, Febore and now "Webre".
Kremser . Chremser.
Kamper . Kammer, Campert, Camper, Campfer, Cam- bra (Spanish) and now "Cambre".
Krebs Creps.
Kindler. Kindeler, Quindler, Quinler.
Kerner. . Cairne, Kerne, Querne, Kerna, Carnel, Quer- nel.
Kindermann Quinderman, Quindreman.
Clemens. . Clement.
Buerckel.
Pircle, Percle, Bercle, Birquelle, Pircli, Lerkle and Percler.
One Marianne Buerckel married one "Don Santiago Villenol". As the bride- groom's own signature proves, the man's name was not "Santiago Villenol" but "Jacob Wilhelm Nolte".
Buchwalter. Bucvalter, Bouchevaldre, Boucvaltre.
Willig .. Willique, Villique, Vilic, Villig, Billic, Velyk. Katzenberger . Katcebergue, Kastzeberg, Cazverg, Casverg, Casberg, Cazimbert, Kalsberke, Casver- gue, Castleberg, Katsberk, Cazenbergue and now "Casbergue".
Wichner.
Wichnaire, Vicner, Vicnaire, Vickner, Vig- nel, Vichneair, Vighner, Vequenel, Vicg- ner, Vigner, Vuquiner, Bicner, Vixner, Wicner, Wickner.
In an entry in the marriage register of 1791, which four members of this family signed, the name Wichner is spelled dif- ferently five times, as the officiating priest, too, had his own way of spelling it.
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The Settlement of the German Coast of Louisiana
Wagensbach. Vagensbach, Wagenspack, Wagenpack, Vag- lespaque, Vaverspaqhez, Waiwaipack, Wabespack, Bangepach, Varesbach, Vac- bach, Wabespack, Woiguespack, Woi- wioguespack, Vacheba, Vacquensbac, Weghisbogh and now "Waguespack". Trischl. Tris, Trisch and now "Triche".
Traeger.
.Draeger, Tregle, Graeber, Trecle, Traigle, Treigle, Treguer, Draigue, Dreiker, Draeguer, and now "Tregre".
Ettler Etlair, Edeler, Edler, Ideler, Heidler, Idelet, Edtl.
Johannes Ettler used to add to his signature "from Colmar". From this came "dit Colmar", "alias Colmar", and when his daughter Agnes Ettler died, she was entered into the death register of St. John the Baptist "Ines Colmar". Foltse, Faulse, Folst, Folet, Folch, Folsh, Poltz, Fols and now "Folse".
Foltz.
Manz
Mans, Mons, Monces, Months, Munts and now "Montz".
Wilsz
Wils, Vils, Willst, Vills, Vylzt, Vylts, Wuells, Bilce, Veilts. The Wilsz family in Eise- nach, Thuringia, Germany, writes the name with "sz", and so did Ludwig Wilsz, the progenitor of the New Orleans branch of the family, but his brother in Mobile adopted "tz" as did all descendants of both branches, in- cluding Governor Wiltz of Louisiana.
Lesch. Leche, Laiche, Lesc, Leichet, Lecheux and now "Leche" and "Laiche".
Zehringer Seringuer, Sering, Seringue, Zerinck, Zer- incque, Ceringue and now "Zeringue".
Huber. Houbre, Houber, Houver, Ubre, Ouuere, Ouvre, Houvre, Hoover, Vbre and Vbaire. In "Vbre" and "Vbaire" the "V" stands for "U".
Initial "h" is prounounced neither in French nor in Spanish. For this reason initial "h" in German names was usually dropped, and where an attempt was made to represent it, the French often used "k," while the Spaniards represented it by "x" or "j," and occasionally by "qu."
Heidel changed into .. Aydel, Jaidel, Keidel. Appears also as He- delle, Idel, Etdell and is now "Haydel". Richner Rixner, Risner, Resquiner, Ristener.
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The Settlement of the German Coast of Louisiana
Himmel Immel, Ymelle, Ximel, Quimel and now "Hymel".
Wichner. Vixner.
Helfer . Elfer, Elfre, Elfert.
