The Drillmaster of Valley Forge

0:00Dana Schwartz:This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human. Do you want to find a stress-free way to buy your next car? Start at CarMax and shop your way. If you want to browse with confidence, get pre-qualified online with no impact on your credit score and shop cars within your budget. From luxury cars to family rides, CarMax has options for almost every price range, including more than 25 ,000 cars priced under$25 ,000. So, So, hey, want to get started? Just head to CarMax.com for details and get pre-qualified today. Want to drive? CarMax! Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Menke.

0:43Dana Schwartz:Listener discretion advised. On the chilly morning of February 24th, 1778, in the middle of one of the worst winters of the American Revolutionary War, a carriage emerged from the Pennsylvanian wilderness and drove up towards the Army's camp. After a long ride from York, Pennsylvania, Baron Friedrich William von Steuben and his aides-de-camp finally arrived at Valley Forge. For our American listeners, that name might ring a bell. Valley Forge was the winter camp for the Continental Army during the thick of the American Revolutionary War, and this particular winter has gone down in infamy for the horrible conditions the soldiers faced.

1:37Dana Schwartz:But the Baron didn't know just yet what he had gotten himself into. As the army camp came into view, the Baron's heart started racing with excitement. The noise of the nearly 2 ,000-acre campgrounds grew louder as the Baron and his men rode in. The sounds of thousands of soldiers alongside the many women and other non-combatants at the camp were so familiar to the Baron. He had missed the routine and camaraderie of the military immensely. After a decade without military employment, of wandering around the continent, it felt like he was finally returning home. He had journeyed all the way from Paris to be here, a trip that had taken many months of excruciating travel.

2:29Dana Schwartz:With the camp now in sight, he was practically champing at the bit to get back into the thick of it. General George Washington rode out to welcome the noble newcomer and his caravan. After perfunctory pleasantries, the general led the baron into camp. Their ride together was rather quiet, as George Washington had much on his mind, but the barren anticipation and excitement buoyed both of their spirits. That excitement was soon replaced with the sobering realization of what life at Valley Forge actually looked like. In a letter written that winter, Washington described the conditions as, quote, little less than a famine.

3:17The supply

3:18Dana Schwartz:Fly chains for the camp's food and clothing had broken down, so there was barely any clothing to keep people warm, or food for them to eat, for that matter. The little food that did make it to camp arrived rotted. People were so desperate that they had taken to boiling whatever leather they could find just so they could have something to eat. Soldiers lay around half-dressed on the brink of frostbite, and 2 ,000 men had already succumbed to hunger, typhoid, or dysentery. One congressional delegate described the soldiers at Valley Forge as the skeleton of an army. Thank God it wasn't raining or snowing when the baron arrived, but there wasn't much else to redeem the state of the military camp.

4:11Dana Schwartz:Upon arriving at his cabin, the Baron reflected on the work before him. He was assigned the monumental task of turning this motley ragtag army into a trained military machine. Before he let his worries consume him, he decided that work would begin tomorrow. He poured himself a glass of whiskey, settled into a chair by the fire, and relished his return to the military while he could. The familiar sounds of shouted commands and ringing axes lulled him to sleep. Despite all of the obstacles in his path and the frankly pathetic state of the army he had just enlisted in, Baron von Steuben would practically save the Continental Army and be a major factor in allowing the colonists to win the American Revolution.

5:09Dana Schwartz:He would turn the Continental Army into a disciplined and formidable fighting force, build morale amongst the revolutionary forces, remedy the supply chain issues that held them back, and write the military handbook that still influences U.S. military guidelines today. But Baron von Steuben wasn't just a Prussian noble and a hero of the American Revolution. He was also a queer man who had immigrated to the United States in search of opportunity. His story exemplifies the importance of immigrants and queer people to the success of the United States, even if some people prefer to pretend that they didn't exist.

5:58Dana Schwartz:With this episode, I think it's important to provide a historical reminder that they always did. I'm Dana Schwartz, and this is Noble Blood. Despite the United States having never been a monarchy, here on Noble Blood we find ourselves occasionally telling stories about Americans who became nobles or nobility who find their way to America. Take, for example, our episode on the Dollar Princesses of the Gilded Age, or our more recent episode entitled Count and Cavalry Commander about Casimir Pulaski. As I mentioned in our episode about Pulaski, there were many Europeans who rushed to America to make their fame and fortune during the Revolutionary War, including some nobility like the Marquis de Lafayette, and the subject of today's episode, Baron von Steuben.

