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The term Free Lance was originally a soldier who fought as a mercenary for anyone who would pay him for his service. Now the term is applied to anyone who works for anyone who will pay them, but is not on the regular staff of any company, such as a writer for example.
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Count Donop was a German mercenary. He was born in 1740 and died in 1777. He was commander of the Hessians in the American War of Independence and was mortally wounded in an attempt to take by assault Fort Mercer, near Red Bank, New Jersey on October the 22nd 177 7.
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Frederick Hermann, first Duke of Schomberg, was a German mercenary. He was born in 1615 at Heidelberg and died in 1690. He fought first in the army of the Prince of Orange, and then in the Swedish army against the Imperialists in the Thirty Years War. He then fought for France, conducting a campaign against Spain, and was made marshal. The revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 drove him from France of account of him being a Protestant and he re-entered the service of the Prince of Orange, whom he accompanied to England in 1688. He was appointed commander in Ireland, and fought at the Battle of The Boyne, in which he was killed.
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Edward John Trelawny was an English adventurer and mercenary. He was born in 1792 at Cornwall and died in 1881. After joining the navy he deserted after a short time and travelled the world, meeting Shelley and Lord Byron in Italy in 1822, and becoming close friends with them. After Shelley's death he went to Greece with Lord Byron, whom he left there in order to join a group of insurgents fighting for Greek independence.
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Friedrich Wilhelm Augustus von Steuben (Baron von Steuben) was a German mercenary. He was born in 1730 at Magdeburg and died in 1794. He saw service during the Seven Years' War, and in 1778 approached the American colonists to fight for them against the British during the American War of Independence. He was hired as instructor-general and given the task of reorganising the colonial volunteers. Subsequently he received a command in the field and took a prominent part in the reduction of Yorktown in 1780. He was rewarded with a pension and a grant of land near Utica, New York which he named Steuben township and lived at until his death.
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Sir John Hawkwood was an English mercenary. His date of birth is unknown and he died in 1394. On the invasion of France by Edward III. John Hawkwood was knighted on account of his courage and ability. In 1360 he occupied a prominent place in the marauding companies which harassed France. He next took regular service under the Pisan Republic for twenty-three years, but in 1387 he entered that of the Florentines. He founded the English hospital at Borne, and died at Florence.
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Patrick Gordon was a Scottish mercenary. He was born in 1635 at Auchleuchries and died in 1699. He took service with Charles X of Sweden and fought against the Poles. During ten years he changed sides seven times, and after fighting for the Poles against the Russians, he finally accepted employment under the Tsar. He ingratiated himself with his new master, and was sent on a mission to England to Charles II in 1665. He returned to Russia in time to defeat the Turks. During the absence of Peter the Great from Russia in 1697, Patrick Gordon suppressed the revolt of the Strelitzes. He kept a diary for the last forty years of his life, part of which has been published.
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A galloglass or gallowglass was a heavily armed mercenary soldier, originally Hebridean, maintained by Irish and some other Celtic chiefs from about 1235 to the 16th century.
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A mercenary is a soldier hired by the army of another country or by a private army. Mercenary military service originated in the 14th century, when cash payment on a regular basis was the only means of guaranteeing soldiers' loyalty.
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The Varangian guard was a mercenary force containing many Englishmen, which was maintained at Constantinople (Istanbul) by the East Roman emperors. It originated with a body of troops obtained in 988 by Basil II from Vladimir, prince of Kiev.
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The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
©1993 - 2009 The Probert Encyclopaedia
Southampton, United Kingdom
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