Hufnagel. . Oufnague, Houfnack.
Hauser .. Hoser, Oser.
When a German name began with a vowel they often pre- fixed an "h":
Engel Engle, Aingle, Ingle, Yngle, Hingel, Hincle, Hengel, Heigne and now "Hingle".
Engelhardt. Hingle Hart, Hanglehart, Inglehart.
Edelmeier Heldemaire, Aidelmer, Eldemere, Delmaire, Le Maire.
In Spanish the letter "1" occurs sometimes when we expect an "r," for instance "Catalina" for "Catherina." So the Spanish use "1" also in family names instead of "r":
Quernel instead of Kerner, Beltram for Bertram, Viquinel and Vignel for Vicner (Wichner), Tregle for Traeger (Tregre).
By replacing German "sch" by "ch," as was the custom during the French period, the German names assumed an entirely foreign appearance, as no German word ever begins with "ch":
Schantz. . Chance and Chans ;
Strantz. . Schrantz, Chrence ;
Schwab Chave and Chuabe, Chuave;
Schaf Chauff, Cuave, Cheauf, Chof, Chofe, Choff, Chaaf, Soff, Shoff, Skoff, Shaw, Chaaf and now "Chauffe";
Schaefer Chefer, Cheffre, Chevre, Chepher, Cheper, Scheve.
Schmidt. Chemitt and Chmid ;
Schuetz. . Chutz.
The German "o" became "au" and "eau" :
Vogel. Fogle, Feaugle, Voguel, and Fauquel.
Hofmann Ofman, Aufman, and Eaufman.
Also the inclination of the French to put the stress upon the last syllable appears in German names :
Himmel . Ymelle ;
Heidel.
Aydelle, Hedelle, Haydelle, Etdelle.
Rommel. Rommelle. Appears also in the forms Romm- le, Romle, Rome, Romo (Spanish), Romme, Rom.
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The Settlement of the German Coast of Louisiana
OTHER INTERESTING CHANGES.
Troxler changed into. . Stroxler, Stroscler, Drozeler, Troesscler,
Troxlaire, Drotseler, Trocsler, Trucks- ler, Trouchsler, Troustre, Troseler, Trocler, Trossclaire, Troscler, Trocher, Drotzeler, Droezler, Troxclair, Tros- lisser.
Kuhn . Coun, Cohn, Koun.
Mayer Mayre, Maller, Mahir, Mahier, Maieux, Meyier, Mayeux.
Dubs Tus, Touptz, Toubse, Toupse, Tups, now "Toups".
Ory.
Keller.
. Orji, Oray, Orij, Haury, Aury. . Queller, Caler, Keler, Quellar. One "Don Juan Pedro Cuellar" signed his name in German script "Hansbeter Keller".
Held .. Haid, Helder, Helette, Hail, Helle, Helte.
Steilleder Stelider, Steilledre, Stillaitre, Stillaite, Stilet, Estilet, Steili, Steli now "Estilet".
Steiger Stayer, Stahier, Sther, Stayre, Steili, Stayer, Steygre, Estaidre.
Jansen . Yentzen, Hentzen, Kensin.
Kleinpeter . Cloinpetre, Clampetre.
Ketterer. Quaitret.
Hans Erich Roder . Anseriquer Auder.
Weisskraemer. . Visecrenne.
Struempfl. .Strimber, Estrenfoul.
Hansjoerg. Hensiery.
Graef (in) . Crevine.
Kissinger. . Guzinguer, Quisingre.
Urban Ohnesorg Hour Pamonscaurse.
Dorothea Baer (in) . Torotay Perrinne.
Miltenberger. Mil de Bergue.
Christmann. Crestman, Yresman, Krestman.
Wenger . Vinguer.
Bendernagel. Bintnagle.
Wehrle. . Verlet, Verlay.
Schoderbecker. . Chelaudtre, Chloterberk.
Renner. .
Rinher.
Also Christian names as well as the names of places (see Ettler, from Colmar) and nicknames became family names.