6:56Dana Schwartz:In order to explain how the Baron came to be one of the most consequential figures in the Revolutionary War, we must start with the Baron's life B.A., or Before America. Everything about Baron von Steuben's birth and upbringing predisposed him to becoming an influential military general. Baron von Steuben was born Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin von Steuben, or Steuben as we Americanize it most frequently, on September 17, 1730, in Madsburg in the Kingdom of Prussia. Formerly somewhat of a small principality, maybe even considered a European backwater, by the time the Baron was born, Prussia was a military superpower, and von Steuben was poised perfectly to take advantage of that accomplished Prussian position.

7:55Dana Schwartz:Not only did he descend from a long line of military men of the Junker class, or the Prussian class of minor nobility, but the Baron's father had so distinguished himself in the military that Frederick the Great had agreed to serve as the young von Steuben's godfather, hence the Baron's first name, Friedrich Wilhelm. Logically, as soon as he could, at about 16, von Steuben enlisted in the army. He served in the military for over 15 years, fighting in the Seven Years' War, rising through the ranks, and showing immense promise as a military thinker. Suddenly, though, von Steuben's promising career was cut short, as he was discharged from the army in 1763.

8:46Dana Schwartz:Von Steuben later admitted that he had gotten on the bad side of one of his comrades, who was notorious for getting his enemies discharged. Once he earned the rancor of this, quote, implacable enemy, there was no redemption. So, forced out of the only profession he ever knew, now without any sense of purpose, von Steuben drifted around Europe and kept himself afloat with a variety of positions, just waiting, really, for another opportunity to return to his true passion of military service. It was actually during this time that he acquired the title of Baron, which is similar to modern knighthood, from Princess Friedrika of Württemberg.

9:34Dana Schwartz:In May 1777, after over a decade of taking whatever positions he could to get by, the Baron happened to strike up a conversation with an English cartographer who was an undercover agent for Benjamin Franklin, the new American ambassador to France. The Englishman explained the rebellion currently going on in the British colonies in America and encouraged the Baron to seek enlistment in the Continental Army. Seeing at last an opportunity to return to the military and even to achieve a high-ranking position, the Baron set out enthusiastically for Paris to enlist with the by now famous Benjamin Franklin.

10:21Dana Schwartz:Unfortunately for the Baron, enlisting would not be quite as easy as he thought it would be. When the Baron arrived in Paris to make his case for a commission in the Continental Army, Benjamin Franklin refused his request. The Baron couldn't have known, but he was just barely too late. So many foreign mercenaries had enlisted in the Continental Army that the colonists were basically getting jealous of their commissions and growing frustrated. There were simply too many European noblemen trying to fight in America. Thus, Franklin's refusal. The Baron, however, didn't know any of that and was infuriated by the rebuff.

11:07Dana Schwartz:But his spirits were quickly buoyed by news that he had been summoned for an open position in the army at the court of the Magrave of Baden. The Baron departed for southern Germany promptly, and upon arriving at court, he discovered, unfortunately, that a vicious rumor preceded him. Whispers told that while at Prince Joseph's court, during his decade or so without military employment, the baron had, quote, taken familiarities with young boys. In other words, the baron was rumored to have had same-sex sexual interactions. Let's briefly digress from the baron's hectic early life to explain a bit about sexual mores, particularly as it relates to homosexuality during this time period.

12:00Dana Schwartz:In the Prussian court of Frederick the Great, who was openly only interested in men, homosexuality was acceptable. It was still technically punishable by death, but amongst the court and in the military, it was permissible and even sometimes encouraged as part of the masculine military machine that Frederick the Great built. Frederick the Great's brother, Prince Henry, whom the Baron became friends with during his time in the Prussian military, was also notorious for his same-sex dalliances. So the Baron was raised in a space that encouraged same-sex relationships. And I'm sure this was much appreciated by the Baron, who, as we will discuss later, was almost certainly sexually attracted to other men.

