Sweet Land of Liberty: The Ordeal of the American Revolution in Northampton County, Pennsylvania

4 Henry Geiger

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . In 1749,Henry Geiger emigrated from Germanyto Pennsylvania.1 There he joined his brother, who had settled near Philadelphia.2 Around 1753, the Geigers moved to Northampton County and took up land in Heidelberg Township. With the outbreak of the French and Indian War (1753–63), Henry Geiger, a former soldier, joined the Pennsylvania Regiment as an ensign , or second lieutenant.3 Geiger first manned a line of forts and blockhouses on the Northampton frontier that had been positioned and constructed under the supervision of Benjamin Franklin.4 Geiger performed well in the field. When senior officers at a key fort mutinied, Geiger filled the breach. “The fort is now commanded by Ensign Geiger, a sober prudent person,”his superior said.He might have added that the ensign had benefited from some education.5 For example, when supplies ran short at his fort, Geiger himself wrote to regional commander Colonel Timothy Horsefield to request immediate relief.6 Geiger’ s dispatch was written in German;however, he inserted English words and spelled them as they would have sounded to him. First, he addressed the letter to “master Hassfilt [Horsefield].” Second, he repeatedly used “prowigen,” a phonetic variant of provision, rather than the German “vorrat,” doubtless to ensure that Horsefield, an Englishman, would not misunderstand the key word in the message. Phonic equivalents provided the means by which most eighteenth -century Pennsylvania Germans acquired a working English vocabulary .7 Geiger boldly wove fractured English words into convoluted sentences and committed them to paper because of his fierce determination to communicate with senior persons in Pennsylvania’s military and civil chains of command. As a result, twenty-three of Geiger’ s letters have been preserved because they reposed in official files. Moreover, Geiger’s hand is so unique and clear, his letters,like those of Robert Levers, leap from a pile of archival documents or a roll of microfilm.8 In 1757, the army promoted Geiger to lieutenant and sent him west of the Susquehanna River, where he served under Colonel Henry Bouquet, a Swiss soldier of fortune recruited by the British army.9 During a two-year stint in Bouquet’ s battalion Geiger improved upon his command of English and also acquired political savvy. Upon his discharge from the army Geiger followed the example of fellow officers and sought additional compensation for his military service. To initiate his application Geiger wrote to Colonel Bouquet: Most Hounorable Colonel: This with my Most Kind Complements I take this Opertunity to write to your honour wishing your hounors Good health I am very Sorry that I had not The happiness of seeing your honour before you Left Pittsburgh, I then being on Guard So as I Could not Give My Complements to your honour: I have heard by Some Gentlemen that I was in your honours favor which I am Very Much Obligated to your honour and I Shall with all Willingness Do your honour all the Good Service that I Can do Wishing the Lord will Grant your honour Good health and Good Succes that you may Finnissh this old year in health And may the New year Crown you with all happiness I begg one favour of your honour that you will be so kind as to Recommend me to his Honour the New Governour. I know that Several Officers have All Ready Gone Down for to Recommend themselves to his Honour the Governour. God bless your Honour and I Recommend My Self to your honours favor.10 In this letter Geiger displays a style that he perfected over the years:compliment a lot,invoke God’s blessings repeatedly, make a request (twice, if need be), then bow with humility. When the first letter to Colonel Bouquet failed to get results, Geiger wrote to him again. Geiger now turned on the charm in “French” and addressed Colonel Bouquet as TresNobeleet Most HounorabeleColonele. “I cannot forget you honour because the Gread favor that you have always get for me,” Geiger began. Then, spread over many lines, Geiger invoked God’s protection for his benefactor: “I pray always the Lord our God will be Your Guid Likewiss that he whass with Jesuce and Will prserven you honour from all Dangers And axidante . . . and I Recommend Me always in your . . . . . . . . . honour favor.”11 And lest the colonel have difficulty putting a face on the writer of this letter...