Karl Emil from Donop

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Karl Emil Ulrich from Donop

Karl Emil (Carl Aemil) Ulrich von Donop (born January 1, 1732 - † October 25, 1777 at Fort Mercer , New Jersey , USA ) was a colonel and commander of several regiments of Hesse-Kassel troops, which due to subsidy obligations for Great Britain's King George III . fought in the American Revolutionary War.

Origin and military career

Karl Emil von Donop came from a respected noble family in Hessen-Kassel . His father was Friedrich Ulrich von Donop . He had good relations with European noble houses and rulers. Von Donop began his military career as the personal adjutant of Landgrave Friedrich II of Hessen-Kassel. When the American War of Independence began, von Donop asked the Landgrave to use him as commander for the respected Jäger Corps, which was to fight on the British side in North America. As an ambitious and ambitious officer , Donop hoped that this would make a career leap. Von Donop was seen by his superiors as a civilized, reverent and capable commander, while his subordinates viewed him as harsh and unforgiving with a tendency towards draconian flogging. In the field, von Donop advocated the principle of "no prisoners", which contributed to the American independence fighters ' fear of the Hessian soldiers . This fear was only put aside on the American side when they were able to defeat the Hessians at the Battle of Trenton .

American War of Independence

Donop's troops landed together with British units on August 22, 1776 in Long Island and were involved in all important battles of the following British campaign against the continental army. Donop distinguished himself especially at the Battle of Harlem Heights with the successful support of the British troops. In the fall of 1776 he was given command of the garrisons in Trenton (New Jersey) , Burlington and Bordentown , which consisted of Hessian regiments and the 42nd Highland Regiment (led by Colonel Sterling). In Trenton the regiment of Colonel Johann Rall was stationed, which Donop wanted to integrate into his own regiment in order to simplify the command structure and to strengthen the endangered Trenton. Donop's British superior, Sir William Howe, rejected the proposal and continued to leave Rall in independent command of the Hessian garrison in Trenton. In addition, Donop's warnings about an impending attack by the continental on Trenton were rejected. When the attack on Trenton finally took place, von Donop and his regiment had left Bordentown for Mount Holly four days earlier and were involved in fighting with the New Jersey militia. Von Donop was no longer able to assist Rall in battle.

Grave of Karl Emil von Donop

When William Howe and his troops captured Philadelphia in 1777 , the British Navy was able to attack the forts near the shore across the Delaware River. After the Royal Navy successfully attacked Fort Mifflin, Pennsylvania , von Donop volunteered for the Hessian attack on Fort Mercer in Red Bank, New Jersey. Von Donop intended to restore the reputation of the Hessian troops, which had been lost by the negligent defeat of Trenton. General Howe agreed and gave Donop command of 2,000 Hessian soldiers, with whom he sailed over the Delaware to Fort Mercer on October 22nd. In the afternoon, the Hessian soldiers surrounded the fort. Von Donop called on the commanding Colonel Christopher Greene to surrender and threatened the crew that they would expect no mercy. He told his own soldiers: "Either the fort is called Fort Donop tonight, or I fell". The well-armed and entrenched 400 soldiers of the Rhode Islanders refused Donop's request. After three unsuccessful attacks and heavy losses, the Hessian soldiers finally withdrew. Karl Emil von Donop was seriously wounded in one of the attacks and had to be left on the battlefield by his retreating soldiers. He died of serious injuries three days later in Whitall House, a farmhouse between Fort Mercer and Woodbury Creek. One of his last utterances was “I am dying as a victim of my ambition” - the addition “and the greed of my monarch”, which can be found now and then in older literature, can only be ascribed to post-propaganda.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Wilhelm Gottlieb Levin von Donop: Des Obermarschall und Drosten Wilhelm Gottlieb Levin von Donop zu Lüdershofen, Maspe message from the family of Donop. Paderborn 1796, p. 21 ( LLB Detmold )
  2. ↑ David Hackett Fischer: Washington's Crossing . Oxford University Press, New York 2004, ISBN 0-19-517034-2 , p. 56.
  3. ↑ David Hackett Fischer: Washington's Crossing . Oxford University Press, New York 2004, ISBN 0-19-517034-2 , p. 57.
  4. ↑ David Hackett Fischer: Washington's Crossing . Oxford University Press, New York 2004, ISBN 0-19-517034-2 , pp. 187-190.
  5. ^ Benson John Lossing: The pictorial field-book of the revolution , p. 290
  6. ↑ Samuel B. Griffith II, Jane Griffith, Belle Gordon Griffith Heneberger: The War for American Independence . University of Illinois Press, 2002, ISBN 0-252-07060-7 , pp. 448-449.
  7. ^ Eelking, Max von: The German Auxiliary Troops in the North American War of Liberation 1776 to 1783, Hanover 1863, Part I p. 224.

literature

  • Philip RN Katcher, Encyclopedia of British, Provincial and German Army Units 1775–1783 (Harrisburg, Penna .: Stackpole Books, 1973).
  • Rodney Atwood, The Hessians (Cambridge, 1980).

See also

personal data
SURNAME Donop, Karl Emil von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Donop, Carl Emilius of
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German officer (Hessen-Kassel), most recently colonel in the American War of Independence
DATE OF BIRTH January 1, 1732
DATE OF DEATH October 25, 1777
Place of death Whitall Farm near Fort Mercer, New Jersey