Hessian general, born at Lauterbach, Hesse, on the 3rd of June 1738. He studied at Marburg University, and entering the army was employed by the British in the Seven Years’ War. Having risen to the rank of major-general in 1776, he was sent to America in command of a division of Brunswick troops, hired to Great Britain. His wife, daughter of the Prussian minister Massow, accompanied him. After a year spent in Canada, Riedesel was called to take part in Burgoyne’s expedition. He fought at Ticonderoga, Stillwater, and Saratoga, and surrendered with Burgoyne October 17, 1777. With his wife he was taken to Albany, where Gen. Philip Schuyler handsomely entertained them until they were ordered to Cambridge, MA. He remained a prisoner until November 1780, having spent some time in Virginia. He next had command of Long Island, but in 1781 went to Canada and two years later returned to Germany. In 1787 he became lieutenant-general and had command of the Brunswick troops in Holland until 1794, when he was placed in charge of the city of Brunswick, where he died on the 6th of January 1800. Both Baron Riedesel and his wife wrote interesting Letters and Journals of their residence in America, which give valuable side-light on the war of the Revolution. They were translated and edited by W. L. Stone (Albany, 1867 and 1868).
