Johann Ewald (20 March 1744-25 June 1813) was a Lieutenant-General of Hesse-Kassel and Denmark, serving as a commander of a regiment of jaegers sent to fight for Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War before serving in the Danish Army from 1788 to 1813.
Biography[]
Johann Ewald was born on 20 March 1744 in Kassel, Hesse-Kassel, and he was raised by his grandmother after his parents died. On 23 July 1758, his grandmother took him to see the battlefield from the battle of Sandershausen in an attempt to dissuade him from pursuing a military career, showing him the many dead bodies. However, Ewald commented, "Oh, how happy are they who died for their country in such a way!," and in 1760 he enlisted in the Regiment Gilsa under Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel during the Seven Years' War. After the war's end, Ewald rose in the ranks of the army and became a Captain in 1774.
American Revolutionary War[]
Frederick II of Hesse-Kassel sent his Leib Regiment to New York City in October 1776 to assist the British Army during the American Revolutionary War, leading a regiment of Hessians. On 28 October 1776, Ewald fought at the Battle of White Plains against the Continental Army. Ewald distinguished himself in the New York and New Jersey campaign of 1776-77, and on 13 April 1777 he gave Charles Cornwallis the idea of ambushing Benjamin Lincoln's army at the Battle of Bound Brook. Ewald was involved in most of the engagements during the Philadelphia campaign, and he stated of the march through New Jersey, "One can truly state that this march cost two thousand men." In 1779, he was sent to the state of Georgia and took part in the capture of Charleston in 1780, proceeding to join Benedict Arnold's expedition to Virginia. On 5 January 1781, Ewald, John Graves Simcoe, and Arnold raided Richmond, and he was injured at Norfolk. Ewald was captured at the Siege of Yorktown, but he was paroled in New York, and Landgrave Frederick II wrote him a letter praising his "fine conduct". From 1782 to 1783, he led a corps of jaegers on Long Island, and on 21 November 1783 his corps was among the last British/Hessian units to leave New York. On 22 April 1784, he returned to Hesse-Kassel.
Danish service[]
In 1788, Ewald entered the service of Denmark and wrote a treatise on partisan warfare. He rose to the rank of Lieutenant-General in the Danish Army, serving as governor of Holstein during the Napoleonic Wars. Ewald fought at the battle of Stralsund on 31 May 1809, repulsing a Prussian freikorps unit with the assistance of the Netherlands and First French Emprie's auxiliary forces, and he would be a general of Denmark until his death on 25 June 1813 at the age of 89.