Extracts From the Diary of Lieutenant John Charles Philip 

 von Krafft, 1776-1784^ 



Ira K. Morris 



John Charles Philip von Krafft was born in Dresden, Saxony, 

 on Thursday, August 21, 1752. He is said to have been of a 

 baronial family, whose seat was at Delitzsch-on-the-Hill, near 

 Leipzig, in Saxony, and to have borne the title of Baron. A 

 drawing of his coat armor, made by himself, has inscribed on its 

 reverse, in his handwriting, "Related to the Princes of Hohen- 

 lohe." He was also related to other families of rank, in Prussia 

 and Saxony, and was descended from ancestors who had been 

 officers in the military service of Prussia for generations. 



On the 4th of July, 1773, he was commissioned ensign in 

 Major-General von Luck's regiment of fusiliers, in the Prussian 

 army, under Frederick the Great, and on the 29th of December, 

 in the same year, second lieutenant in the same regiment. In the 

 beginning of 1776 he was lieutenant of the second company of 

 grenadiers, in the fusilier regiment of von Luck. The regiment 

 was then stationed at Braunsberg, a garrison town of Eastern 

 Prussia. 



During the early part of 1776, becoming wearied of the life of 

 a garrison town, with its dinners at the General's, sleighrides, 

 flirtations, duels with fellow officers, etc., he determined to resign. 

 The king refused his application. Finally, however, he reported 

 for duty for the last time. 



After visiting St. Petersburg in his wanderings and refusing a 

 commission in the Russian army he became a volunteer on board 

 an American privateer, bound from France to Philadelphia. 

 After varied experiences and hardships he became a non-com- 



1 Presented in abstract at the meeting of the Association November 20, 

 1915. Compiled from publications in the possession of the New York 

 Historical Society. 



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