The diary follows Hessian soldier Johannes Reuber from 1776 to 1783. He describes his sea voyages in detail, the hardships involved and the weather. He saw action in New York and was captured at Trenton at the time of Washington's surprise crossing of the Delaware river. He spent time as a prisoner in Philadelphia, then Lancaster,Pa. and in Winchester, Virginia. After being freed,the remainder of the war was mostly spent in Savannah,Georgia and other parts of the South. He returned to Germany in 1783.