Stubborn memories....

I live near Valley Forge National Park, and so when people visit me I like to take them there. Each time I learn something new.

A favorite Valley Forge landmark is the statue of General Friedrich von Steuben. Where others had tried and failed, he instilled order and pride into Washington's starved and dirty Revolutionary soldiers encamped during a winter so awful that its memory still evokes two timeless expressions: Paine's "times that try men's souls" and Shakespeare's "winter of our discontent":

George Washington's troops could easily be followed as they trudged through the wintry expanse of southeastern Pennsylvania in late December 1777. The soldiers, many of them ragged and shoeless, left bloody footprints in the snow, marking the grueling progress of this army of the American Revolution toward winter quarters at Valley Forge.

There was no shelter for the men when they reached the exposed, hilly landscape of that misnamed redoubt, actually a plateau Washington chose largely for its defensibility. (A nearby hollow had once been the site of a smithy, hence the designation.) Tents provided their only barrier against frost and wind. Their commander in chief insisted that he, too, would shelter in a tent until his troops were able to cut down trees and construct log huts for themselves.

Washington despaired for the fate of his army. "The whole of them," said his comrade-in-arms, Gen. John Sullivan, were "without watch coats, one half without blankets, and more than one third without shoes .. many of them without jackets ... and not a few without shirts." None had enough to eat; some had gone hungry for days. Exhausted and ill, men were deserting in great numbers, heading home to their families and farms. It was a dark moment for the Revolution and for Washington. From his makeshift headquarters, he wrote to warn Congress: "unless some great and capital change suddenly takes place .. this army must inevitably ... starve, dissolve or disperse."

Steuben (who'd been recruited away from the domain of Frederick the Great by Benjamin Franklin) was able to turn this situation around:
His offer of service was accepted, and he reported to Gen. George Washington at Valley Forge, Pa., on 23rd of February. When he arrived at Valley Forge he was appalled by the condition of the army, his own words speak for themselves --"It would be an endless task to enumerate the abuses which nearly ruined the army."

There seemed to be little accountability for supplies, officers could not even sure of the number of men under their command. Equipment of all kinds was lacking, with soldiers without clothing or even muskets, worse still there was a complete lack of discipline.

Troops were even in the habit of coming and going as they pleased, those who living nearby walking away and return to their homes to attend to their farm chores . On the operational level, although they were good individual fighters, the American infantry's ignorance of the elementary principles of drill or manoeuvring often put them at a fatal disadvantage against their well-trained British/ Hanoverian opponents

Steuben immediately took control of this military chaos and set out to change it. Personally becoming a drill sergeant, he started teaching marching, marksmanship and battle tactics. He introduced group training, hand picking 100 men, training them and sending them out to train others. He put into practice camp sanitary methods and established common latrines, away from the tented areas, while tents themselves were erected in lines in a proper military fashion. Soon the camp began to have a ordered disciplined appearance which in turn no doubt effected the self esteem of Washington's troops.

All of this organisation, including the necessary orders, was handicapped by Von Steubens lack of English. However Nathaniel Greene and Alexander Hamilton were great admirers of Steuben's efforts and it was these two men who actually passed on his orders.

Impressed no doubt by the change beginning to come over his army, Washington recommended, to Congress, on 30th of April, 1778, that Von Steuben should be appointed Inspector General of the Army. Congress complied and in May 1778. Not all of Washington's Generals had the same degree of respect for what Steuben was accomplishing. Generals LaFayette, Lee and Mifflin felt that they were being interfered with in the training of troops under their command (This may even have been tinged with a little jealousy?), nevertheless, Steuben continued with his valuable task.

During this time Steuben wrote his training manual known as 'The Blue Book', more formally known as, "Regulations For The Order And Discipline Of The Troops". The book included detailed instructions for the discipline and conduct of officers and enlisted men, as well as organisation of units, and all related issues. Washington approved the book and printing commenced of three thousand copies ordered by Congress.

So much for background. (Modern revisionists, of course, are more fond of Steuben for less important reasons.) On this latest visit, I saw a quote I'd never noticed before, which not only explains how he did it, but which provides historical confirmation of a fundamental aspect of the American psyche:
Baron von Steuben, the former Prussian army officer who came to this country during the Revolution and became the drillmaster of the Continental Army, at one point wrote back to a former colleague in the Prussian army, Baron von Gaudy, about these Americans whom he now found himself training. "[T]he genius of this nation," von Steuben held, "is not in the least to be compared with that of the Prussians, Austrians or French. You say to your soldier, ‘Do this, and he doeth it’; but I am obliged to say, ‘This is the reason why you ought to do that; and then he does it.’"
Americans are not a submissive people, and that's a particularly good thing. (Especially now, when once again we are under attack by people whose principal belief system is based on submission.)

Steuben reminded me again of this Stephen Green classic:

Dread is for the weak; defiance is, perhaps, the American virtue.
Agreed.

And here's the statue:

Steuben.jpg


posted by Eric on 07.05.04 at 11:43 AM





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Comments

A man's man? Interesting. He was a great man. It looks like he synthesized the discipline, order, and efficiency for which Prussia became famous with the America spirit of independence and defiance.

It's too bad that there was no von Steuben in Prussia who would bring to them our sense of freedom. Prussia instead, under Bismark, became a model for tyranny. I guess I'm a Prussophobe, or have become that over the years since reading Chesterton's thoughts on World War I and the events that led up to it. I have long thought of 1914 as the true beginning of the 20th century.

But the uniting of the independent German states under the iron heel of Prussia, and the subsequent German theft of Alsace-Lorraine, which had historically been French, set the pattern for the World Wars to come. Peter Viereck saw this as "the great reversal", the shift on the Right from the conservative cosmopolitanism of Metternich to the brutal nationalism (not patriotism) of Bismark. In that sense, the 20th century began in 1870.

Interesting questions about it all....

Nice post, and a fine history lesson.

You can purchase a reprint of von Steuben's "blue book" here for about $10:

http://www.mjdtools.com/books/42256.htm

-vc

Varius Contrarius   ·  July 5, 2004 03:15 PM

I can't believe I haven't spent any time up at Valley Forge in the few years I've lived here. I've hit much more obscure places.

Anyway, I would always see signs for the Steuben Parade when I lived in NE Philly. It looks like they are pretty active from their website. Lots of events. Many involve beer. I feel my German heritage calling me to join...

Nathan Hamm   ·  July 5, 2004 11:21 PM

In deference to Baron von Steuben, the Regulations for the Corps of Cadets at West Point are still known as "the Blue Book". These manuals are even printed with blue covers.

Darren   ·  July 6, 2004 05:43 PM

A foot in the hand is worth 1000 words!

Von Steuben's former personal secretary   ·  July 6, 2004 10:07 PM


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