The daughter of one Jacob Helfer was entered into the marriage register as "Mademoiselle Yocle," because her father was called familiarly "Jockel," which is a nickname for Jacob.
The family of Thomas Lesch was for some time lost to me until I recovered it under the name of "Daumas"="Thomas."
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The Settlement of the German Coast of Louisiana
Remarkable was the fate of the name "Hofmann." The forms Ofman, Aufman, Eaufman, Haufman, Ophman, Oghman, Ocman, Hochman, Haukman, Hacmin, Aupemane, Augman, Olphman, and Ocmane were not the only changes that occurred. The family came from Baden and thus "de Bade" was often added to the name. In course of time the people forgot the meaning of "de Bade," and a new name was formed, "Badeau," with a feminine form, "Badeauine."
The eldest daughter of one Hofmann married a man by the name of "Achtziger." This name seems to have given a great deal of trouble. I found "Hacksiger," "Chactziger," "Oxtiger," "Ox- tixer," "Axtigre," "Harzstingre," "Astringer," "Haxsitper," and "Horticair," but early the French officials (like in the case "Zweig- Labranche") translated the name Achtziger into French "Quatre- vingt," to which they were in the habit of adding the original name as best they knew how. Now, as the eldest daughter of this Hofmann was called "Madame Quatrevingt," they seem to have called her younger sister in a joking way "Mademoiselle Quar- ante," for when she married she appears in the church register as "Mademoiselle Quarantine," alias "Hocman."
Finally, another name shall be mentioned here, which is now pronounced "Sheckshnyder." The legend is that six brothers by the name of "Schneider" came across the sea, and each one of them was called "one of the six Schneiders," hence the name "Sheckshnyder;" but this legend is, like many another legend, false. The first priest of St. John the Baptist, the German Ca- puchin father Bernhard von Limbach (1772), who wrote even the most difficult German names phonetically correct, entered the name as "Scheckschneider," which is an old German name. The progenitor of this family, Hans Reinhard Scheckschneider, is mentioned on the passenger list of one of the four pest ships which sailed from L'Orient on the twenty-fourth of January, 1721. There were no "six Schneider" on board, only he, his wife and two sons, one of whom died in Brest. Yet he was al- ready called "Chezneider," even on board ship. From this came later the following forms, which were all taken from official documents :
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The Settlement of the German Coast of Louisiana
Sexchneyder, Sexnaidre, Snydre, Sixtailleur, Seckshneyder, Secxnauder, Sheknaidre, Seinadre, Seicnaydre, Schnaidre, Seic- shnaydre, Seishaudre, Schgnaidre, Seinaydre, Scheixneydre, Sixney, Sexnall, Chesnaitre, Caxnayges, Cheixnaydre, Chex- naydre, Ceixnaidre, Chixnaytre, Segsneidre, Cheesnyder, Celf- ceneidre, Hexnaider. At present almost every branch of this very numerous family writes the name differently.
German Names in the Spanish Marriage Register of St. John the Baptist.
Mit mado cuta De la parroquia J'ai Jean Bauzuje en Lacosta
Ibrajoe presente a Anzano vevex lixalexisi mode sean ueveryDe.casalinghepre.com Catalina concentrer hixale Firmade Juan dan cersce, eran y Be awios maken sen a. min.q. Federicobel
fravery .xag Lo dia melyano
1
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The Settlement of the German Coast of Louisiana *
Free translation: On the 21st of February 1785 Anton Weber, legitimate son of John Weber and Cath. Traeger (Tregre), married Cath. Scheckschneider, legitimate daughter of John Adam Scheckschneider and Agnes Mayer. Witnesses : Domingo Guide, Mathias Ory and Fred. Bertram.
Frater Francesco, Notario.
CONCLUSION.
The Creoles of German descent constitute even now a large, if not the largest, part of the white population of the Ger- man Coast, the parishes of St. Charles and St. John the Baptist, of Louisiana. But they spread at an early time, also, over neighboring districts, where their many children took up new lands for cultivation.
