Steuben, Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin, Baron von, 1730-1794

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Friedrich Wilhelm August Heinrich Ferdinand von Steuben (born Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin Louis von Steuben; September 17, 1730 – November 28, 1794), also referred to as Baron von Steuben (German: [fɔn ˈʃtɔʏbm̩]), was a Prussian military officer who played a leading role in the American Revolutionary War by reforming the Continental Army into a disciplined and professional fighting force.[1] His contributions marked a significant improvement in the performance of American troops, and he is subsequently regarded as one of the fathers of the United States Army.[2]

Born into a military family, Steuben was exposed to war from an early age; at 14 years old, he observed his father directing Prussian engineers in the 1744 siege of Prague. At age 16 or 17, he enlisted in the Prussian Army,[3][4] which was considered the most professional and disciplined in Europe.[5] During his 17 years of military service, Steuben took part in several battles in the Seven Years' War (1756–63), rose to the rank of captain, and became aide-de-camp to Prussian King Frederick the Great, who was renowned for his military prowess and strategy. Steuben's career culminated in his attendance of Frederick's elite school for young military officers, after which he was abruptly discharged from the army in 1763, allegedly by the machinations of a rival.[6]

Steuben spent 11 years as court chamberlain to the prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen, a small German principality. In 1769, the Duchess of Wurttemburg, a niece of Frederick, named him to the chivalric Order of Fidelity, a meritorious award that conferred the title, Freiherr, or "free lord";[7] in 1771, his service to Hollenzollern-Hechingen earned him the title baron.[8] In 1775, as the American Revolution had begun, Steuben saw a reduction in his salary and sought some form of military work; unable to find employment in peacetime Europe, he joined the American war effort through mutual French contacts with American diplomats, most notably ambassador to France Benjamin Franklin. Due to his military exploits, and his willingness to serve the Americans without compensation, Steuben made a positive impression on both Congress and General George Washington, who appointed him as temporary Inspector General of the Continental Army.

Appalled by the state of American forces, Steuben took the lead in teaching soldiers the essentials of military drills, tactics, and discipline based on Prussian techniques.[9] He wrote Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States, which remained the army's drill manual for decades, and continues to influence modern U.S. army manuals.[10][11] Steuben also addressed widespread administrative waste and graft, helping save desperately needed supplies and funds. As these reforms began bearing fruit on the battlefield, in 1778, Congress, on Washington's recommendation, commissioned Steuben as Inspector General with the rank of Major General. He served the remainder of the war as Washington's chief of staff and one of his most trusted advisors.[12][13]

After the war, Steuben was made a U.S. citizen and granted a large estate in New York in reward for his service. In 1780, he was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society, a learned society that included most of the nation's most prominent founding fathers.[14]

Baron von Steuben was born in the fortress town of Magdeburg, Germany, on September 17, 1730, the son of Royal Prussian Engineer Capt. Wilhelm von Steuben and his wife, Elizabeth von Jagvodin.

In 1764, Steuben became Hofmarschall to Fürst Josef Friedrich Wilhelm of Hohenzollern-Hechingen, a post he held until 1777.

It is speculated that he was, or was accused to be, a homosexual. It is unknown whether or not this occurred, and either way, no charges were pursued.[23]

Upon the Count's recommendation, Steuben was introduced to future president George Washington by means of a letter from Franklin as a "Lieutenant General in the King of Prussia's service", an exaggeration of his actual credentials that appears to be based on a mistranslation of his service record. He was advanced travel funds and left Europe from Marseilles on Friday, September 26, 1777, on board the frigate Flamand.[21]

The Baron, his Italian Greyhound Azor (which he took with him everywhere), his young aide-de-camp Louis de Pontière, his military secretary, Peter Stephen Du Ponceau (then called Pierre Etienne Du Ponceau), and two other companions, reached Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on December 1, 1777, where they were almost arrested for being British because Steuben had mistakenly outfitted them in red uniforms.[19] They were extravagantly entertained in Boston.[citation needed] On February 5, 1778, Steuben and his party arrived in York, Pennsylvania, where the Continental Congress had relocated after being ousted from Philadelphia by the British advance. Arrangements were made for Steuben to be paid following the successful completion of the war according to his contributions. He arrived at Valley Forge on February 23, 1778, and reported for duty as a volunteer. One soldier's first impression of the Baron was "of the ancient fabled God of War ... he seemed to me a perfect personification of Mars. The trappings of his horse, the enormous holsters of his pistols, his large size, and his strikingly martial aspect, all seemed to favor the idea. He turned the volunteers into a great army."[19]

Steuben became a U.S. citizen by act of the Pennsylvania legislature in March 1784 and later by the New York authorities in July 1786. With the war over, Steuben resigned from service and first settled with his longtime companion, William North, for whom he created a special room at his retreat he called the Louvre[37] on Manhattan Island, where he became a prominent figure and elder in the German Reformed Church. From 1785 until his death in 1794, he served as president of the German Society of the City of New York, a charitable society founded in 1784 to assist German immigrants.[38]

In 1786 during Shays' Rebellion, under the written name "Belisarius", Steuben criticized the Massachusetts government for being an oligarchy.[39]

