[Pharmboy]

Well, they were only a few generations away from the first German invasion of NYC--during the Revolutionary War. Thousands of Hessians accompanied Howe and Cornwallis when they invaded Brooklyn from Staten Island and landed at Gravesend. The Battle of Brooklyn ensued (August, 1776) and they kicked Patriot butt.

Then, the Hessians invaded Manhattan from across the east River and landed at Kip's Bay (present day 34th Street and First Ave. The Brits and their Hessian allies held New York City for the entire war after that and did not leave until 1783. So you see, this is not as unusual as it seems.

[txzman]

You forgot to mention Saratoga, where the American farmers kicked Hessian and British butt. Although the Hessians fought tenaciously and nobly, they were no match for the unorthodox, persistent Americans who refused to be stopped.

[Wm Bach]

...their Hessian allies held New York City for the entire war after that and did not leave until 1783.

Some never left at all, but having secured the animosity of the Yankee patriots after the war (two Hessian soldiers came to a violent and ignoble end in the old inn in which I was raised), chose to settle in the bony hills between the Hudson and the Housatonic. After a few generations of inbreeding, these outcast families came to be known as the "raggies". Some of these genetically enfeebled descendents were still living the hillbilly porch life as recently as the 1970s.