They went up to St. James parish, where some connected themselves with the Acadian families by marriages. They also went to the parishes of Assumption, Ascension, and Iberville, still further up the Mississippi. They went to where Donald- sonville now stands. On that place was the village of the Chet- imachas Indians; and Bayou Lafourche, which there branches off from the Mississippi and extends for a distance of 110 miles to the Gulf of Mexico, was then called "Fourche des Cheti- machas."
Down this bayou the descendants of the early Germans pressed and throughout the whole length of Bayou Lafourche I found many German names in the church registers of Donald- sonville, Paincourtville, Plattenville, Napoleonville, Labadieville, Thibodeaux, Houma and Lockport. Also the word "Teche" (Bayou Teche) is supposed to be derived from "Deutsch."
In the course of time, however, great changes have occur- red among the descendants of the early Germans, though not so much in their physical appearance. There are still among them many of the ancient stalwart German type, who betray the French blood received in the course of time only by their more lively disposition; their are still blue eyes and blond hair among them, although in some families both types, the German and the Latin, seem to be equally represented; there is still the same very
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The Settlement of the German Coast of Louisiana
large number of children to be found in their families; the Cre- ole of German descent is still the most robust of the Creoles, and one very well known family still produces the same giants as in the days when their German great-grandfathers used to drive off the Acadians, when they came down from St. James to disturb the Saturday dances on the German Coast.
The changes spoken of refer chiefly to their economical condition. Through the Civil War many of these families lost not only their slaves, but also their plantations, the source of their once very considerable wealth. They have, therefore, shared the lot of the other Creoles. But, thanks to their inherited energy, they wrung an existence from the adverse conditions, and now that a new era of prosperity has dawned upon Louisiana, their prospects, too, have become brighter-many of them are now to be found in the professions, in commercial and industrial pur- suits, and in official positions all over the State, in which they have invariably gained for themselves an enviable reputation, and often great distinction; others made use of their knowledge of planting by accepting after the war positions of managers of large estates, later renting and finally buying some of the many vacant plantations, and still others succeeded in preserving and increasing the ante bellum wealth of their families. The great majority of the Creoles of German descent may be said to be again on the road to prosperity.
But their golden age is passed, and will never return in the form in which they once enjoyed it. This they know, and for this reason their mind, especially that of the older generation, reverts with tender regret to the past. They also still remember their German descent, and when they now look sadly upon the land which their ancestors had conquered from the wilderness and the Mississippi, and which also once belonged to them, but which is now tilled by others, they still say with pride :
"WE ARE THE DESCENDANTS OF THOSE GERMANS WHO TURNED THE WILDERNESS INTO A PARADISE SUCH AS LOU- ISIANA NEVER POSSESSED BEFORE."
May they ever remember their German ancestors and emulate their example !
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The Settlement of the German Coast of Louisiana
OFFICIAL ACKNOWLEDGMENT
OF THE
WORTH AND VALUE OF THE GERMAN PIONEERS OF LOUISIANA.
LAUSSAT, colonial prefect of Louisiana and commissioner of the French government in 1803, wrote the following letter :
New Orleans, Messidor 6th. Eleventh Year.38a The Colonial Prefect of Louisiana
to Citizen Chaptal,
Minister of the Interior.
Citizen Minister :
I received the letter of the 4th of Floreal of this year by which your Excellency deigned to consult me on the project of embarking German laborers for Louisiana.
This is a project which should be made a regular system by the French government for several years if it wants to derive profit from this country and to preserve it.
Its present condition and its wretched (misérable) population demand this imperatively. This class of peasants, and especially of that nationality, is just the class we need and the only one which always achieved perfect success in these parts.
What is called here the "German Coast" is the most industrious (la plus industrieuse), the most populous (la plus peuplée), the most at ease (la plus aisée), the most upright (la plus honnête), the most respected (la plus éstimée) part of the inhabitants of this colony.
I regard it as essential that the French government should make it a rule to send every year from one thousand to twelve hundred families of the frontier departments of Switzerland, the Rhine and Holland; the emigrants of our southern provinces are not worth anything (n'y valent rien).
Laussat.
(Évènements de 1803, page 315. New Transcripts of the Louisiana Historical Society.)
