Wilhelm von Knyphausen (4 November 1716-7 December 1800) was a General of Hesse-Kassel during the American Revolutionary War, leading the Hessians under Great Britain in the northern theater of the war. He was given command of the Hessian mercenaries after Philip von Heister's return to Germany, and he led the Hessians in the New York campaign of 1776, the Philadelphia campaign of 1777, and in New York City until 1782.
Biography[]
Wilhelm von Knyphausen was born on 4 November 1716 in Lutetsburg, the son of a colonel of a Prussian regiment, and he entered the Prussian Army in 1734. Knyphausen became a general of Frederick the Great's army in 1775, rising to the rank of Lieutenant-General in the army of Hesse-Kassel and being sent to the Thirteen Colonies as Philip von Heister's second-in-command, leading 12,000 Hessians in New York. Knyphausen commanded the Hessians and British in the New York City campaign in 1776 and the Philadelphia campaign of 1776, and he outranked many of his British comrades-at-arms when Heister returned to Germany and Knyphausen became the new Hessian commander-in-chief in North America. He was given command the commander of the vanguard of the British army during the retreat from Philadelphia towards New York, and he fought at the Battle of Monmouth in 1778. While Henry Clinton was absent from New York City in 1780 during the siege of Charleston, Knyphausen commanded the garrison of New York, and in 1782 he fell ill, forcing him to return to Germany. Knyphausen became military governor of Kassel, and in 1785 he was visited by the Marquis de Lafayette, exchanging compliments with each other and reminiscing about the American Revolutionary War, during which they had fought on opposite sides. He died in 1800 at the age of 84 in Kassel.