Ludwig Alberti was born around 1767 or 1768 in Pyrmont, Germany. He sailed as captain commandant of the Colonel's Company of the 5th Waldeck Battalion in the service of the Batavian Republic (Holland). He then served at the Cape as commander of the Jaeger Company of the battalion, due to promotions and transfers resulting from the death of Colonel Friederich von Wilmowsky while en route to the Cape. The 5th Waldeck Battalion is a later designation of the 3rd English-Waldeck Regiment, which fought for England against American colonists from 1776 to 1783. During the voyage of the 5th Waldeck Battalion from Alkmaar in North Holland to the Cape of Good Hope, and during the unit's stay there, Captain Ludwig Alberti kept a diary, which Bruce Burgoyne has translated from the original German.
Captain Alberti shares the details of shipboard life, as well as descriptions of his visits to Lisbon and the Canary Islands, and marine life he witnessed along the way. Mr. Burgoyne is a recipient of the Benjamin Franklin Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Revolution Roundtable of Philadelphia and the Gold Good Citizen Medal from the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution.
Bruce E. Burgoyne
2008, 5½x8½, paper, 134 pp.
ISBN: 9780788445446
101-B4544
