Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/703

Rh operations of the seven years' war. Resigning his post in the army, he was presented with the canonry of the cathedral of Haselberg on a salary of 1,200 florins, and afterward was made grand marshal to the Prince of Hohenzollern, with an additional salary of 1,200 florins. Although he received brilliant offers from the king of Sardinia and emperor of Austria to enter their service, he declined, and, with a salary that enabled him to live in elegant ease, he felt no desire to re-enter military life. But in 1777, while on his way to England to visit some English noblemen, he spent some time at Paris. Meeting here Count St. Germain, the French minister of war, who, knowing that the great weakness of the American colonists lay in their ignorance of military tactics and want of discipline, endeavored to persuade him to come to this country and instruct the soldiers. But the baron declined to give up his honors and his ample income and risk everything on our desperate fortunes. The French minister, however, brought about an interview with Benjamin Franklin and Silas Deane. The manner with which the former received him offended him, and this, with other reasons, caused him to abandon the project altogether. Recalled by Germain, he at length yielded to the latter's solicitations and promises, and resolved to cast his fortunes with the struggling colonies. Embarking in a French gun-boat under the name of Frank, he set sail from Marseilles, 11 Dec., 1777, and after a stormy passage of fifty-five days, during which the forecastle took fire three times while there were 1,700 pounds of powder aboard, and a mutiny was suppressed, he arrived at Portsmouth, N. H. The entire population went out to receive him. He at once wrote to congress, offering his services to the colonies, saying that the motive that brought him here was to &ldquo;serve a nation engaged in the noble work of defending its rights and liberties,&rdquo; and adding that, although he had &ldquo;given up an honorable title and lucrative rank,&rdquo; he asked &ldquo;neither riches nor honors.&rdquo; To Washington he expressed the same sentiments, and said he wished to serve simply as a volunteer. He immediately began his journey inland for the south. A Tory landlord, in the course of the journey, declared that he had neither bed nor provisions for the party. Steuben levelled his pistol at the man's head and demanded both. They were quickly furnished, and in the morning the baron liberally rewarded his host in continental money. Presenting himself to congress, he proposed to enter the army as a volunteer, and, if his &ldquo;services were not satisfactory or the colonies failed to establish their independence, he was to receive nothing.&rdquo; If, on the other hand, they were successful and he remained in the army, he expected &ldquo;to be refunded the income he had given up, and remunerated for his services.&rdquo; This generous offer was accepted, and he departed for Valley Forge, where the American army lay encamped. When the aide-de-camp of Frederick the Great reached the wintry encampment and saw the half-starved soldiers creep out of their huts, poorly armed and only half clad, he was astounded and said &ldquo;no European army could be kept together a week in such a state.&rdquo; A less noble and less resolute nature would have abandoned his enterprise at the outset. He began at once, and from that day our whole military system assumed new shape. The awkwardness of the men, at times, would throw him into terrible rage, but his kindness, care, and liberality toward the suffering soldier made him beloved by all. In May, 1778, congress, acting under the advice of Washington, made him inspector-general of the army with the rank of major-general, and he at once entered on his duties and appointed sub-inspectors throughout the army. A thorough system of discipline and economy was established, until the whole army became a single machine in his hands. It is impossible to give in detail the great work he accomplished. It was unseen by the country in general, for it was unattended with outward display, but it can be safely said that no major-general in the field did half so much toward our success as this great organizer and disciplinarian. The result of this discipline was seen in the next campaign, in the battle of Monmouth, when he rallied the retreating and disordered troop of Gen. Charles Lee like veterans. He commanded here the left wing, and Alexander Hamilton, who saw the steady action of the troops under Baron Steuben, said he &ldquo;had never known till that day the value of discipline.&rdquo;

In the trial of Lee that followed, the testimony of Steuben offended the former, and he made some disparaging remarks in regard to it. Steuben instantly challenged him, but Lee apologized, and nothing came of the matter. Steuben now wished to take command in the field as major-general, but the American officers manifested so much opposition to it, on account of being outranked, that he withdrew his request and devoted himself to his old monotonous work, much of which seemed to him more befitting a drill-sergeant than a major-general. In the autumn of 1780 he published a manual for the army, furnished with diagrams to explain his rules. It was entitled &ldquo;Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States.&rdquo; Each chapter was written first in poor German, then translated into poor French, then put into good French, and lastly into good English, in which last condition it was entirely unintelligible to Steuben. It nevertheless served its purpose, became the law and guide of the army, and, even after the war, was adopted by several of the states. In this year he was selected as one of the court-martial to try Maj. John André. After the defeat of Gen. Horatio Gates at Camden he was sent to Virginia to aid Gen. Nathanael Greene, then operating in North Carolina. Although he now had his desire &mdash; a separate command &mdash; it was of little consequence to him, as his chief duty was to forward troops to Greene as fast as he could raise them. The result was, when Arnold invaded Virginia he had only 150 men under him, and he was compelled to see the traitor ravage the country before his eyes; but he did everything in his power to harass him. Soon afterward Cornwallis was besieged in Yorktown, and Steuben took his place as major-general in the line. He was in the trenches when the proposition to surrender was received. Lafayette came to relieve him; but this he refused, declaring that European etiquette required that the officer that received the first overtures of surrender must, out of respect to his command, keep his post till the terms of capitulation were agreed upon or hostilities resumed.