ever, when winter came Steuben went to Philadelphia
mainly to arrange and put in order a code of military
regulations to introduce a thorough uniformity in the
service. He pressed upon Congress the necessity of early
action, and in a letter to the President he declares him-
self ready to make any sacrifice to carry out the wishes of
those in control, with a few side remarks concerning his
envious critics. He also wrote to Washington on De-
cember 6, in a somewhat discouraging mood, saying:



On my arrival in the city I delivered your Excellency's let-
ter to Mr, President Laurens, accompanied by one from ,

acquainting Congress in what manner I intended to proceed to
business. I afterwards, in another letter, requested to know to
whom I was to apply for the necessary information on the sub-
ject. To these letters I have had no other reply than a resolve,
directing the board of war to furnish me with every informa-
tion I may want on the subject. I have not hitherto been able
to get a sight of the plan proposed by a former committee, and
to which your excellency subjoined your remarks, nor can I
get the least information in whose hands that plan i^. All I can



132 GENERAL \MLLIA:^I VOX STEUBEN

learn from Mr. President Reed, who presided in that commit-
tee, is, that that plan, though founded on the one I proposed,
differed from it materially, and that the authority of the inspec-
tor general was therein much more extended than I proposed,
and when I can procure the other I shall see wherein we have
differed. However, it may be, I repeat that I shall, without
the least deviation, conform to any remarks your Excellency
has been pleased to make. I shall endeavor to convince Your
Excellency and the whole army, that nothing but the good of
the service, and not any personal views, shall direct my actions.
The American soldier under my orders is, at the same time, a
member of the republic I serve. If every officer and soldier
would consider me in the same light, it seems to me many ob-
stacles would be avoided. With respect to your Excellency, I
again beg you to consider me as an instrument in your hands
for the good of the army which has the honor to serve under
your orders.

Washing-ton replied thanking the Baron for his as-
surances of loyalty, and promising his cordial support to-
wards carrying out any plan that might he agreed upon
both out of personal considerations and for the benefit
and improvement of the army. Hamilton wrote in the
same vein, but the inertia of Congress was too great to
be immediately overcome.

It was February 18, 1779 when the report of the
committee appointed to confer with Washington was
taken up, and a resolution adopted, providing that there
should be an inspector general of the armies of the United
States with the rank of major general, who in all future
appointments should be taken from the line of major
generals. The duties of inspector and his assistants were
to be as has already been indicated, and he was allowed
eighty-four dollars per month for extraordinary expenses
in addition to the pay and rations of a major general. On
March 2r)th a letter was read from Steuben accompanied
by a system of regulations for the infantry together with
a commiKiication from the war board statin,": that the
Baron's plans had been submitted to that body and also



REMODELING THE ARMY 138

to the commander in chief and had received their ap-
proval, and asking the sanction of Congress, which was
given, and thus after a loss of much valuable time it
looked as though something permanent was to be ac-
complished.

The arrangement now made by Congress involved
the preparation of a complete book of regulations for the
army. Steuben did not wait for its authorization before
beginning this work, but, anticipating the result, and
realizing that it would be a labor of weeks if not of
months to prepare this code, began work on it soon after
he arrived in Philadelphia, and spent most of his time on
it during the winter. He associated with himself in this
work Colonel Fleury, Captains Walker and De TEnfant,
and M. Duponceau, his secretary. His original scheme
included four divisions; first, the service of infantry in
the field; second, in garrison and on parade; third, caval-
ry; fourth, light troops. The first and third parts were
completed during the winter, the others were never fin-
ished, and the cavalry division was not printed. The first
part consisted of twenty-five chapters, of which a full
summary may be found in Mr. Kapp's book, but as the
details are of greater interest to military tacticians than
to the general reader we give only the headings of the
chapters as indicating the scope of the work. The book
was entitled, "Regulations for the Order and Discipline
of the Troops of the United States," divided as follows :
Chapter fi: st, arms and accoutrements ; second, necessity
of officers being acquainted with the manual and answer-
able for the general instruction of the regiment; third,
company formation; fourth, regimental formation; fifth,
instruction of recruits ; sixth, company exercises ; seventh,
battalion exercises ; eighth, points of view ; ninth, forma-
tion and display of columns; tenth, march of columns;



lU GENERAL WILLIAM VON STEUBEN

eleventh, march in Hne ; twelfth, disposition of field pieces
attached to brigades; thirteenth, firings; fourteenth,
march of an army or corps ; fifteenth, baggage on the
march ; sixteenth, laying out a camp with order of en-
campment ; seventeenth, manner of entering camp : eight-
eenth, regulations for preserving order and cleanliness ;
nineteenth, roll calls ; twentieth, general inspection ; twen-
ty-first, drum beats ; twenty-second, guard service ; twen-
ty-third, arms and ammunition and their preservation;
twenty-fourth, treatment of the sick ; twenty-fifth, re-
views.

