Young Patriots by Marcella Fisher Anderson

Author:Marcella Fisher Anderson [Anderson, Marcella Fisher; Weiss Vollstadt, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-62979-187-6
Publisher: Astra Publishing House
Published: 2015-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

Did you know … that Baron von Steuben was recommended to George Washington by Benjamin Franklin, who was in France in 1777? Historians doubt that von Steuben was really a baron. But he was an expert in military science and knew how to train men. He began with a model company of 150 men, including Washington’s squad, then expanded the training to other units. He insisted that officers drill their own men, a new idea to Continental officers, who felt that such work was beneath them. In the British army, with which they were familiar, sergeants, not officers, did the drilling.

Von Steuben emphasized cleanliness and order, and he encouraged officers to get to know their men and win their trust. He gave orders—yelling and swearing—in German, French, and broken English. But he had a good nature, and the men came to like and respect him. Von Steuben also wrote a training manual. He worked with the men during the day and wrote the next day’s drill in the evening. Alexander Hamilton, one of Washington’s aides, and others translated his manual into English, and then other officers copied it for their brigades.

This newcomer to America stayed with the army until the end of the war and became an American citizen. He loved his new country. During the war, on July 4, 1779, he wrote to a friend in Europe, “What a beautiful, what a happy country this is! Without kings, without prelates, without blood-sucking farmer-generals, and without idle barons. . . . Indeed, I should become too prolix [wordy] were I to give you an account of the prosperity and happiness of these people.”

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