12:50Dana Schwartz:However, in America and most of the rest of Europe, open homosexuality was very much frowned upon, even in hyper-masculine spaces like the military. Even though those claims against the Baron were never proven, the insidious rumor ruined the Baron's chances of any sort of job in that army. The Baron was understandably devastated by this blow to his reputation and career, just as he was about to get his long-sought-after military commission. However, he could not pout for long as he was summoned back to Paris promptly. Knowing the barons' impressive military pedigree, some French allies of the Americans decided to do whatever necessary to get Baron von Steuben to America and enlisted in their army.

13:41Dana Schwartz:They embellished his resume a bit, who among us, and framed his desire to enlist purely in support of the new American Republic and the ideals it stood for. They covered his expenses to sail across the Atlantic, and so in fall of 1777, Baron von Steuben set sail for America. Though he had been squarely shot down by Benjamin Franklin in his first attempt to enlist, Baron von Steuben was received quite favorably by the Continental Congress once he got there. They took little convincing and promptly granted von Steuben the title of captain and directed him to join the army in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

14:28Dana Schwartz:He was charged to be of use in planning encampments, etc., and promoting the discipline of the army. And that directive could not have come a moment too soon for the Continental Army. Now we're back where we started, the Baron's arrival at Valley Forge. To recap, conditions are dismal, and the Baron was there to hopefully remedy everything. A tall task. For the first three weeks after Baron von Steuben arrived in Valley Forge, he set about observing the camp and noting all of the things that could be improved upon. General Washington gave him full reign to roam around, observe, and inquire about the state of camp.

15:16Dana Schwartz:As he rode around on his horse with his dog, Azor, trotting alongside, he might have appeared comically pompous, but instead he inspired dumbstruck wonder and awe amongst the soldiers. Quote, Never before or since have I had such an impression of the ancient fabled god of war as when I looked on the barren, wrote a 16-year-old private named Asheville Green. 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 marital aspect all seemed to favor the idea. To the disorganized and underfed American soldiers, von Steuben appeared the ideal of a winning, respected military leader.

16:11Dana Schwartz:And that's exactly the image the Baron hoped to project, even as his head was filled with worries about the dramatic odds he was facing in revamping Valley Forge. At the end of his three weeks of observation, the Baron showered General Washington with his takeaways and advice. He had noticed that the colonists fought with fury, but lacked the discipline and skill to be a proper army. If they couldn't maneuver and change formation or coordinate concentrated volleys, they would continue to struggle up against the British Redcoats. They were uncomfortable wielding bayonets, which some men had just fully removed from their rusted muskets.

16:57Dana Schwartz:And that's of the men who were still there. Disorganization was so rampant that von Steuben warned Washington that if they had to mobilize the army then and there, he might be commanding a third of the men he thought he had. Luckily, though, the Baron had suggestions on how to make the infantry an effective weapon, how to bolster camp security, how to improve Valley Forge's fortifications, how they might tighten up supply management. Washington was sufficiently impressed with the Baron's assessment and ordered him to start making changes immediately as the unofficial inspector general. During those first few weeks, the Baron found solace in a friendship with two young men, John Lawrence and Broadway's favorite, Alexander Hamilton.

17:53Dana Schwartz:Von Steuben couldn't speak English, but Lawrence and Hamilton both spoke French and could therefore act as interpreters and aides. Plus, the Baron appreciated the young men's eagerness at his stories of his time in the Prussian army. Hamilton and Lorenz weren't the only friends von Stuben made. In fact, he became a fast favorite in camp, not only by asking regular infantrymen about their experience during the day, but also by inviting them to parties in his cabin in the evenings. And they sure did party. The Baron served the men salamanders, cheap whiskey set on fire. Despite his less-than-stellar general assessment of the army, the Baron began to develop a deep appreciation for his new American comrades.

18:45Dana Schwartz:He recognized that they were different from soldiers in European armies, not serfs or subjects, but citizens with a stake in this upstart country. In a letter to a Prussian friend, von Steuben observed, You say to your soldier, do this and he doeth it, but I am obliged to say to the American soldier, this is the reason why you ought to do that, and then he does it. Recognizing this unique feature of American soldiers would be a boon to the baron as he undertook reshaping the army. On the morning of March 19, 1778, the Baron began implementing his reforms. He started with what he viewed as the most essential aspect of military success, uniformity.