In addition there were detailed instructions for the
general conduct of the officers and privates. The hu-
manitarian spirit of these instructions, which were some-
what advanced for that period, is indicated by the follow-
ing:

A captain cannot be too careful of the company the State
has committed to his charge. He must pay the greatest atten-
tion to the health of his men, their discipline, arms, accoutre-
ments, ammunition, clothes and necessaries. His first object
should be to gain the love of his men by treating them with
every possible kindness and humanity, inquiring into their com-
plaints, and, when well founded, seeing them redressed. He
should know every man of his company by name and character.
He should often visit those who are sick, speak tenderly to them,
see that the public provision, whether of medicine or diet, is
duly administered, and procure them, besides, such comforts
and conveniences as are in his power. The attachment that
arises from this kind of attention to the sick and wounded, is
almost inconceivable; it will, moreover, be the means of preserv-
ing the lives of many valuable men.

There is much more to the same effect, which con-
clusively proves that though the Baron w^as a strict dis-
ciplinarian, he was not a mere martinet. Concerning the
difficulties of the project Kapp says : "Seldom was a
work composed in such a manner as this. Every chapter
was first roughly written in German, then translated into



REMODELING TUK ARMY 135

bad French, then put in good French by Fleury, trans-
lated again into bad EngHsh by Duponceau, afterwards
written in good EngHsh by Captain Walker, and when all
this was completed, Steuben did not understand a word
of it himself, from his ignorance of the English lan-
guage/' Notwithstanding our respect and admiration
for Mr. Kapp's careful researches we are inclined to
question ^he accuracy of this last statement. Baron
Steuben had now been in the country about sixteen
months. During that period he was constantly in asso-
ciation with men who spoke only English, was compelled
to give orders to troops who knew no other language,
and in various ways came in close contact with it almost
every hour of the twenty- four, except the limited period
allotted to sleep. He was well educated and was already
proficient in French as well as his native German. It is
not possible that he had learned to speak English fluently
during the time he had been in xA^merica, in fact he never
did so, but it is in the highest degree improbable that in
all that time he had not learned to understand a word of
this language. The truth doubtless lies between these
two extren.es. The Baron was not able to write out his
book in English in the first place, but when translated by
his assistants there is no reason to suppose that he was
unable to read it, or to understand substantially what it
meant.

His labors were greatly increased by the dearth of
military publications in America, so he had to depend
mostly on his recollections of the Prussian Code, and the
lack of familiarity of his translators with the military
terms of that code greatly increased the difficulty. On
completion of the work it was sent to Washington for
examination, who gave it his hearty approval with the
comment : ''As the fine season is advancing you will, I



136 GENERAL WILLIAM! VOX STEUBEN

flatter myself, shortly have the satisfaction, so rarely en-
joyed by authors, of seeing your precepts reduced to prac-
tice, and I hope your success will be equal to the merits cf
your work." Steuben in reply said:

The engraving of the plates and correcting the press, will,
I am afraid, detain me till the middle of April, and, as before
that time the season will permit the troops to exercise. I think
it w^ould be necessary they should be exercised in detail on the
principles laid down. If Your Excellency approves it, I will
send Colonel Fleury, who has assisted me in composing the
regulations to receive your orders on the subject. * * * j
shall have the honor to forward to your Excellency a model of
the several tools mentioned in the regulations, and which I
think are necessary, if circumstances will allow me to procure
them.

Congress ordered 3,000 copies of the work printed,
but the tr jubles were not yet over. Mr North says : ''To
sketch, re -sketch the plates, and fit them for the engraver
— the engraver, the paper, the types and printer, with dif-
ficulty to be found. None but those who lived in those
dark days of poverty and dearth of everything, can think
a thousandth part of all the penury with which we were
surrounded. The Blue Book has at last appeared and
vvas studied, and, except the Bible, w^as held in the high-
est estimation."

Tn the face of these difficulties the book was not
ready for distribution until June, causing the Baron, who
never seems to have been celebrated for his patience, to
become more than restive. As illustrative of their dif-
ficulties Timothy Pickering on June 19, writes to
Steuben :

We expected to send you more copies of the regulations,
of which the bookbinder gave us encouragement, but his work-
men failed him. It is not so easy to get work executed in
America as in Europe. Here, under the present scarcity of
hands, you can place no dependence on your workmen — to-day
they are with you, and to-morrow on board of a privateer, with
hopes of making their fortunes. I have, indeed, had much trou-



Remodeling the Army 137

ble with the Regulations, but I went through it with pleasure,
because I judged they would prove highly useful to my country.
* * * Should I again discover marks of extreme impa-
tience, and even asperity, in the inspector general, I will impute
them to his anxiety to introduce a perfect order and discipline
in the army, and to his zeal in securing the safety and indepen-
dence of America.

