nize the provisions of Gates’s convention, the
entire British army reverted back to prisoner
status. This circumstance required the
Riedesels to relocate to Virginia in November
1778, until the baron could be exchanged for
an officer of equal rank. En route, the couple
stopped at Hartford, Connecticut, where they
were entertained by the young French Mar-
quis de Lafayette. After a difficult sojourn by
coach, the coupled settled down, found the
locals most accommodating, and even struck
up cordial relations with Virginia Governor
Thomas Jefferson. After several months of
parole, the baron was ordered north, along
with General Phillips, to be exchanged. Fred-
erika accompanied them and became dis-
heartened to learn that negotiations had
fallen through, but they then spent six weeks
among the German-speaking Moravians in
Pennsylvania.
By November 1779, an agreement had been
hammered out, and the Riedesels were
granted permission to emigrate to New York,
where a fourth daughter, America, was born.
In October 1780, Baron von Riedesel was fi-
nally exchanged for Gen. Benjamin Lincoln
and allowed to report for duty under Gen.
Henry Clinton. As before, the charm and ef-
ficiency of this military couple won the affec-
tion of their hosts, and Frederika became ac-
quainted with Maj. John Andre, the
soon-to-be-infamous spy. The baron then
completed several months of hard service on
Long Island before poor health prompted
Clinton to send him to Quebec. There the
baroness had a fifth daughter, named Canada.
The Riedesels remained in Canada until
1783, when they sailed to England. “Our
hearts were very light as we stepped upon the
land,” she noted, “and I thanked God for the
happy reunion of us all, and especially for
having preserved my husband to me.” The fa-
mous couple was then cordially received by
King George III and his entire suite. Proceed-
ing on to Germany, the Riedesels soon occu-
pied a castle in Lauterbach to raise their fam-
ily. Curiously, throughout her long ordeal in
America, the baroness kept a detailed journal
of events for posterity. “It is astonishing how
much the frail humane creature can endure;
and I am amazed that I survived such hard tri-
als,” she observed. Baron von Riedesel died in
1800, shortly before the publication of his
wife’s “voyage of duty,” as she termed it,
which affords a unique perspective on mili-
tary and social affairs. Frederika herself died
in Berlin on March 29, 1808. She was exem-
plary as a soldier’s wife, a keen observer of
men and events.Bibliography
Brown, Marvin, ed. Baroness von Riedesel and the
American Revolution: Journal and Correspondence
of a Tour of Duty, 1776–1783.Chapel Hill: Univer-
sity of North Carolina Press, 1976; Ellet, Elizabeth F.,
ed. The Women of the American Revolution.3 vols.
New York: Haskell House, 1969; Sinnickson, Linda.
“Fredericka, Baroness Riedesel.” Pennsylvania
Magazine of History and Biography30 (1906):
385–408; Tharp, Louise. The Baroness and the Gen-
eral.Boston: Little, Brown, 1962.RIEDESEL, FREDERIKA