38a The month of Messidor was the harvest month. It began on the 19th of June and ended on the 18th of July. The eleventh year was the year 1803.
APPENDIX.
The German Waldeck Regiment and The Sixtieth or "Royal American Regiment on Foot" in the War of 1779 to 1781.
Although not bearing on the history of the settlement of the German Coast of Louisiana, a short account is added here of the part which the German Waldeck regiment and the 60th or Royal American regiment took in the Anglo-Spanish War of 1779- 1781. This war belongs to the colonial history of Louisiana; and as this work deals with the Germans of that period, the Ger- man soldier who fought on Louisiana soil in colonial times and there, no doubt, also met the German pioneer, may justly claim some space in this book.
During the War of Independence England secured from some of the smaller principalities of Germany auxiliary troops which fought on the English side. There was no political alli- ance between these principalities and England, it was traffic in human flesh, pure and simple. England rented these troops to fight for her, paid a good rental for them, and a fixed price for every soldier killed or wounded. To the honor of the great ma- jority of the German monarchs be it said that they strongly dis- approved of this traffic, and that the King of Prussia openly favored the American cause and forbade the English auxiliary troops to march through his kingdom.
There were 29,166 German soldiers in the English army :
Hesse-Cassel
furnished
16,992 men of whom she lost 6,500;
Brunswick
66
5,723
66
60
3,015;
Hanau
2,422
981 ;
Ansbach Bayreuth
66
1,644
461 ;
Waldeck
66
1,225
720;
Anhalt-Zerbst
66
1,160
66
66
66
176;
29,166
11,853
(131)
66
66
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The Settlement of the German Coast of Louisiana
The very great loss in men was due in part to the fact that a great number of these German soldiers, on coming into con- tact with the Germans living in America, who were loyal Amer- icans, and of whom many thousands fought in the revolutionary army under Washington, were persuaded to abandon the English cause and settled in this country.
In May, 1779, hostilities broke out between Spain and Eng- land; and the boundary line between the English and the Span- ish possessions in America-the Mississippi River, Bayou Man- chac, the Amite River, and Lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain- became a scene of war, and some of the principal actors were German troops.
The English held Fort Panmure, where Natchez now stands ; a post on Thompson's Creek, near the present Port Hud- son; Fort New Richmond, now Baton Rouge; Fort Bute, on the Mississippi, at the entrance into Bayou Manchac; a post on the Amite River, presumably "French Settlement," below the confluence of Bayou Manchac and Amite River and Big Colyell Creek and Amite River; Mobile, and Pensacola. In order to strengthen these positions the English sent some of their auxil- iary troops, the German Waldeck regiment, from New York by way of Jamaica to Pensacola, where they landed on the twenty- ninth of January, 1779.
Here the Waldeckers met a company of German recruits belonging to the 16th regiment, eight companies of the "Royal American Regiment on Foot," also known as the 60th English regiment, and some royalists from Maryland and Pennsylvania.
The 60th regiment was raised by order of the Parliament in 1755. "The men were chiefly Germans and Swiss who had set- tled in America. They were all zealous Protestants and, in gen- eral, strong, hardy men, accustomed to the American climate and, from their religion, language and race particularly proper to op- pose the French."39 As they could not speak English, however, it became necessary to grant commissions to a number of foreign Protestants who had served abroad as officers or engineers and
89 J. G. Rosengarten: The German Soldier in the Wars of the United States; Philadelphia, 1890, pages 15 to 24.
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The Settlement of the German Coast of Louisiana
spoke the German language. On the fifteenth of June, 1756, forty German officers came to America to serve in this regiment. The Rev. Michael Schlatter, the head of the Reformed German Church in America, was the chaplain of this regiment from 1756 to 1782. While in Pensacola, the 60th regiment still consisted "mainly of Germans."
