Marriage(s) and Relationships:Notes: Friedrich Wilhelm Ludorf Gerhard Augustin.
Source: Leo van de Pas.
Background on General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben
General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben was born on September 17, 1730 at
Magdeburg, Prussia (Germany). As a descendent of a noble
family, he was reared in the rigorous military school of Frederick the
Great. The King chose him as one of six officers who were personally
instructed by him in the science of war and military tactics. When the
Seven Years War (1756-1763) came to an end, von Steuben accepted
the position of Grand Marshall at the Court of the Prince of
Hohenzollern-Hechingen.
In the fledgling U.S., soon after the Declaration of Independence, the
Continental Congress appointed a commission to go to France to ask
her assistance. In 1777, while traveling to France, Benjamin Franklin met
again with an old friend, Count St. Germain, who was in the service of
the King of France as Secretary of War. Franklin had orders to solicit
money and military supplies, as well as to secure, if possible, the
service of such expert European officers as might be useful to the
American cause. It was there that Franklin, through St. Germain, met
General von Steuben.
To Franklin's joy, General von Steuben did not require much persuasion.
The interest of the German people in America and American affairs was at
all times intense. Many thousands of men and women had already immigrated
to the New World. General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben came to America
in December of 1777. He traveled first to Boston, where he was
entertained by John Hancock, the former president of the Continental
Congress. The Congress was only too glad to secure the service of a
distinguished soldier. On January 14, 1778, the Congress cheerfully
accepted his service as a volunteer in the Continental Army (Steuben
offered his service without rank or pay) and ordered him to report to
General Washington's quarters as soon as possible.
General von Steuben arrived at Valley Forge and was welcomed heartily by
General Washington. The conditions von Steuben was to face at Valley
Forge were desperate beyond belief. Enjoying the approval of Washington,
von Steuben began immediately the difficult task of
making soldiers out of the untrained recruits. On May 5, 1778, Congress
approved General Washington's recommendation and appointed
von Steuben to the office of Inspector General of the Army. It did not
take long for the results of the many improvements introduced by von
Steuben to become evident.
Most importantly, on June 28, 1778, American troops encountered the
British Army near Monmouth Courthouse in the town of Freehold, NJ.
What was expected to be a total defeat for the Colonial forces turned
into a glorious victory by General von Steuben. The retreating troops
of General Lee were brought to a halt by von Steuben and consequently
reformed under heavy fire, leading to the American troops' win.
Colonel Alexander Hamilton, an eye witness, declared that von Steuben's
system of drilling, reviews and inspection, imbued the officers as
well as the soldiers with the confidence that from now on they were on
equal ground with the armies of the enemy.
The Monmouth battle was followed by victories at Stony Point, Yorktown
and others. Von Steuben was particularly instrumental in the defeat of
Cornwallis in the Siege of Yorktown in 1781. In between battles, when
winter interrupted military operations, von Steuben prepared a complete
book of regulations known in the Army as "Steuben Regulations" or "The
Blue Book," which effectively became the United States Army training
manual.
Emphasizing Steuben's importance to the American cause, George Washington
wrote to Steuben on December 23, 1783, " I wish to make use of this last
moment in public life to signify in the strongest terms my entire
approbation of your conduct and to express my sense of the obligation the
public is under to you for your faithful and meritorious service."
Steuben's military services in America are likewise very adequately
indicated in General John McCauley Palmer's biography on Steuben by his
most praiseworthy statement: "... In the course of my researches I was
soon convinced that the military services of two men, and two men only,
can be regarded as indispensable to the achievement of American
independence. These two men were Washington and Steuben. When I say that
their military services were indispensable, I mean that each of them
contributed something essential to final victory, that could not have
been contributed by any other man in the American Army..."
By a special act of legislation in March, 1783, Pennsylvania made von
Steuben a full fledged citizen of the Commonwealth. On March 24, 1784,
von Steuben presented his resignation to Congress and turned his energies
to preparing for the defense of New York harbor and later developing the
United States Military Academy at West Point. In May of 1786, the State
of New York, wishing to express their gratitude for his service, granted
him 16,000 acres north of the Mohawk River.
Von Steuben also held the position of President of the "German Society of
New York and Pennsylvania." In 1787, the legislature of the State of New
York elected von Steuben one of the Regents of the State University.
As further evidence of his stature in early American society and his
close relationship to Washington, von Steuben stood next to Washington on
the balcony of City Hall in New York City, when the Father of our
Country, on the 30. of April 1789, solemnly delivered the first oath to
execute faithfully the high office of the Presidency of the United States.
On the morning of November 25., 1794, he suffered an epileptic attack at
his cabin in Oneida County, NY, which led to his passing at noon
on November 28., 1794. He was laid to rest in a hero's grave in Remsen,
New York (Steuben County), where we read the following
inscription on a boulder:
" Indispensable to the Achievement of
American Independence."
Steuben's position as the first Inspector General of the American Army,
his writing of the Blue Book and his contribution to the birth and
development of West Point validate the claim that Steuben is " the father
of the American Army" (Dr. Charles Hexamer).
Today, numerous U.S. roads, squares and other locations are named in
honor of von Steuben, including entire counties in upstate New York and
Indiana. Several statures have been erected to serve his memory,
including those in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, St. Louis, Missouri, Utica, New
York, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, Washington DC and in the German cities
of Magdeburg and Potsdam.
Source: The Steuben Society of America, Peter Muehlenberg Unit #39.
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