HENRY ILES
JOHANN HENRICH EYL
(1751/ 52 - 1814)
I have tried to summarize in chronological order, information that I have obtained concerning Henry Iles (Johann Henrich Eyl). Most of the information concerning his Hessian roots has been obtained from the AMREV-HESSIAN MAILING LIST WEBSITE (freepages.military.rootsweb.com/~bonsteinandgilpin/index.htm) , with the help of some of their very fine historians, Bob Brooks, Robert Fetters, Karen McKellar and the administrator of the web site, Nelda Percival, who introduced me to their site. Their email is
AMREV-HESSIANS-L@rootsweb.com. I am particuraly grateful to Bob Brooks who provided most of the known information regarding Eyl’s Hessian roots as well as pointing the way to excellent resources for further research. Much of the information on the website was provided by John Merz. The latter information is primarily from D Wright, e mail re Adam Iles,
seli5@aol.com, posted 12 Oct 1998 on the
http://genforum.genealogy.com/iles/messages/4.html.
Johann Henrich EYL “originated†from Schorbach Germany abt 1751-1752. Schorbach is about 6-7 miles ESE of Ziegenhain. Schorbach is on or near the Grimm Fairy Tale German Road. He joined the Regiment von Knyphausen which was garrisoned in the fortress at Ziegenhain, Schwalm-Eder-Kreis, Hessen. The applicable military records would be found at the archives in Marburg. The church record for Schorbach will be found in Kirchliches Rentamt Ziegenhain in Ziegenhain. (Website to check Church records is members.cox.net/hessen/qa2.htm) He was a private in the company commanded by Obrist, later Generalmajor, Henrick von Borck.
The American colonies revolted against British rule, in 1775. After some heavy fighting in the Boston area, the British forces withdrew from their strongholds of Boston and New York to the safe area of Halifax. King George III of England enlisted the help of his former allies of the Seven Years War, his German relatives, in order to recruit a sufficiently large army of regular troops.
In the spring of 1776 an armada of ships assembled in British harbors, loaded with Regiments of German soldiers from the principalities of Brunswick and Hessen-Hanau. Together with regiments of British, Irish and Scots, they were soon on their way to Quebec, arriving there between the end of May and early June of 1776.
A second fleet left England, in June, with troops from Hessen-Kassel and arrived at New York harbour in August of 1776. (The Regiment that Eyl’s was in, the Regiment von Knyphausen was from Hesse-Kassel.)
“The gaggle of ships which showed up off Sandy Point on the morning of 12 Aug 1776 comprised two basic groups:
(1) Capt. William Hotham..., Commodore with the specific task of escorting the British reinforcements for North America from his flagship HMS Preston. This convoy departed 6 May 1776 and included the first part of the First Division or von Heister’s Division of Hessians comprising 12 units which included the Regiment von Knyphausen (4 companies) 525.
The 11/14 May 1776 issue of the “London Chronicle†reproduced an extract of a letter from Plymouth dated 10 May: “Yesterday passed by this place all the fleet, amounting to upwards of 120 sail, with the Hessian troops and guards, and train of artillery on board, bound for America....â€
(2) Captain Henry Davis, HMS Repulse sailed 26 May with the balance of the First or von Heister’s Division of Hessians, including one company of Regiment von Knyphausen 154.â€
The von Knyphausen Regiment troops were on the transport ships Spring, Mermaid, and Heartly.
The von Knyphausen Regiment fought in the following battles Long Island, NY, 1776; White Plains, NY, 1776; Ft. Washington, NY, 1776; and Trenton, NJ, 1776. Johann Henrich Eyl was one of the Hessians taken as a POW captured at Trenton on 26 December 1776.
Captured Solders were held at Lancaster, York, Reading, and other places in the area, including Philadelphia
He was on the list of POWs marched from Lancaster on 17 June 1778 to be exchanged at Philadelphia. However, it appears he missed the exchange of prisoners at Philadelphia as the British evacuated and crossed the River on the 15th. It is believed that they later marched to Elizabethtown, New Jersey where they were exchanged (back to the British) in late July or early August 1778.
The regiments v. Knyphausen (KNY) and v. Lofberg (LOS) were ordered to Quebec in the fall of 1779 and embarked on six transport ships, the ships Archer, Triton & Molly for KNY and King George, Adamant & Badger for LOS. Shortly after they departed New York in September, they encountered a hurricane with the loss of all hands on one of the ships carrying the LOS troops. The Triton and Molly were damaged and subsequently captured by American privateers and many of the Trenton POWs (who had been exchanged back to the British) found themselves POWs for a second time.
Prisoners caught from the ships were held at New Gaol, Philadelphia. However, there is a possibility he was on the Archer and made it to Canada.
On 5 Nov 1782 a Henry Oill, a deserter from the Hessian Line, took an “Oath of Allegiance†at Philadelphia, to Plunket Fleeson. He had come from New York (Island), prior to desertion.
One of Henry’s children was known as John “â€Oilesâ€, confirming the use of the name Oiles by Henry’s family.
He may have joined the American Army also on 5 Nov 1782, along with Henry Hammer.
Johann Henrich EYL “sold himself in the USA†, indentured for three years.
He married Mary STINE, born abt 1764 in Reading , Pennsylvania. They had nine children between 1784 and 1804. Their first children were born in Pennsylvania but Adam may have been born in Rockingham, Virginia. David, George and possibly Sarah were also likely born in Virginia.
Henry and his family relocated from Virginia to Ohio about 1809 and is listed as the first settler of Bennington Twp., Licking County, Ohio. He died 14 Jan 1814 in Licking County Ohio, about 63 years of age.
I would appreciate any additional information that anyone has about Henry Iles, his roots and descendants.
Robert (Bob) Smothers
Colonel, USAF (Ret)
rsmothers @san.rr.com
La Jolla, California