Baron Von Frederic William Augustus Steuben; a distinguished Prussian
officer, who attached himself to the American cause in the revolution
of 1776. He had been aid-de-camp to Frederic the Great, and had
attained the rank of lieutenant-general in his army. Sacrificing his
honors and emoluments in Europe, Steuben came to America in 1777, and
tendered his services to congress, as a volunteer in their army,
without claiming any rank or compensation. He received the thanks of
that body, and joined the main army under the commander-in-chief at
Valley Forge. Baron Steuben soon rendered himself particularly useful
to the Americans, by disciplining the forces. On the recommendation of
general Washington, congress, in May 1778, appointed the baron
inspector-general of the army, with the rank of major-general. His
efforts in this capacity were continued with remarkable diligence,
until he had placed the troops in a situation to withstand the enemy.
In the estimates of the war office, 5000 extra muskets were generally
allowed for the waste and destruction in the army; but such was the
exact order under the superintendence of Steuben, that in his
inspection return, but three muskets were deficient, and those
accounted for. A complete scheme of exercise and discipline, which he
composed, was adopted in the army by the direction of congress. He
possessed the right of command in the line, and at one period was at
the head of a separate detachment in Virginia. At the battle of
Monmouth he was engaged as a volunteer. When reviewing the troops, it
was his constant custom to reward the disciplined soldier with praise,
and to pass severe censure upon the negligent. Numerous anecdotes are
related illustrative of the generosity, purity and kindness of his
disposition. After the treacherous defection of Arnold, the baron held
his name in the utmost abhorrence. One day, he was inspecting a
regiment of light horse, when that name struck his ear. The man was
ordered to the front, and presented an excellent appearance. Steuben
told him that he was too respectable to bear the name of a traitor;
and at his request the soldier adopted that of the baron, whose bounty
he afterwards experienced, and brought up a son by the same name.
At the siege of Yorktown, baron Steuben was in the trenches at the
head of a division, where he received the first offer of lord
Cornwallis to capitulate. The marquis de Lafayette appeared to relieve
him in the morning; but, adhering to the European etiquette, the baron
would not quit his post until the surrender was completed or
hostilities recommenced. The matter being referred to general
Washington, the baron was suffered to remain in the trenches till the
enemy’s flag was struck. After the capture of Cornwallis, when the
superior American officers were paying every attention to their
captives, Steuben sold his favorite horse in order to raise money to
give an entertainment to the British officers, as the other
major-generals had previously done. His watch he had previously
disposed of to relieve the wants of a sick friend. On another
occasion, when he desired to reciprocate the invitations of the French
officers, he ordered his people to sell his silver spoons and forks
saying it was anti-republican to make use of such things, and adding,
that the gentlemen should have one good dinner if he ate his meals
with a wooden spoon for ever after. Steuben continued in the army till
the close of the war, perfecting its discipline. The silence and
dexterity of his movements surprised the French allies. He possessed
the particular esteem of general Washington, who took every proper
opportunity to recommend him to congress; from which body he received
several sums of money, that were chiefly expended in acts of charity,
or in rewarding the good conduct of the soldiers.
Upon the disbandment of the continental army at Newburgh, many
affectionate bonds, formed amidst the danger and hardships of a long
and arduous service, were to be broken asunder for ever. At this
season of distress, the benevolent Steuben exerted himself to
alleviate the forlorn condition of many. He gave his last dollar to a
wounded black, to procure him a passage home. Peace being established,
the baron retired to a farm in the vicinity of New York, where, in the
society of his friends, and the amusements of books and chess, he
passed his time as comfortably as his exhausted purse would allow. The
state of New Jersey had given him a small farm, and that of New York
16,000 acres of land in the country of Oneida. The exertions of
colonel Hamilton and general Washington subsequently procured him an
annuity of $2500, from the general government. He built a log house,
and cleared 60 acres of his tract of land, a portion of which he
partitioned out, on easy terms, to twenty or thirty tenants, and
distributed nearly a tenth among his aid-de-camps and servants. In
this situation he lived contentedly, until the year 1795, when an
apoplectic attack put an end to his life, in his sixty-fifth year. An
abstract of his system of military manœuvres was published in 1779.
The year preceding his death, he published a letter on the established
militia and military arrangements.