This work succeeds in consolidating the records of the vast majority of Pennsylvania-Germans who took part in the Revolutionary War and is probably as close as we are likely to get to a definitive history and roster.
Quite apart from the invaluable rosters and service records, the book explores the history of the various units, their organization, personnel, and campaigns. Inevitably, the bulk of the work focuses on the Pennsylvania-Germans in the Continental Army, the Pennsylvania Line, the German Regiment, and the Flying Camp, though there is considerable data on the Pennsylvania-Germans in Maryland and Virginia regiments. Of almost equal importance are the chapters on the Emergency Men, patriots and non-combatants, each with biographical sketches of eminent men.
Henry Melchior Muhlenberg Richards (1848–1935) spent the majority of his life in the military, serving in the Civil War and later in the Navy during the Spanish-American War. A descendant of both Henry Melchior Muhlenberg and Conrad Weiser, and secretary of the Pennsylvania German Society, he wrote several local histories and genealogical volumes, including The Pennsylvania-German in the French and Indian War.
