Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site and the Friends of Philipse Manor Hall are pleased to present a talk by Penn State historian Friederike Baer entitled “Fort Knyphausen and Other Mishmash: Hessians in Westchester County During the American Revolutionary War”. Dr. Baer was most recently seen in the Ken Burns Documentary “The American Revolution.” The talk will be available online at YouTube Live on Thursday, January 14, 2026 at 7:00 PM.
Between 1776 and 1783, Great Britain hired more than thirty thousand German soldiers to fight in its war against the American rebels. Collectively known as Hessians, the soldiers and accompanying civilians, including hundreds of women and children, spent extended periods of time in locations as dispersed and varied as Canada in the North and West Florida in the South. Based on extensive research in German-authored manuscript records, Dr. Baer’s presentation examines the Hessians’ experiences in the region around Fort Washington in what was then part of Westchester County.
Registration: This virtual program is free. However, you must register to view the recording. To receive a link to the recording after the program, email philipsemanorhall@parks.ny.gov. To view the live program, simply click on the link or visit our YouTube page. The Philipse Manor Hall History Lecture Series is supported by the Friends of Philipse Manor Hall and Tompkins Bank.
Baer is an award-winning author and Professor of History at Pennsylvania State University. Her publications include the book Hessians: German Soldiers in the American Revolutionary War, which was honored with the American Roundtable of Philadelphia Annual Book Award, Inaugural American Battlefield Trust Prize for History Honorable Mention, and Society of the Cincinnati Prize. Dr. Baer served as a historical advisor and interviewee for The American Revolution, a documentary film by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, and David Schmidt.
