1759-10-24 – Baptism of the Son of a Deserter

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October 24 1759 – Schwabendorf

Johannes Vogt, of Kratzenburg in the electorate of Trier, a deserter from the regiment Churtrier and had a son baptised.

Note: Forced service, horrors of the battlefield, withheld pay...Whatever may be the case, thousands of soldiers on both sides deserted from their units. Johannes‘ unit had seen service with the Reichsarmee at Torgau, some 400 km from Schwabendorf (near Marburg). Perhaps he was passing through the village en route to his hometown Kratzenburg, another 240 km to the west Although a deserter, he seems to have been welcome in Schwabendorf. The village‘s population consisted of Huguenots, descendants of Protestant French refugees. Still considering French their mother tongue, they most likely felt uneasy considering the repeated presence of French troops in the area.

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Acknowledgement

Stephen Westfall for this glimpse of daily life during the Seven Years< War.