.

There remains controversy, even today, whether any Hessian prisoners were actually quartered at Fort Frederick; the line between oral traditions and written histories having become blurred after all these years. There is no doubt that the Fort housed many British prisoners during the Revolutionary War, but no evidence has been uncovered that any Hessian prisoners were ever kept at Fort Frederick. 

Hessian March from Winchester, Virginia to Frederick, Maryland 

Private D�hla�s diary describes the march from Winchester to Frederick, and the conditions at the new barracks once they arrived:

27 Jan [1782]. Early around nine o�clock our two regiments marched from the New Fredericks Barracks...we camped under open skies and had to lie down in the snow. Then we had to endure severe cold and frost the entire night...

28 Jan. Although it was so cold we had to cross over the Oh-Pekoh, a creek or small river, and wade through the water, so that at night we believed the marrow in our bones and feet would freeze. One could hardly believe what men can endure. [Lieutenant Pretchel recorded in his diary that three British soldiers froze to death on the night of January 28th.]

29 Jan. Our march went another nine miles further to a small town called Shepherds-Town, which is on the Potowmack River. Here we had to be transported across by boat, but it was very cold and the river was half frozen over, so we remained on the bank overnight. We made a very large fire but because of the great cold could not close our eyes. God pity us, both for our bad clothing, so completely tattered and fallen to rags, as well as the great cold, which we had to handle not as men but like dogs...

30 Jan. This past night the Potowmack was so heavily frozen over that one could ride and drive across it with wagons and horses, so severe was the cold, and we had to take our night quarters under open skies...

31 Jan. ...At sundown in the evening we arrived and were completely tired and exhausted from the long march. We were led by our escort through the city, and about a half hour beyond, on the east, we were directed into a barracks. These barracks, similar to a barracks compound, are two stories high, built of stone, and have a regular roof...The company received two floors, one upper and one lower, for quarters. Two barracks have been built here, and more than one hundred huts in which many English prisoners lay. It was very cold and drafty in our quarters. In the previous war French also were here in captivity. At present

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17 P. Kirby Gull, M. DIV., MSW, A Captor�s Conundrum: The Management of German Prisoners After Yorktown, A Maryland Perspective, Journal of The Johannes Schwalm Historical Association, Vol. 7, No. 3, 2003. p. 34-37.