who were mercenaries who fought for the british
Hessian (soldier) Hessians /ˈhɛʃən/[1] were the 18th century German auxiliaries contracted for military service by the British government.[2] They took their name from the German state of Hesse-Kassel. The British hired Hessian troops for combat duty in several eighteenth century conflicts, but they are most widely associated with combat operations in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783).
British Army during the American Revolutionary War In the middle of the eighteenth century, the Army's uniforms were highly elaborate, and manoeuvres were ponderous and slow, with "innumerable words of command."[16] Experience of the conditions and terrain in North America during the French and Indian War prompted changes to its tactics and dress.[17] In battle the redcoats usually formed in two ranks rather than three, to increase mobility and firepower.[18] The Army further adapted this formation during the American Revolution by forming and fighting in looser ranks, a tactic that was known as "loose files and American scramble".[19][20] Soldiers stood at a greater distance apart and three 'orders' were used to specify the distance to be expanded or contracted as necessary; "order" (two intervals), "open order" (four intervals), and "extended order" (ten intervals).[21] British infantry advanced at the 'trott' and fought fluid battles primarily using the bayonet.[22] Although this new formation increased the British army's mobility and tactical flexibility, the abandonment of linear formation was later blamed by some British officers for defeats in the later stages of the war like the Battle of Cowpens, in which British troops engaged denser bodies of men deployed in successive lines.[21]