On December 23, 1783, the state of New Jersey presented him with the use of an estate in Bergen County now known as Steuben House,[40] which had been confiscated from Loyalist Jan Zabriskie in 1781. Located in the formerly strategic New Bridge Landing, the estate included a gristmill and about 40 acres (16 ha) of land. Legislators initially conditioned the grant, requiring Steuben to "hold, occupy and enjoy the said estate in person, and not by tenant." Gen. Philemon Dickinson of the New Jersey Militia informed the baron of this gift and responded to his inquiries that "there are on the premises an exceeding good House, an excellent barn, together with many useful outbuildings, all of which I am told, want some repairs...there is...a Grist-mill; a good Orchard, some meadow Ground, & plenty of Wood. The distance from N York by land 15 miles, but you may keep a boat & go from your own door to N York by water – Oysters, Fish & wild fowl in abundance – Possession will be given to you in the Spring, when you will take a view of the premises."[41] Von Steuben spent considerable sums to repair wartime damages to the house and restore its commercial operations under former aide Walker.

On September 5, 1788, the New Jersey Legislature gave Baron von Steuben full title to the former Zabriskie estate. A month later, recognizing his financial embarrassment, Steuben wrote another former aide-de-camp and companion, William North, recognizing: "The Jersey Estate must and is to be sold. Walker is my administrator, all debts are to be paid out of it." On November 6, 1788, Steuben again wrote North (at his new home in Duanesburg, New York), noting "My Jersey Estate is Advertised but not yet Sold, from this Walker Shall immediately pay to you the money, you so generously lend me and all my debts in New-York will be payed. I support my present poverty with more heroism than I Expected. All Clubs and parties are renounced, I seldom leave the House."[42] Steuben eventually sold the New Jersey property to a son of the previous owner, and it remained in the Zabriskie family until 1909. It is the only remaining eighteenth-century building that von Steuben owned.

Von Steuben was present at the first inauguration of George Washington in New York in 1789.[43]

Von Steuben moved upstate and settled in Oneida County on a small estate in the vicinity of Rome, New York, on land granted to him for his military service and where he had spent summers. He was later appointed a regent for what evolved into the University of the State of New York. In 1790, Congress awarded him a pension of $2,500 a year, which he kept until his death.[44]

Von Steuben died on November 28, 1794, at his estate in Oneida County,[45] and was buried in a grove at what became the Steuben Memorial State Historic Site.[46][page needed] The estate became part of the town of Steuben, New York, which was named for him.

Von Steuben had arrived in the United States with his 17-year-old secretary, Peter Stephen Du Ponceau.[47] At Valley Forge, he began close relationships with Benjamin Walker and William North, then both military officers in their 20s.[48][page needed] Von Steuben formally adopted Walker and North and made them his heirs.[49][50] He never married and had no children, and he did not care much for his European relatives.[16] Thus, he left his estate to his companions and aides-de-camp, Walker and North, with whom he had had an "extraordinarily intense emotional relationship ... treating them as surrogate sons."[51] A third young man, John W. Mulligan (1774–1862), who also considered himself one of von Steuben's "sons," inherited his vast library, collection of maps and $2,500 in cash.[52][unreliable source?] Following von Steuben's death, North divided the property bequeathed to him among his military companions.[53]

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Baron Friedrich von Steuben, a Prussian military man hired by George Washington to whip the Continental Army into shape during the darkest days of the Revolutionary War, is known for his bravery and the discipline and grit he brought to the American troops. Historians also think he was homosexual—and served as an openly gay man in the military at a time when sex between men was punished as a crime.

“Though his name is little known among Americans today,” writes Erick Trickey for Smithsonian, “every U.S. soldier is indebted to von Steuben—he created America’s professional army.”

Benjamin Franklin, who recommended von Steuben to Washington, played up his qualifications. He also downplayed rumors that the baron had been dismissed from the Prussian military for homosexuality.

Franklin likely knew of the rumors and the reason that von Steuben suddenly accepted an offer he’d turned down so recently. But he didn’t see von Steuben’s private life as relevant to his military qualifications. Neither did George Washington, who knew of the accusations but welcomed von Steuben to his camp and assigned Alexander Hamilton and John Laurens—both of whom were involved in what some historians have dubbed a “romantic friendship”—as his aides.

Washington approved of von Steuben. “He appears to be much of a gentleman,” he wrote when the baron arrived at camp, “and as far as I have had an opportunity of judging, a man of military knowledge, and acquainted with the world.”

He became close to William North and Benjamin Walker, aides-de-camp who seem to have been involved in their own romantic relationship, and lived with them for two years in camp. It’s likely that von Steuben became romantically and sexually involved with North, though it’s not clear how close he was to Walker.

When the war ended, Baron von Steuben was granted U.S. citizenship and moved to New York with North and Walker. “We love him,” North wrote, “and he deserves it for he loves us tenderly.”

After the war, von Steuben legally adopted both men—a common practice among gay men in an age before same-sex marriage was legal. They lived together, managed his precarious finances and inherited his estate when he died in 1794. John Mulligan, who was also gay, served as von Steuben’s secretary and is thought to have had a relationship with the baron. When von Steuben died, he inherited his library and some money.

Von Steuben may have been one of early America’s most open LGBT figures, but he was hardly the only man whose love of other men was well known. And though he was to have helped save the American army, his contribution is largely forgotten today.

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