Leopold Philip de Heister (1707 - 19 November 1777 Hesse-Cassel) was a Hessian general who fought for the British during the
American RevolutionThe American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
. He was a crippled veteran of many campaigns when he was selected to command the Hessian troops that were hired by the British government for service against the
American coloniesThe Thirteen Colonies were English and later British colonies established on the Atlantic coast of North America between 1607 and 1733. They declared their independence in the American Revolution and formed the United States of America...
. He landed on
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near
New UtrechtNew Utrecht was the last of six towns to be founded in what is today the borough of Brooklyn in New York City. It was named after the city of Utrecht, Netherlands. In 1652 Cornelius van Werckhoven, a surveyor born in Utrecht and a principal investor in the Dutch West India Company, began purchasing...
with two full Hessian brigades on 25 August 1776, three days after the arrival of Gen.
William HoweWilliam Howe, 5th Viscount Howe, KB, PC was a British army officer who rose to become Commander-in-Chief of British forces during the American War of Independence...
with the
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
troops. The tedious passage of thirteen weeks from
SpitheadSpithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds, except those from the southeast...
had tried him sorely: “his patience and tobacco had become exhausted. He called for hock, and swallowed large potations to the health of his friends.” Soon after debarking, the invading army prepared for marching, the Hessians under De Heister forming the centre, or main body. They cannonaded the works at
FlatbushFlatbush is a community of the Borough of Brooklyn, a part of New York City, consisting of several neighborhoods.The name Flatbush is an Anglicization of the Dutch language Vlacke bos ....
Pass, and De Heister ordered Count Donop to storm the redoubt, while he pressed forward with his troops. “Our Hessians and our brave Highlanders gave no quarter,” wrote a British officer, “and it was a fine sight to see with what alacrity they despatched the rebels with their bayonets, after we surrounded them so they could not resist.” Heister also commanded the Hessians at
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, 28 October 1776.
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