Franz Georg Richter, 38th Regiment of Foot

Franz Georg Richter, 38th Regiment of Foot - part 3

A baby named Johann Georg Richters was baptized on 10 August 1759, in Wechmar, a town in what is today Thuringia, Germany, but then was part of the German staat Sachsen (Saxony). He was only one day old. His parents were Johann Gottfried Richters and Barbara Christina Hanwin Richters. I think this baby is our Original Rector Ancestor in North America, Franz Georg Richter.

(for Part 1, see The First Rector - The Search Begins at https://grandmasgrannysfamilyalbum.blogspot.com/2020/08/the-first-rector-search-begins.html)

(for Part 2, see The First Rector Land Grant - Part 2 at https://grandmasgrannysfamilyalbum.blogspot.com/2020/08/the-first-rector-land-grant-part-2.html)

Six years later, he had a sister named Catharina Eleonora. This sister may have been the first Ellen/Ellenor/Ella in our family, and she is why I really like this family to be ours. I have never seen another German with the name Eleonora. (see Spence Pedigree Chart).

the village church in Wechmar

Germans in the 1600s through 1800s had a lot of given names, all of which did not make it into every record. It's quite possible that his full name was Johann Franz Georg Richter. In German naming patterns, the first name, the Vorname or forename, is shared with many or all the brothers, father, grandfather. The Bach family is from Wechmar, and Johann Sebastian Bach had many brothers, all named Johann Something Bach. This was not confusing, because everyone was called by the last of their given names, their Rufname or Call-name. The composer was always called Sebastian. Only in government documents would his full name be used. Our Wendel forebears from Berlin, not far from Wechmar, were Johann Friedrich Wilhelm and Friederike Wilhelmine Emilie - in America they went by William and Emily.

So when we see an 18-year-old named Georg Richter from Saxony on the troop embarkation list for England in May 1776, we can be sure Georg is his Rufname, and his Vorname is something else. (Georg is pronounced GAY-orgg).

Military service was one of the best paths to a secure financial future in several of the German staaten. Land was passed down to the eldest son, leaving other sons without many options. The militaries in the northern staaten were so respected, they were hired by other countries to add professionals to their ranks when needed. Georg served in the Electorate of Saxony in the Holy Roman Empire, apparently in his teenage years. When the British government was looking for troops to supplement their own in suppressing a colonial rebellion, Georg was already a seasoned veteran.

the port of Stade

Most of the professional soldiers the British hired were from Hesse, so any German soldier in the American Revolution has come to be called a Hessian. But Georg was no Hessian. The British government started preparing for war before independence was even declared, in Autumn 1775. They commissioned Colonel Georg von Scheither from Hannover, a German staat near Wechmar, to raise 4000 troops from all German staaten to complement the British regiments. Almost 2000 went to Dover, England, in small groups to be viewed, to embark later for New York. Georg left Stade, a port city near Hamburg, for Spithead, Ireland, according to the list of recruits (although Spithead is a port in Cornwall near Devon).

Arriving in NY on October 20, 1776, Scheither's recruits were distributed into many different regiments, about 40 each, and then evenly spread among each regiment's 10 companies. Georg was enlisted in the 38th Regiment of Foot, under commander Sir Robert Pigot, on October 21. With only 4 German speakers in the whole company, Georg must have learned English pretty fast, and he Anglicized his name to George Rector.

Military historians are very zealous and detailed, so if you are interested in this part of George's life, you can surely find a lot of information. The following just hits the highlights.

The 38th operated in the New York City- New Jersey - Long Island - Pennsylvania area. Georg's first action was the successful attack on Fort Washington in northern Manhattan, which chased the rebels out of New York for the duration of the war. On 9/11, 1777, while the main regiment remained in New York City, parts called the flank coys participated in routing General Washington's army in the Battle of Brandywine, resulting in the British capture of Philadelphia.

the Battle of Fort Washington

Having chased Washington out of the New Jersey area of New Brunswick and Piscataway, the 38th resided there until June 1778. That summer, the Americans and French combined tried to take Newport, Rhode Island, which the British held. The 38th was among the regiments sent to reinforce Newport, and fought in the Battle of Rhode Island in August. The remainder of the war was spent in Flushing, Bedford Heights, and Jamaica, Long Island; Camp Valentine Hill, Westchester; and Haarlem Heights, Manhattan; all British-held or -friendly areas.

The last battle George fought in was due to the bad attitude of traitor Benedict Arnold. He decided to raid New London, Connecticut for show. The city was destroyed by 1700 troops, with the 38th among them; luckily most inhabitants had been warned and fled. Rebel soldiers guarding the fort refused to surrender; when they finally did, they were killed anyway. Benedict Arnold was universally condemned for the brutality of the attack and the high loss of life on both sides.

After winning all these battles and losing none, the British soldiers may have been surprised to find themselves defeated. No battles were fought in the next two years, and although the troops in the southern colonies began to withdraw, New York remained heavily fortified. But Sir Guy Carleton, my hero, had arrived to save the day! um, to manage the withdrawal. The 38th went home to England, but at least 84 of their members chose to stay in the New World. Between the lack of opportunity in Germany, the lush orchards of Long Island, and the attractions of democracy, many German soldiers did.

Evacuation Day, November 25, 1783

On the other hand, maybe the promise of free land in Canada was the main reason. On the 25th of August 1783, George Rector transferred, still as a private, into the 57th Regiment of Foot. The muster rolls of the 38th show that he was discharged on the 7th of September, but at the time, it was customary to pay the soldiers an extra week to "carry them home." In September or October, the 57th sailed for Nova Scotia. George remained with the regiment for another 3 years, until 5 July 1786.

Afterwards, George was ready to set out for his new life in the New World: find a wife to start a big family with, find acreage of his own to farm. Since he swore in his land grant petition that he was well acquainted with the business of farming, his parents may have farmed in Wechmar, which is surrounded by fields today. Nova Scotia was a big place, wide open, with lots of land that needed people to fill it and till it.

I wrote this starting from the present digging into the past to discover who our First Rector was, so the order is chronological in reverse, sort of. If you are starting here, look at parts 2 and 1 to see what happened to George and if he lived his dream.

Which brings us to our very first, or last, mystery: Who are all those George Francises named for? Not a George or a Francis, because we never see those names separately. Definitely one person, and definitely the first George Francis Rector was someone of enormous importance. George in German in Georg, and Francis is Franz. But his name isn't Georg Franz. Remember the German naming patterns, the Vorname and Rufname? People were called by their middle names, making our ancestor Franz Georg. In Canada, to keep the Called Name the one that people used, the two names were switched into George Francis.