Glossary

View terms and definitions to help read the Proof of Service papers.

Almanac
A printed booklet keeping note of dates, phases of the moon, and other general information. Samuel Gerock wrote small entries detailing his service, as well as a sketch of the Battle of Spanktown, in his almanac.

Battle of Princeton
This battle took place on Jan. 3, 1777, following the Second Battle of Trenton. General George Washington led his army (including the German Regiment) from Trenton on a 15-mile nighttime march to attack the British stationed at Princeton. After a back-and-forth fight, Washington and his troops routed the British forces.

Battle of Trenton
This battle took place on Dec. 26, 1776, following the Continental Army’s famous Christmas night crossing of the Delaware River. General George Washington forced the surrender of a Hessian garrison in the town of Trenton, New Jersey.

Captain
The rank of an officer who commands a company (40-60 men). George Keeports was the captain of Samuel Gerock’s company in the German Regiment.

Colonel
The commanding officer of a regiment. Nicholas Haussegger of Pennsylvania was colonel of the German Regiment in 1776 and early 1777.

Commission
In the military, a document conferring a government-issued rank to an officer. Samuel Gerock received a commission from the state of Maryland as a first lieutenant in the German Regiment.

Continental Army
The professional army authorized by the Continental Congress. The army was commanded by George Washington, who served as the commander in chief.

Depreciation
A document measuring the payment owed by one individual or organization to another over the course of time. Samuel Gerock brought a depreciation document noting payments owed to him by the State of Maryland in 1777 and 1778 when he applied for his pension in 1818.

Drumhead
The part of a drum which is hit by the drumsticks.

Forage War
A modern term for the period between January and April 1777 involving skirmishes, scouting, and raids between the British Army and the Continental Army, with support from local militia units in northern New Jersey.

German Regiment
Also referred to as the “German Battalion,” this Continental Army unit was raised in the summer of 1776 and was mostly composed of ethnically German men from Pennsylvania and Maryland. At its maximum strength, the regiment amounted to close to 400 men.

Highlanders
Men primarily from the Highlands of Scotland who served in the British Army. At the Feb. 23, 1777, Battle of Spanktown, Samuel Gerock fought Highlanders of the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment, commonly known as the Black Watch.

Lieutenant
The second-most junior rank of officer. At full strength, each company (40-60 men) of an infantry regiment would have a first lieutenant and a second lieutenant. Samuel Gerock held the rank of first lieutenant.

Lieutenant Colonel
The second-highest ranking officer in a regiment. George Stricker of Maryland served as the lieutenant colonel of the German Regiment in 1776 and early 1777.

Major
The third-highest ranking officer in a regiment. Ludwig Weltner of Maryland served as the major of the German Regiment in 1776 and early 1777.

Militia
State-organized temporary military units called out for local defense. Militias often supplemented the Continental Army.

Orderly Book
A book kept by an officer which documents the daily orders and the comings and goings of a military unit.

Parole
An agreement between an army and a captured enemy soldier or officer. The most common form of parole is that a prisoner may leave where they are held, so long as they do not continue to fight. A parole could also stipulate that the prisoner would leave the area of operations for the duration of the war.

Pension
Payment for service based on time served. Veterans of the Revolutionary War received pensions based on acts passed by Congress in 1818, 1820, and 1832.

Quartermaster
An administrative post in the military for an officer who oversees supplying his unit. Samuel Gerock held this job for the German Regiment in November and December 1776.

Riflemen
Soldiers armed with highly accurate firearms called rifles. Rifles are made with grooved barrels, which make them more accurate than smoothbore muskets. Rifles, however, are slower to load and more expensive to make as compared to the smoothbore muskets carried by most soldiers of the 1700s. Both sides fielded riflemen during the war. During the Battle of Spanktown, on Feb. 23, 1777, Samuel Gerock served alongside a unit of riflemen from the 1st Pennsylvania Regiment, who were positioned in woods next to the German Regiment.

Second Battle of Trenton
Also referred to as the Battle of the Assunpink Creek, this engagement took place on Jan. 2, 1777. British and Hessian troops under the command of General Charles Cornwallis pushed Revolutionary forces (including the German Regiment) through Trenton, New Jersey. After repeated attacks across a bridge over the Assunpink Creek, Cornwallis’s troops suffered heavy casualties as darkness fell. With the British planning to renew the fight the next morning, Washington managed to slip away in the night and attack the British troops stationed at Princeton, New Jersey, the next day.

The “10 Crucial Days”
A modern term for the period from Dec. 25, 1776, to Jan. 3,1777, where General Washington and the Continental Army crossed the Delaware River, and won a series of victories at Trenton and Princeton in New Jersey. These victories restored morale in the Revolutionary cause.