The Baron Friedrich Adolf Riedesel zu Eisenbach (3 June 1738 – 6 January 1800) was a senior officer of Brunswick–Luneburg troops who commanded jägers in the Northern theater of the American War of Independence.

Riedesel also gained the attention of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, and by 1761, he was in command of two Brunswicker regiments as their Colonel.

In December the couple wed at Paderborn and settled in Brunswick's capital city of Wolfenbüttel, where they lived quietly for several years.

In 1776, Duke Charles I signed a treaty with George III of the United Kingdom to provide 4,000 foot soldiers and 350 heavy dragoons for British service.

General Riedesel was put in command of all German[note 1] and American Indian forces during the Saratoga campaign of 1777.

One example of Riedesel's disagreements with Burgoyne came after his victory at the Battle of Hubbardton, when rebels under Seth Warner gathered to attack loyalists under Philip Skene at Castle Town, Vermont.

Burgoyne stalled, however, and ordered Riedesel to continue his advance instead of stopping to fight Warner's militia.

Her Letters and Journals Relating to the War of the American Revolution and the Capture of the German Troops at Saratoga is an important resource for knowledge of the campaign and its key personalities.

Her harrowing account of her experiences in what is now known as the Marshall House where her husband had sent her to seek shelter during the closing days of the siege at Saratoga is one of the vivid episodes of the American Revolution.

In 1781, Quebec governor Frederick Haldimand named Riedesel officer in charge of the Sorel District, where he and his family stayed until his departure from North America at the end of Summer 1783.

According to Charlotte's diary [8] and local lore, the Riedesels introduced the custom of an illuminated Christmas tree in North America while in Sorel in 1781.