The Headless Horseman

Washington Irving has captured the hearts of all of us yearning for the strange and usual (and slightly autumnal). In fact, we have another blog post all about a town named after him with its own astonishing legends. But were some of his stories possibly inspired by real life events? Yes and no…this is the tale of the people and folklore that inspired Irving’s Headless Horseman.

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The horrors of the Revolutionary War don't need any additional embellishment to be horrifying, especially in October. In fall, into winter, the letters describing the horrific conditions were plentiful. They went into great detail about the disease, death, and absolute filth that surrounded them at almost all times. 

How do we know the Headless Horseman is tied to the Revolutionary War? Irving himself describes the Headless Horseman in Sleepy Hollow (which is a real place) as: “the ghost of a Hessian trooper, whose head had been carried away by a cannonball, in some nameless battle during the Revolutionary War.” He is described as riding a black horse, and carrying his own head in his hands (or, in some more colorful depictions, a flaming jack-o-lantern. 

If you're like me, you're probably wondering what a Hessian soldier is. They were German mercenary troops that the British sent in to fight against the Americans during the Revolutionary War. Their name was from the region many of them hailed from, Hesse-Kassel. There was unending gossip amongst the Americans that the Hessians were bloodthirsty super soldiers and many feared them deeply. 

Specifically, the book seems to mention the Battle of White Plains being the death of the Headless Horseman. Major General William Heath of the American army remembered a particular skirmish that occurred a few days later on November 1, 1776 when “a shot from the American cannon at this place took off the head of a Hessian artilleryman. They also left one of the artillery horses dead on the field.” This moment that General Heath saw may have very well been the inspiration behind the Headless Horseman we know and love.

Some believe that the Hessian description was only a colorful way to describe the horseman in the way that would feel contemporary and scary to current readers and that, in fact, the origins of Irving's inspiration was much deeper. In Irish folklore, there is something called the "dullahan" which translates to the "dark man." This creature is a demonic headless fae that rides a horse and carries his head under his arm (sound familiar?). In addition to his head, in the other hand he holds a strange whip made from a human spine that has been ripped out. 

Whatever rabbit hole you choose to go down, to this day there remains a lone nameless Hessian grave in the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, and there have been many attempts to identify this soldier. But perhaps we know who he is: The Headless Horseman.

The interesting fact is that many Hessian soldiers actually decided to stay in America. Hessians were often pressed into mercenary service by their princes and much preferred life in America after the war. 

Thanks to LD in KY for this blogstonishing suggestion!

The feature image is The Headless Horseman pursues Ichabod Crane in an illustration by Edward Hull. This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer.