PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES Most
importantly, however, von Steuben taught the Americans to move like a professional army by teaching all of them one common set of drills consisting of simpli- fied Prussian military drills. His plan was to teach his drills to a select group of about 150 soldiers drawn from Washington’s Life Guard and from other units of the army. Then, when they had mas- tered the maneuvers, he planned to send those not in the Life Guard back to their units to teach the rest of the army the new drills. There were, however, obstacles to overcome. Von Steuben spoke German and French, but he spoke no English. Consequently, at first he wrote out his drill instructions in French the day before a train- ing session and then had them translated into English by his French aide, Pierre Duponceau. After that, Alexander Hamilton and John Laurens, who were then officers on Washington’s staff, ed- ited the instructions and trans- lated them into American English. Von Steuben would then spend the evening memorizing the drills in English so that he could give them to the troops on the parade ground the next day.
However, because von Steuben
didn’t always pronounce English words correctly and had such a thick accent, this method of teach- ing didn’t work and quickly re- sulted in general confusion. To make the training go more smoothly, an American officer who spoke French stood with von Steuben and translated his com- mands from French into English, and soon the troops were march- ing in step in regular columns, firing volleys on command, and changing from marching columns into firing lines and back into marching columns again with great precision.
Noting the American troops’ in-
dependent spirit, von Steuben later wrote to the French minister of war: “You say to your [European] soldier, ‘Do this,’ and he does it; But I am obliged to say [to an American soldier], ‘This is the reason why you ought to do that,’ and then he does it.” Nonetheless, von Steuben would go on to state that the American troops in his charge at Valley Forge made “a more rapid Progress than any other Army would
T H E E L K S M A G A Z I N E
have made in so Short a time.” For their part, the troops valued von Steuben’s leadership and came to like him. In the spring of 1778, Congress formally made Baron von Steuben inspector general of the Continental Army and gave him the rank of major general.
Resupply and Attack
u Alexander Hamilton, who was an officer on Washington’s staff during the winter of 1777–1778, was instrumental in helping Baron von Steuben train the American troops at Valley Forge.
While the troops were being taught the art of warfare by Baron von Steuben, an effort to ensure that the army had adequate sup- plies was being made. By early spring, the quartermaster and commissary departments respon- sible for supplying the Continen- tal Army were in the process of being reorganized, and to lead these reorganized departments, the Continental Congress ap- pointed the army’s youngest gen- eral, Brigadier General Nathanael Greene, as the army’s new quar- termaster general.
Greene was reluctant to take up the unglamorous but crucial job, saying: “[N]o body ever heard of a quarter Master in History.” Nonetheless, after many appeals from George Washington and members of Congress, who prom- ised him that he would continue to command in the field once the army left Valley Forge, Greene agreed to take the position. Under General Greene’s lead- ership, wagons loaded with sup- plies
began conveying much-
u In 1778, Brigadier General Nathanael Greene ac- cepted the position of quartermaster general of the Continental Army. Under his leadership, the army be- gan to receive the supplies it needed at Valley Forge.
needed provisions to the stricken army at Valley Forge. At the same time, the army’s numbers were growing, until Washington had about 13,500 soldiers under his command. The Continental Army had been ravaged by starvation, disease, cold, and hunger, but the men had doggedly persevered. As Private Joseph Plumb Martin wrote: “[W]e had engaged in the defense of our injured country and were willing, nay, we were deter-
mined to persevere as long as such hardships were not altogether intolerable.” Having been trained by Baron von Steuben and having been largely resupplied by the efforts of General Greene, the Continental Army quit its winter camp at Valley Forge in the spring of 1778 and almost immediately set out to fight the British. At the Battle of Monmouth, which took
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