the original, a totally false impression. If the readers of this volume are so "fastidiously refined" as to be shocked by any thing which the pure and lovely Madame Riedesel has written, it is high time that the works of our chastest authors be put out of their reach, until their morbid sensibilities be restored to a healthy tone. Designed for no eyes but those of her mother and her family, these letters have an unstudied familiarity. There is, however, nothing in them that can offend the correct and cultivated taste of any true man or woman. Many of them were written amid the sickening horrors of the camp; and it is her artless and faithful delineations of the scenes through which she passed, and the state of society in this country at one of its most momentous epochs, that give to her story its highest charm and value.

A translation of a passage from Weld's Voyage to North America, in relation to the Indian chief Thayendanegea, which forms the appendix to the German volume, has been omitted, as the original is accessible to the English reader. In its place we give, as of far more interest, a personal sketch of the baroness, including an account of her romantic courtship and marriage.

The appendix to the edition of 1827, contains several letters from General Riedesel to Generals Washington and Gates. These letters are not reproduced in this volume, as they will soon appear in a translation of the Life and Writings of General Riedesel, upon which I am now engaged. This work contains, besides Riedesel's military and personal journal during his residence in America, many additional letters from Washington, Gates, Burgoyne, Schuyler, and other

revolutionary characters, which have never been published in English.

To David M. Stone, T. W. Field, and the late Theodore Dwight of Brooklyn; Friedrich Kapp, Charles Congdon, and David T. Valentine of New York; Hon. Judge Hay of Saratoga Springs; and to my loved teacher and friend, Professor Robinson P. Dunn of Brown University, I am indebted for kind and valuable suggestions. Nor must I forget to thank Mr. John C. Buttre for the pains he has taken with the artistic engraving which forms the frontispiece of this volume.

One word further in relation to the authenticity of the engraving itself.* Upon writing to Lieutenant Colonel Max Von Eelking the author of the Life and Writings of General Riedesel, now residing at Meiningen - for a copy of the portrait of the baroness, he with great courtesy complied with my request, accompanying the photograph with a letter, under date of December 7, 1866, from which I make the following extract:

"At last I am able to answer your wish. The only one to whom I could apply is Baron Rotenhan, a grandson of Mrs. General Riedesel, who has inherited the whole estate, and who is, at the same time, in the possession of all the family portraits. I, accordingly, send you enclosed the photograph, which you will please send back after having used it. Please send me five or six copies, which I would like to distribute among the relatives of Mrs. Riedesel. Baron Rotenhan has not given me any other items in relation to Mrs. Riedesel, although I asked

*The portrait from which the engraving is taken, represents Madame Riedesel at the age of sixteen, a few weeks before her marriage. It was painted by the celebrated German artist, Tischbein, in 1762.

him for them. Probably he does not know more than that which I have stated in my biography of the General, which was communicated to me by his son."

The kindness of this reply, as well as the prompt and appreciative response of Lieut. Col. Eelking and Baron Von Rotenhan to my request, will, I am confident, commend them to the gratitude of the American public.

WILLIAM L. STONE.

Saratoga Springs, January 1st, 1867.

PREFACE TO THE GERMAN EDITION.

Of those German troops which England hired for the purpose of conquering her revolted colonies, General Riedesel commanded the Brunswickers.* In the year 1776, he departed at the head of those troops, leaving his wife with the wish that she, together with their children, should follow him to that portion of the globe. This she did, and thus created the occasion for the letters which the reader will find in this little volume. The authoress wrote them to her mother, the widow of the minister of state, his excellency Herr von Massow, and a few intimate friends while upon her dangerous voyage and during her sojourn in America.

A few years subsequently, this correspondence came into the hands of her son-in-law, Count Henry Reuss the XLIV, grand-marshal and chamberlain to the court of Berlin.

The count took advantage of the leisure of one summer, which he spent with his parents-in-law at their country-seat, to arrange the letters in order, and, on account of the great interest which they excited among all the relatives, he had them, the following winter, printed as manuscript for the family, though only a very small number of copies were printed.

General Riedesel, however, did not live to see them in print. He died on the sixth of January of the same year, while holding the

*Early in the year 1776, England entered into treaties with the smaller German states to take into her service 20,000 German troops. The exact number of those hired was 16,900, of these more than 4,000 were Brunswickers. These latter, as stated in the text, were placed under the command of General Riedesel. They consisted, according to Max Von Eelking, the learned and industrious German histo rian, of the following troops: 1st, a regiment of (dismounted) Dragoons, under Lieut. Col. Baum. 2d, Prince Frederick's regiment of Infantry; Lieut. Col. Pratorius. 3d, Rhet's regiment of Infantry; Lieut. Col. von Ehrenkrook. 4th, Riedesel's former regiment of Infantry; Lieut. Col. von Specht. 6th, Grenadiers; Lieut. Col. Breyman. 7th, Rifle Battalion (Jagers): Lieut. Col. Barner.

PREFACE TO THE GERMAN EDITION.

11

position of lieutenant-general, and commandant of the city of Brunswick.

Even without this history of the appearance of these letters, one can easily see from the letters themselves, that they were not designed for publication; still as it is not every thing intended for publication which is, for that reason, deserving of being printed, so there is certainly much that is withheld from the public, which is worthy of being brought to its notice. Especially, did this seem to me to be the case with these letters; and, accordingly, when one of these copies was presented me by the right honorable editor, I entreated him to allow me to prepare an edition for the public. The count granted the request, with the remark, "Yes, certainly, if you think good can be accomplished by it." I am most assuredly of that opinion. If examples are more heeded than mere precepts; if fervid attachment in conjugal life; if religious observance of the duties of a mother; if it is true that in all circumstances and situations of life, nothing affords so much satisfaction as the consciousness of having acted according to the dictates of duty; if sacrifices and self-denials of all kinds do not impair the efforts toward fulfilling that duty; if a determined resignation to unalterable circumstances; if all this is worthy of imitation, and so much the more estimable as it is perhaps rarely to be found, especially among the higher classes; then the publication of a book which exhibits the actual practice of all these virtues, certainly cannot be without profit. In so far as truth is of more value than fiction, the greater will be the interest with which these letters will be read, because they rest upon facts, while in reading even the best of romances, the conviction that all was invented for the purposes of instruction, must, after all, lessen the affectionate sympathy and weaken the moral effect that had been intended.

With the approbation of the highly respected and honorable editor, I have altered the title of this little work for the present edition. In the one designed only for the family it runs thus:

"Extracts from the letters and papers of General, Baron de Riedesel and his wife neè Massow, concerning their common voyage to "America and their sojourn in that country, compiled and arranged "by their son-in-law, Count Reuss. Printed as manuscript for the "family."

The great number of books, which are now published, make it particularly desirable, if not for the general reader, at least for the trade, that books of similar contents should be distinguished as much as possible by the title, especially when they relate to journeys. If,