Along the lines of his Edict from the King of Prussia, Franklin published anonymously what purported to be a letter to the commander of the Hessian troops in America from a German count who got paid a bounty for the death of each of the soldiers he sent over. Because Britain had decided not to pay for any wounded soldiers, only for those who died, the count encouraged his commander to make sure that as many died as possible.THE SALE OF THE HESSIANS, FEBRUARY 18, 1777The Sale of the HessiansFROM THE COUNT DE SCHAUMBERGHTO THE BARON HOHENDORF,COMMANDING THE HESSIAN TROOPS IN AMERICARome, February 18, 1777Monsieur Le Baron: On my return from Naples, I received at Rome your letter of the 27th December of last year. I have learned with unspeakable pleasure the courage our troops exhibited at Trenton, and you cannot imagine my joy on being told that of the 1,950 Hessians engaged in the fight, but 345 escaped. There were just 1,605 men killed, and I cannot sufficiently commend your prudence in sending an exact list of the dead to my minister in London.
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