Who was the guy called the Headless Horseman in the story of Ichabod Crane?
In the Washington Irving version of the story (which may be the original, I don't know if he based it on an earlier story or not), the Horseman is the ghost of a Hessian mercenary who fought died during the American Revolutionary War (if you don't know about this, Hessians were German mercenaries that were hired by the British). However, in this story, the guy never is given a name. He might be given a name in other versions of the story, but I am only really familiar with the Washington Irving version the various movies based on that story.
Legend of Sleepy Hollow--The legend was that the headless horseman was the ghost of a Hessian soldier but the reality is that it's no doubt Van Brunt dressed up as the legendary horseman to scare Crane and make a fool of him so he is no longer in competition with Van Brunt for winning the hand of Katrina van Tassel.
He doesn't really have a name, just a Hessian mercenary whose head was blown off by cannon fire during the Revolutionary War. Or if I may quote that guy from wrestling, it doesn't matter what his name is. Of course, his oh-so-coincidental appearance in the presence of Ichabod Crane is largely thought to be the work of Abraham Van Brunt. Ichabod was getting a little too close to his would-be old lady, so he used Ichabod's superstitions against him to scare him out of town. And it worked. The next morning, Ichabod was nowhere to be found and all that was left was a saddle and a shattered pumpkin. When I was a kid, the Disney version of that story scared the living shat out of me. It wasn't so much the headless guy, it was that demon horse with the glowing eyes.