The English forces on the Mississippi being only 500 men, under Lieutenant Colonel Dickson, who urgently called for rein- forcements, part of the 60th regiment and the grenadier company of the Waldeckers left Pensacola for the Mississippi on the nine- teenth of June, 1779. On the second of August Major von Horn, with his company of Waldeckers and fifteen men of the company of Colonel Hanxleden, followed, and on the thirtieth of the same month another company of Waldeckers, that of Captain Alberti. They went by way of Lake Pontchartrain, Amite River and Bayou Manchac.
The Spanish in New Orleans succeeded in capturing some of the English transports on Lake Pontchartrain, among which was the vessel which carried the company of Captain Alberti, who, with his officers, three sergeants, one drummer and forty- nine privates, was taken prisoner and brought to New Orleans, where he died of fever on the twenty-first of July, one day after Lieutenant von Goren had died of the same disease.
On the twenty-second of August, 1779, the Spanish Gover- nor Galvez left New Orleans with a force of 1430 men and a small gun fleet to attack the English posts on the Mississippi. On his approach, the main force of the English withdrew towards Baton Rouge, leaving in Fort Bute Captain von Haake with a de- tachment of twenty Waldeckers. A recent history of Louisiana says that Galvez took this post by "assault," and even gives the name of the first Creole to enter the fort. There cannot have been much fighting at Fort Bute. From the fact that only eight prisoners were taken by Galvez, and the further fact that Captain von Haake later fought in Baton Rouge, it seems probable that this officer, on hearing of the large force marching against him, withdrew from Fort Bute, leaving a few men behind to make a show of resistance and hereby detain Galvez for a few days on
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The Settlement of the German Coast of Louisiana
his march to Baton Rouge. In this they seem to have succeeded, as Galvez waited five days before ordering the "assault."
Then he pressed on to Baton Rouge, which he also intended to take by assault; but after losing 500 men in the first, and 140 in a subsequent assault in which he was even compelled to with- draw his batteries, he concluded to invest the post. Lieutenant Colonel Dickson was not prepared to resist a regular siege, and as many of his men were sick, an honorable surrender was ar- ranged. The English left Baton Rouge with all the honors of war, drums beating and banners flying. The prisoners were to be taken first to New Orleans and thence transported to New York, and were not to fight again within eighteen months. Every officer retained his sword and every man his private property.
Of the Waldeckers two captains, three lieutenants, three surgeons, eight sergeants, six drummers, three servants, and 176 privates surrendered in Baton Rouge. Ensign Nolting and one private fell. Lieutenant Leonhardi, who had dis- tinguished himself during the two assaults of the Spaniards, died of his wounds on the Mississippi while being conveyed to New Orleans. One surgeon, two non-commissioned officers and nine- teen privates died of their wounds ; and one officer and six privates were slightly wounded. Of the other troops fighting on the side of the English, 216 surrendered.
From letters written by German officers, then prisoners of war in New Orleans, and from published diaries, we learn that many of the Waldeckers died in this city, and that many were "still sick." Lieutenant Strubberg, in a letter to a brother officer in Pensacola, speaks very highly of Governor Galvez, who often invited the German officers to dinner, and even allowed them to visit their comrades in Pensacola. "The people of New Orleans, too," he says, "were very friendly and kind."
Meanwhile, Governor Galvez went with a large fleet and a landing army to Mobile, which was ill prepared to resist an at- tack, and which surrendered after a breach had been made in the walls of the fort, on the fourteenth of March, 1780, before the men of the 60th regiment and the rest of the Waldeckers sent from Pensacola for the relief of that town could reach there. The
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The Settlement of the German Coast of Louisiana
relief column consisted of 522 men. It returned to Pensacola on the nineteenth of March.
This expedition from Pensacola to Mobile-72 miles in in- cessant rain and over soft soil, "not a human dwelling, and at night surrounded by wild beasts"-is described by the Waldeckers as one of their greatest hardships. They also complained of the poor fare in Pensacola.
Chaplain Steuernagel writes: "In the morning we drink a glass of water and eat a piece of bread; at noon we have nothing to drink but water, and our supper consists of a pipe of tobacco and a glass of water." A ham was sold for seven dollars, a pound of tobacco cost four dollars, a pound of coffee one dollar and a "Mass" (about one liter) of whiskey cost eight "Gulden schweres Geld."
