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Translation of a Treaty between his Majesty and the Hereditary Prince of HESSE CASSEL, Reigning Count of HANAU, &c. Signed at HANAU, the 5th of FEBRUARY, 1776.
Be it known to all whom it may concern, that his Majesty the King of Great Britain, having judged proper to accept a body of Infantry of the Troops of his Most Serene Highness the Hereditary Prince of Hesse Cassel, reigning Count of Hanau, &c˙, to be employed in the service of Great Britain, the high contracting parties have given orders for this purpose to their respective Ministers: that is to say, his Britannick Majesty to Colonel William Faucitt, Captain of the Guards, and the Most Serene Hereditary Prince of Hesse Cassel to his Minister and Privy˙ Counsellor Frederick De Malsbourg, who, after the exchange of their respective full powers, have agreed upon the following Articles:
ART˙ I. The said most Serene Prince yields to his Britannick Majesty a body of Infantry of six hundred and sixty men, which shall be at the entire disposition of the King of Great Britain.
ART˙ II. The Most Serene Prince engages to equip completely this corps; and that it shall be ready to march the 20th of the month of March next, at farthest. The said corps shall pass in review before his Majesty' s Commissary at Hanau, if that can be done, or at some other place as opportunity shall offer.
ART˙ III. The Most Serene Prince engages to furnish the recruits annually necessary. These recruits shall be delivered to his Britannick Majesty' s Commissary, disciplined and completely equipped. His Most Serene Highness will do his utmost that the whole may arrive at the place of their embarkation at the time his Majesty shall fix upon.
ART˙ IV. The service of his Britannick Majesty, find preservation of the troops, requiring equally that the commanding officers and subalterns should be perfectly acquainted with the service, his Most Serene Highness will take proper care in the choice of them.
ART˙ V. The Most Serene Prince engages to put this corps on the best footing possible; and none shall be admitted into it but persons proper for campaign service, and acknowledged as such by his Britannick Majesty' s Commissary.
ART˙ VI, This corps shall be furnished with tents, and all necessary equipage.
ART˙ VII. The King grants to this corps the ordinary and extraordinary pay, as well as all the advantages in forage, provisions, winter-quarters, and refreshments, &,c˙, &c˙, enjoyed by the Royal Troops; and the most Serene Prince engages to let this corps enjoy all the emolument; of pay that his Britannick Majesty allows them; the sick and wounded of the said corps shall be taken care of in the King' s Hospitals, and shall be treated in this respect as his Britannick Majesty' s Troops; and the wounded, not in a condition to serve, shall be transported into Europe, and sent back into their own country, at the expense of the King.
ART˙ VIII. There shall be paid to his Most Serene Highness, under the title of levy money, for each foot soldier thirty crowns Banco — the crown reckoned at fifty-three sols of Holland; one half of this levy money shall be paid six weeks after the signature of the Treaty, and the other half three months and a half after the signature.
ART˙ IX. According to custom, three wounded men shall be reckoned as one killed. A man killed shall be paid for at the rate of the levy money. If it shall happen that any company of the corps should be entirely ruined or destroyed, the King will pay the expense of the necessary recruits to re-establish this corps.
ART˙ X. The Most Serene Prince reserves to himself
ART˙ XI. Their pay shall commence fifteen days before the march of this body of troops; and from the time the troops shall have quitted their quarters, in order to repair to the place of their destination, all the expenses of march and transport, as well as the future return of the troops into their own country, shall be at the charge of his Britannick Majesty.
ART˙ XII. His Britannick Majesty will grant to the Most Serene Prince, during all the time that this body of troops shall be in the pay of his Majesty, an annual subsidy of twenty-five thousand and fifty crowns Banco. His Majesty shall cause notice of the cessation of the aforesaid subsidy to be given a whole year before it shall cease to be paid: provided that this notice shall not be given till after the return of the troops into the Dominions of his Most Serene Highness. This Treaty shall be ratified by the high contracting parties, and the ratifications thereof shall be exchanged as soon as possible.
In witness whereof, we, the undersigned, in virtue of our full powers, have signed the present Treaty, and have thereto put the seals of our arms.
Done at Hanau, the 5th of February, 1776.
WILLIAM FAUCITT, [L˙ S.]Treaty with the Hereditary Prince of Hesse Cassel, signed February 5, 1776
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the nomination to the vacant employments, as also the administration of justice; moreover, his Britannick Majesty will cause orders to be given to the commander of the army in which this corps shall serve, not to exact any extraordinary services, or such as are beyond their proportion with the rest of the army; and when they shall serve with the English troops, or with other auxiliaries, the officers shall command (as the military service requires of itself) according to their military rank and the seniority of their commissions, without making any distinction of what corps the troops may be with which they may serve. This corps shall take the oath of fidelity to his Britannick Majesty, without prejudice to that they have taken to their Sovereign.
FREDERICK Bn DE MALSBOURG, [L˙ S.]