
Sven Küchler (1729-1779) was a Colonel in the army of Hesse-Kassel, commanding a regiment of Hessians sent to the Thirteen Colonies in 1775. He was killed in the Battle of Morristown in 1779 in a failed attack against George Washington's encamped army.
Biography[]
Küchler was from Cassel in the German city-state of Hesse-Kassel in central Germany. He served with distinction in the Seven Years' War in the 1750s in the Prussian army, and became a Colonel in the army of Hessen. Küchler's was made the commander of a regiment of Hessians sent to fight in the American Revolutionary War in 1775, leading one of the first Hessian units to arrive in North America. He embarked on a campaign against rebels in his area of responsibility, namely northern New York, and he launched the "Oneida Expedition" against the Oneida tribe. He had many villagers imprisoned and the villages burned, but the patriot captain Nathaniel Black led an assault against the Hessian base and freed all of the captured Oneida villagers.
Sven Küchler participated in the New York City campaign of 1776, and he was in charge of a portion of the Hessians before the Battle of Trenton. On the night of 26 December 1776, he told his men to enjoy their evening, sending out only one patrol - he figured that the Continental Army was retreating, so there was no need for more than one patrol. That night, the Patriots ambushed Johann Rall's command and the Hessians were decisively defeated. Küchler escaped responsibility for the defeat, and proceeded to fight in the Saratoga Campaign. He was prevented from crossing the Hudson River when Nathaniel Black blew up the only ferry across the river, and he could not reinforce John Burgoyne's army as it was annihilated by Horatio Gates and Benedict Arnold.
He finally had a chance to bring the battle to the patriots at the Battle of Morristown in early 1779, but his fort was destroyed by Black's army with assistance from artillery provided to Black by George Washington. He attempted an all-out attack on the town of Morristown itself, but was he was shot multiple times by a sniper in an outpost tower, dying of these wounds on the battlefield.