On the third of January, 1781, the English commander of Pensacola, Major General Campbell, ordered Colonel von Hanx- leden, of the Waldeckers, to proceed with one hundred men of the 60th regiment, eleven mounted Provincials, 300 Indians, and 60 men of his own regiment, to the "French village on the Mis- sissippi" to drive the Spaniards out of their intrenchments. On this occasion the Waldeck troops consisted of Captain von Baum- bach, Lieutenants von Wilmowski and Stirling, ensign Ursal, six non-commissioned officers, two buglers, and forty-seven pri- vates. Colonel von Hanxleden arrived in front of the enemy on the seventh of January, and attempted to take the Spanish works by assault. The Spaniards resisted stubbornly, and although the Germans repeatedly attacked with their bayonets, their cour- age was in vain, as their force was too small and as the Indians could not support them effectively. Colonel von Hanxleden died a hero's death leading his men, Lieutenant Stirling and the Eng- lish Lieutenant Gordon fell, Captain von Baumbach and an offi- cer of the provincials were wounded, and so were many others. The Spaniards, too, lost heavily, and one of their magazines was set on fire. The body of Colonel von Hanxleden was hastily bur- ied under a large tree, and the Spaniards are said to have hon- ored the dead hero by putting a fence around his grave.
The location of this battlefield is in doubt. The designation
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The Settlement of the German Coast of Louisiana
"French village on the Mississippi" cannot be correct, for it would have taken Colonel von Hanxleden a great deal more than four days to reach the Mississippi from Pensacola, and his brave soldiers could not have returned to Pensacola on the ninth of January, two days after the fight. It must have been some French village between Pensacola and Mobile, and Mr. Hamilton, the author of "Colonial Mobile," a native Mobilian and a most pains- taking and reliable authority, says : "This was on the coast below where the Apalache or Tensaw River empties into Mobile Bay."
After the fall of Mobile, Galvez went to Havana to secure reinforcements, and when these had arrived he appeared before Pensacola on the ninth of March, 1781, and two days later began the bombardment. This was continued, with some interruptions, for two months, when one of the powder magazines in the fort exploded, causing such devastation that the Spaniards were able to enter the fort in such numbers that further resistance was im- possible. Then Pensacola surrendered on the ninth of May upon the same conditions as Baton Rouge had done. The prisoners were sent to New York. In Pensacola 800 men fought against 14,000, and Governor Galvez is said to have been greatly morti- fied when he heard that so small a number had resisted him for such a length of time. (See Die deutschen Huelfstruppen im Nordamerik, Befreiungskrieg," by Max von Eelking, Hannover, 1883.)
In Pensacola the German troops, to their great surprise, found a countryman among the Indian chiefs. His name was "Brandenstein," and he had deserted as a soldier from Waldeck. After a very eventful career, he had become a fullfledged Indian, and even a chief. He served as an interpreter between the Ger- mans and his tribe.
AMERICANA GERMANICA
NEW SERIES
MONOGRAPHS DEVOTED TO THE COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE
Literary, Linguistic and Other Cultural Relations of Germany and America
EDITOR MARION DEXTER LEARNED University of Pennsylvania
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
H. C. G. BRANDT
JULIUS GOEBEL
W. H. CARPENTER
J. T. HATFIELD
W. H. CARRUTH
W. T. HEWETT
HERMANN COLLITZ
A. R. HOHLFELD
STARR W. CUTTING HUGO K. SCHILLING
DANIEL K. DODGE
H. SCHMIDT-WARTENBERG
A. B. FAUST
HERMANN SCHOENFELD
KUNO FRANCKE
CALVIN THOMAS
ADOLPH GERBER
H. S. WHITE
HENRY WOOD
PHILADELPHIA AMERICANA GERMANICA PRESS
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New York
Leipzig
MAYER & MÜLLER
CARL A. STERN
F. A. BROCKHAUS
London KEGAN, PAUL, TRENCH, TRÜBNER & CO., Ltd.
Paris
H. Le SOUDIER
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