Notizen zu dieser Person
Ludwig Wilhelm war 1774 Premier-Lieutenant im Regiment v. Knyphausen,
Stabskapitän und Kapitän der Infantrie im Regiment von Knyphausen im amerikanischen Unabhängigkeitskrieg.
Er wurde wohl zwischen 06/1774 und 04/1775 befördert.
Er wird in der HETRINA in 12 /1776 als Stabskapitän (?) als gefangen erwähnt,
in der Schlacht bei Trenton, Pennsylvania. Gegen Ihn und drei weitere Offiziere
wurde ein Kriegsgerichtsverfahren wegen der Niederlage eröffnet, sie wurden aber erst 1784 schuldig gesprochen, nachdem sie sämtlich verstorben waren.
Zu seinem Tod gibt es unterschiedliche Quellen, einmal heißt es "vom Pferd gefallen" während in einer amerikanischen Quelle klar steht, dass er sich erschossen hat.
On March 3, 1776, after the agreements between King George III of England and the Langreave of Hessen-Cassel, the von Knyphausen regiment left Ziegenhain. They departed D from Bremerlehe with the first division on April 17, 1776. They arrived inSandy Hook, New York on the 12th of August of 1776. The regiment participated in the battles of Flatbush and White Plains, the capture of Fort Washington and the battle of Trenton, Christmas, 1776. (Hier wurde Ludwig offensichtlich gefangen genommen). In September 1779, the prisoners from Trenton having been reunited with their regiment, the von Lossberg and Knyphausen regiments were ordered to go to Quebec City along with the English 44th Regiment. The English were expecting an attack from the Americans and/or the French who had entered the revolutionary war on the side of the Americans.
The 4th company and half of the 2nd company of the von Knyphausen Regiment were loaded on the transport Archer. The embarkment list showed the following:
Col. von Borck
Capt. von Loewenstein
Capt. Schimmelfeng
Artillery Lieut. Fischer
Lieut. Zimmermann
Lieut. Ritter
53 men from von Borck's Company
116 men from von Stein's Company
26 Artillery
12 "small staff"
The transport ships of the fleet were all in very poor condition and undermanned. The Archer left Sandy Hook on Sept. 9, 1779 and was separated from the rest of the fleet because of High winds. The Archer managed to return to Sandy Hook under the escort of the Camilla, with Capt. Collins in command. When they arrived, they discovered the rest of the fleet had already left. Again delayed by weather, the Archer finally departed on Sept. 17. In the meantime, most of the fleet had been badly damaged in the storm, and the ships were either captured or had sunk. The Archer arrived in Halifax on September 28, and departed again for Quebec on October 4 after having received word that the rest of the fleet was lost. On October 13, while in the Straights of Canso, enemy privateers were sighted and one was captured by the Camilla. During the later half of October, storms in the Gulf of St. Lawrence prevented the ships from entering the St. Lawrence River and they returned to Charlottetown, St. John's Island (PEI) on Nov. 27. After some difficult negotiations with the Governor of the Island, the men were allowed to go ashore. At first, they pitched tents and later built huts of Earth and wood. The winter was extreme and lasted well into April. It even snowed on May 23. The Archer left Charlottetown on June15 and arrived in Quebec City later that month.
The von Knyphausen Regiment spent the winter of 1780/81 in Quebec (hier verstarb Ludwig am 21.04.1781) and then was ordered back to New York, where they spent the balance of the war.
Thomas Wolfgang
Ackermann
