I represent Sebastian Friedlinger. I was a private in the 3rd Company, 3rd Waldeck Regiment. I was born in Grunertshofen. The 3rd Waldeck Regiment was hired by the British from Waldeck Prince Frederick Karl Augustus to assist them in fighting the American rebels in the Revolutionary War. The rest of the Regiment reached North America in 1776. After two years of heavy action they were sent to Pensacola, along with the provincial loyalist forces of Maryland and Pennsylvania. I came to America with the 1778 recruit shipment, and we had a pretty miserable time, arriving already sick from our journey. I made it through the siege, but on May 15, 1781 – between the capitulation and our departure for New York as prisoners of war -I deserted at Pensacola. I may have gone over to the Spanish army. (Don’t think too poorly of me; desertion was rampant in West Florida. Everyone was having a hard time and we all thought the grass was greener on the other side.)
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