Johann Rall (1726-26 December 1776) was the colonel of a regiment of 1,200 troops from Hesse-Kassel during the American Revolutionary War. Rall was mortally wounded at the Battle of Trenton when his regiment was ambushed by George Washington's army on Boxing Day.
Biography[]
Johann Rall was born in 1726 in Stralsund, Mecklenburg, Germany, and he joined his father's regiment in 1740; in 1760 he was promoted to Major, and to Colonel in January 1772 at the head of the Mansbach Infantry Regiment. Rall fought in the War of the Austrian Succession when he was only a child, served in the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion, in the Seven Years' War, and the Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774, serving under Alexey Orlov from September 1771 to August 1772. By 1776, he was serving under Philip von Heister, and he was given command of 1,200 Hessians during the American Revolutionary War, seeing action at Long Island and White Plains. During the winter of 1776, his regiment would continue to drill before being shipped from New York City to Trenton, New Jersey, where his regiment camped for the winter. On 25 December, Rall had a Christmas party with his officers, and he ignored a warning that George Washington and the Continental Army were approaching. The next morning, the Americans gained complete surprise in an assault on the Hessians at Trenton, and he was struck in the chest by a musket ball, with the note of warning still in his pocket, unread. Rall died later that day of his injuries, and he was buried on East State Street at the First Presbyterian Church.
Gallery[]
