Frederika Charlotte Riedesel

Frederika Charlotte Louise von Massow, Baroness (Freifrau) Riedesel zu Eisenbach (1746-1808) was a German writer. She was the wife of General Friedrich Adolf Riedesel of Brunswick. She accompanied him during the Saratoga Campaign in the American Revolutionary War and kept a journal of the campaign. In the histories sponsored by the Riedesel family, she is referred to as Charlotte. It was common for Germans at the time to be called by one of their middle names. Early life Charlotte was born on 11 July 1746 at Brandenburg. Her father, Valentin von Massow, was a Prussian official, but had been a Lieutenant General in the Prussian army. Charlotte had travelled with the Prussian army as a child, and learned the hard life of a camp follower. In 1762, Charlotte helped care for Lieutenant Colonel Riedesel, who had been wounded in battle during the Seven Years' War. They were married that same year; Charlotte was sixteen years old. Friedrich Adolph Riedesel was a member of the line of Riedesel zu Eisenbach, and like all his male cousins had the title of Freiherr or Baron. He was not "the Baron" or "von Riedesel." Upon their marriage Charlotte gained the title of Freifrau or Baroness Riedesel zu Eisenbach. She was described as looking more like an unmarried school girl than a married woman. She would grow into a red-haired baroness, "full in figure and possessing no small share of beauty." In the following years, the Riedesels had two daughters, Gustava and Frederica, and Charlotte was pregnant with a third, Carolina, in 1776 when Brunswick signed a treaty to support Great Britain in the suppression of the rebellion in their American colonies. Friedrich was promoted to General and named commander of the Brunswick army, and he referred to Charlotte as "Mrs. General".