Fisher Studies the Past While Focusing on the Future
An avid history buff since grade school, Robert Fisher had been attending lectures at the David Library of the American Revolution in Washington Crossing, Pa., for years before ever enrolling at Rider University. So when the senior History major had the opportunity for an internship at the Library, he grabbed it. Now, though Fisher is fond of studying the past, he already has his sights on the future, including a subject for his doctoral dissertation.
Fisher said history had always been his favorite subject, but that he actually entered college with no plans to make it a career. “I went to Bucks County Community College for a year and a half before enrolling at Rider, and that’s when I was exposed to history on the collegiate level,” he explained. “It was no longer a watered-down list of facts, and that was when I decided it was the right field for me.”
The Levittown, Pa., resident recently completed a summer internship at the David Library of the American Revolution, a resource that inspired the subject of his senior research paper – the Hessian troops who fought on the side of the British crown during the war of American independence.
“Because the Library is the top institution in the world for the study of the American Revolution, I figured the opportunity to do my senior research paper there would be too good pass up,” Fisher explained. “Before I even knew my topic, I decided it would be on the American Revolution, so doing an internship there seemed like a good idea.”
Fisher contacted Dr. Joe Gowaskie, a professor of History at Rider, who also directs internships for History students. “He helped me set the wheels in motion,” Fisher recalled. “After an interview with the staff at the library, I began my internship in late May. Research for my project has actually been relatively easy, seeing as how I know my way around the library so well.”
Gowaskie proudly says Fisher is one of the department’s best students. “He’s one of our stars,” he said. “And he’s really a good kid.”
In preparation of his senior research project, Fisher was one of five Rider students who were awarded Undergraduate Research Scholars Awards (URSA) scholarships for the 2009-10 academic year. By taking a closer look at the captured Hessians who, along with imprisoned British soldiers, comprised the Convention Army held captive from 1777 to 1783, Fisher hopes to shed light on this poorly understood band of mercenaries who occupy a place of legend in the annals of the war.
The Convention Army arose from the 1777 surrender by British Gen. John Burgoyne in upstate New York. Following Burgoyne’s negotiation of the Convention of Saratoga with American Gen. Horatio Gates, the 5,900 troops were to be sent back to Europe on the condition that they not fight again in the war.
Once King George III of England refused to ratify the treaty, the Convention Army spent the next year in Massachusetts before marching 700 miles to Virginia. They spent the final two years of the war in Lancaster, Pa.
In the course of his research, Fisher came to the realization that, in all likelihood, no other body of foreign troops had ever traveled through so much of the interior parts of the United States.
“Not only that, but these German prisoners did not share a common language, heritage, culture or government with the American troops and civilians they were forced to interact with,” he said. “Unlike their British counterparts who made up the other half of the Convention Army, these German prisoners did not have a hostile or disdainful view of the American colonists, so they can actually provide a more objective view of Early America and its citizens.”
Another thing Fisher discovered is that Americans during the Revolution referred to all German soldiers as “Hessians” – a misnomer, he insists. “This has continued well into the 21st century. In actuality, the term ‘Hessian’ only refers to a specific group of Germans who came from the German state of Hesse-Cassel,” Fisher explained.
Much is made in myth about the drunken, celebratory group of Hessian solders encountered by Gen. George Washington at Trenton following his surprise Christmas crossing in 1776. Although Fisher has not done much research into these particular Hessians soldiers, he says that accepted historical research gives lie to this account.
“I recall hearing a lecture recently where the speaker made it clear that the traditional story is pretty much false and that the Hessians were more than ready to receive the Americans in battle,” he explained of the event that was said to change the momentum of the war and revive the flagging spirits of the Continental Army. “Keep in mind, most Americans were terrified of the Germans who fought in the war, which may have something to do with the fabricated story.”
Fisher also intends to focus on the reasons many German prisoners deserted the British cause and determine why the majority of them decided to stay in the United States following the war. “These prisoners deserve attention but have never gotten it and hopefully my research will do them justice, as well as enhance our understanding of the American Revolution,” he said.
Looking ahead, Fisher intends to pursue a Ph.D., with the goal of teaching at the collegiate level. For his dissertation, however, he plans to depart from the American Revolution. “The American Civil War is my favorite period of history and I plan to study that particular field in grad school,” he explained. “I’m particularly interested in the Kansas and Missouri theater of operations. This is an area that I hope to write my dissertation on.”
