The adventures of Friedrich Reinhard count of Rechteren-Limpurg in the Mediterranean and the American War of Independence 1770 – 1782

Friedrich Reinhard count of Rechteren-Limpurg (1751 – 1842) had served in the Dutch navy and army in his youth, a typical career for a young nobleman of the 18th century. At the age of 30, he joined the almost exclusively German „Royal Deux-Ponts“ regiment of the French army and thus became a 
participant and an eye-witness of the great victory of the allied French and colonial American armies over the British at Yorktown in October of 1781.

His lively memoirs which appear in print here for the first time describe this war and his two-year voyage on a Dutch ship-of-the-line in the Mediterranean.

Up to now, it has hardly been known in Germany – nor in the U.S. – that German soldiers supported the American side in the War of Independence while, on the other hand, every school child has heard of the Hessians who willy-nilly fought for the British. As Rechteren was a Franconian nobleman as well it seemed fitting to highlight this aspect of Franconian history.

Mainfränkische Hefte, Heft 115
Freunde Mainfränkischer Kunst und Geschichte e.V. Würzburg
Bezirk Unterfranken
Gemeinde Sommerhausen