19:36Dana Schwartz:But teaching the entire army to march in sync before spring was essentially impossible. Instead of trying to train all of the men at Valley Forge at the same time, he pulled together a group of 100 veteran soldiers and taught them. Once they mastered the drills, like how to walk 75 steps a minute in formation, these veterans became drill sergeants and taught their own regiments the necessary skills. The Baron taught his drill sergeants, who then taught their fellow soldiers, how to reload their muskets quickly after firing, how to charge with a bayonet, and how to march in compact columns instead of miles-long lines.

20:22Dana Schwartz:Learning about the American ethos and becoming friendly with the men in his first few weeks were crucial when training them. These new skills weren't easy to learn, especially for men who were underfed, barely clothed, and trying to learn from a man who didn't really speak any English. But the Baron's outward display of confidence and his congeniality fostered goodwill amongst the soldiers. And even when the Baron did get frustrated because the men weren't executing their new maneuvers properly, his slightly over-the-top expressions of profanity made him that much more relatable and likable. and the Baron's slight theatrics impacted more than just the model regiment.

21:12Dana Schwartz:Every day, a crowd would gather at the parade grounds to watch the Baron's training. These soldiers, who would soon come to learn these skills, got a taste of what was to come, and they began to respect the Baron as well. Just one week after the Baron began training the model regiment of new drill sergeants, General Washington ordered that everyone begin learning Baron von Steuben's drills. The drill sergeants returned to their regiments and led the training of the thousands of soldiers at Valley Forge. The soldiers took to their lessons fabulously, and in turn, their success built their confidence and pride.

21:57Dana Schwartz:After a series of military losses, followed by the absolutely brutal winter, this intangible growth was just short of miraculous and absolutely crucial to the army's success going forward. Just over a month after von Steuben began his training program, multiple pieces of fantastic news came to Valley Forge. First, France had officially pledged to enter the war on the side of the colonies. This new partnership was a huge bolster to the Americans. Secondly, General Washington was finally able to make Baron von Steuben the official inspector general of the army. But he held on to this second piece of news for the time being.

22:44Dana Schwartz:Washington ordered the Baron to organize a demonstration of the army's newly acquired skills to celebrate their French allies. In just a few days, the Baron organized 7 ,000 soldiers to perform an impressive display of maneuvers, followed by a feu de joie, a ceremonial rifle salute in which each soldier in a line fires in sequence. According to the Baron's aide, John Lorenz, the plan as formed by Baron von Steuben succeeded in every particular. It was a resounding success and demonstrated to everyone there that day just how far they had come thanks to the Baron's efforts. During the celebrations after that morning's demonstration, Washington revealed his secrets and announced there that the Baron was officially the Inspector General.

23:41Dana Schwartz:This title put the Baron at the rank of Major General and entitled him to a significant stipend and pension. This moment was everything the Baron had worked for over the entirety of his career. It hadn't been easy, and it hadn't come the way he expected, but now the Baron had achieved the highest rank one could hold beside general of an entire army. And more than that, he was the recipient of massive praise and accolades for the way he had turned an army around. Or at least, hopefully so. The Continental Army may have been able to now march in unison, but only time would tell if they could actually win battles because of it.

24:31Dana Schwartz:Luckily for the Baron, it didn't take long for his hard work as Drillmaster of Valley Forge to show dividends. Just two weeks after the impressive celebration von Steuben orchestrated, the Marquis de Lafayette led an expedition that was almost captured by the British. Their narrow escape was only possible because of the regiment's newfound maneuver abilities taught by von Steuben. Despite the near humiliation of that expedition, the Baron and General Washington saw their escape as an indication that there was actually hope for the Continental Army now. Later that summer, in June 1778, the Continental Army showed immense fortitude and discipline at the Battle of Monmouth.

25:19Dana Schwartz:With their victory in that battle, the Baron was officially vindicated as a superior military organizer. As the official Inspector General, von Steuben would serve for the remaining five years of the Revolutionary War. During this time, he created important infrastructure for what would become the American military. During the winter of 1778-1779, the first winter after his successful training program at Valley Forge, the Baron wrote Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States, commonly known as the Blue Book. The Blue Book outlined the training program which he had developed in Valley Forge that first winter.

26:06Dana Schwartz:In a very forward-thinking moment, every night at Valley Forge, the Baron had written down all of the drills, exercises, and regulations that he would teach the next day. He then used these notes a year later to construct the Blue Book. This book would go on to be the basis for American army operations and discipline until the War of 1812, and portions of the Blue Book are still used in the army's manual today, creating the first American military handbook and turning around the American War for Independence. Talk about a pretty big impact. And indeed, thanks in large part to the Continental Army's new discipline and skills, the Revolutionary War would turn in the colonists' favor.

26:58Dana Schwartz:After acting as one of the three commanding generals at the last battle of the war, the Battle of Yorktown, and after the colonists had officially won the war, von Steuben was honorably discharged from the army. Very much a bolster to the Prussian's ego, few fail to recognize the Baron's contributions to the new nation's success. The same Washington, who received the Baron with little fanfare back in 1778, would address his last letter as commander of the Continental Army to the Baron to commend him for changing the course of the war.

28:06Dana Schwartz:Quote, your faithful and meritorious services. After the Baron's discharge from the military, he settled in Manhattan and later in upstate New York. Now, we've been relatively quiet so far on the Baron's sexuality, but his life after the war offers us a pretty good glimpse into that aspect of his life. The Baron was never married and instead lived with a variety of male companions. These companions weren't just good friends or roommates of the barons. They were almost certainly also engaged in some sort of sexual or romantic relationship with him. The vast majority of American history scholars would agree that von Steuben was gay, although it's important to remember that that is a more modern term and not one that he would have identified with.

29:04Dana Schwartz:And their consensus is founded upon letters between the Baron and his various companions that reveal the nature of those relationships. The two most important companions in the Baron's life were Benjamin Walker and William North. He met both of these much younger men during his first winter in the Continental Army, and they would go on to be his aides-de-camp during the Revolutionary War. The two young men each developed with the Baron a romantic mentorship, as historian William E. Benaman describes it, a, quote, close affectionate relationship between two men with a substantial age gap, though sometimes between men of similar age but of differing socioeconomic status.

29:53Dana Schwartz:There wasn't necessarily a sexual component of a romantic mentorship, but there certainly could be. For example, the Baron likely did not have a sexual relationship with Walker, but according to Benhamen, likely did with North. This relationship is just one example of the types of homosexual relationships that occurred during this era. Another type developed between Walker and North, a romantic friendship, a.k.a. a close, affectionate relationship between two men who were social equals. Oftentimes, but not always, romantic friendships did involve a sexual element. Historians believe it is very likely that Walker and North's relationship did involve sexual intimacy.

30:44Dana Schwartz:You might be wondering, was it common knowledge at the time, even if unspoken and taboo, that the baron was attracted to men? There isn't an overwhelming amount of evidence to say so, but a lack of evidence doesn't mean it wasn't the case. Despite many claims that George Washington and Benjamin Franklin knew of von Steuben's preferences before he arrived at Valley Forge, the research doesn't really surface a lot of evidence to demonstrate that. Regardless, I have a hunch that Washington knew that the Army could not bear to reject a willing volunteer of von Steuben's caliber. and once he saw just how impactful von Steuben was in revamping the Continental Army, he might have reasoned that he could overlook anything he might not personally approve of for the good of their fledgling nation.

31:41Dana Schwartz:After the war, von Steuben maintained a romantic mentorship with William North for a number of years until North got married. It was absolutely common at the time for young men who were involved in same-sex relationships to go on to marry women and lead a more quote-unquote normal for-the-time life. Take Alexander Hamilton, who is rumored to have had a romantic relationship with John Lawrence before going on to marry Eliza Schuyler. After North departed von Steuben's household, the Baron developed relationships with John Mulligan and a man by the last name of Mitchell, two men who consecutively served as his paid secretary.

32:30Dana Schwartz:Because the Baron was paying their salary, Benemann identified their relationships as, quote, erotic employment, the third of the three gay relationship types he defines in this era. As Benemann put it, quote, These relationships involved two men of very unequal social status, with one man, usually significantly younger, serving as the employee of the other. As an employee, secretary, valet, paid companion, the younger member performed specific duties for which he was paid a salary, but he also served a sexual function. The relationship could also include an emotional component, and there was frequently some level of respect and even affection between the men, but at base the arrangement was economic and it would cease whenever the wages ceased.