Peters* writes to the same effect, and after a some-
what jocular introduction concerning the Baron's impa-
tience, adds seriously:

We should violate our private feelings if we personally dis-
regarded you, and we should, in my opinion, our public trust,
did we not by every means in our power, assist you in the im-
portant business of your department. Real embarrassments
have occasioned our not complying with our, as well as your,
wishes, and however trifling the rubs thrown in our way may
seem to one used to countries full of needy artificers, and stored
with materials for work, yet to us they are not unimportant, or,
what is worse, uncommon. These difficulties will continue dur-
ing our present war, and as we cannot conquer we must en-
deavor to bear them.

There is considerably more along the same line,
mixed with mild reproof, which the Baron doubtless took
in good part. As an illustration of the minor difficulties
of the occasion it is related that two copies of the Regula-
tions which the Baron had ordered handsomely bound
for Washington and the French minister could not be
completed, because the bookbinder, (there seems to have
been but one in Philadelphia) after searching through the
entire city, was not able to procure any gold leaf for gild-
ing.

Congress, on April 5, passed a resolution to the ef-
fect that Baron Steuben, inspector general, be informed by
the President that Congress entertain a high sense of his
merit, displayed in a variety of instances, but especially
in the system of military order and discipline formed and
presented by him to Congress.

Similar testimonials were offered by officials of the



138 GENERAL WILLIAM VON STEUBEN

different states to whom copies of the work were sent,
each one testifying that the manual not only filled a want
that was severely felt, but was invaluable in the existing
condition of affairs. Copies of the work sent to Europe
also elicited high praise from competent experts.

Congress, at Steuben's request, appropriated a thou-
sand dollars for Colonel Fleury, eight hundred for Wal-
ker, six hundred for De I'Enfant, and four hundred for
Duponceau. We may appropriately conclude this branch
of our subject by the following account of an occurrence
as related by the Baron himself :

''Although the Board of War was only composed of
Peters and Pickering, there was always a member of
Congress who took part in their deliberations. At this
time it was Mr. Root, of Connecticut, who filled this of-
fice. I came one day to the w^ar office, probably at the
time they were deliberating how they should reimburse
me for the expense I had been at w^hile employed prepar-
ing my work. Mr. Root asked me how many copies had
been printed. I said, three thousand. 'How many,' he
replied, 'Shall you require for the officers of the army?'
'About eighteen hundred,' was my answer. 'There will,
therefore be about twelve hundred left over,' said Mr.
Root, 'the book will sell well.' He then made a calcula-
tion in an undertone, and resumed, 'But you could sell
the remaining copies, and that would pay your expenses
while in town.' If I had not remarked that Mr. Peters
bent his head and blushed at hearing this proposal, I
should certainly have told them my mind in pretty strong
language. For a long time I did not utter a word : at last
I rose and said to Mr. Root that I was the more astounded
at his pro[)Osition as I had not asked for any reimburse-
ment of my expenses out of the public money."



CHAPTER IX.

CAMPAIGN OF 1779.

Steuben Reviews the Situation — Barbarous Raids — Value of the
Bayonet Demonstrated at the Capture of Stony Point —
Visit of the French Ambassador — Suggestions For the
Future.

Toward the close of 1778 we find Clinton still hold-
ing New York and Newport, and although the rest of the
county was measurably free yet there were no signs that
England Intended relaxing her grip. Her command of
the sea continued to paralyze foreign trade, which reacted
disastrously on domestic interests. Washington with a
totally inadequate force was trying to hold the back
country, and the prospect, to say the best, was not en-
couraging. At this time Steuben in a letter to James
Lowell, Chairman of the Congressional Committee on
Foreign Afifairs, gave the following succinct review of the
situation :

We have fortunately escaped a serious danger at Rhode
Island. The enemy cannot boast of having gained the least ad-
vantage over the allied fleet, or over our army. A change in the
wind has favored him and caused the failure of our plan. As it
is but fair to render justice even to our enemies, we ought to
admit that the English and the wind have made us miss two
highly important strokes — that on the Delaware because the
French fleet did not arrive a little earlier, and that on Rhode
Island. If, when I made war under the King of Prussia, we had
escaped two such strokes in one campaign, we should have
called that a successful campaign. Here we are now on the de-
fensive, a species of warfare extremely difficult and oftentimes
dangerous. We have two objects to attain — equally important —
to retain possession of the North river, and to bring our main
force close to Boston. In case the enemy should undertake any
operation, these two objects are very far distant from one an-
other. Our land force, such as it is, must be ready to resist,
at the right or the left, wherever the enemy thinks proper to



140 GENERAL WILLIA:\1 VON STEUBEN



attack us. Now what will become of that unhappy province,
the Jerseys, which is actually menaced with devastation and fire
by the enemy? Lord Cornwallis has entered it with a body of
probably six thousand men. Will Lord Stirling be able to op-
pose such a force with his three brigades, the number of which
I will not mention, so as not to annoy you? Perhaps you will
say, "The militia of New Jersey." But is the militia still ani-
mated by the same spirit as it was when America had no regular
army? Now, allowing for the said three brigades, and two more
at Providence, look at this side of the river and tell me what
other forces have we there? Do not be deluded, sir, by the rolls
of our regiments or brigades; deduct therefrom, unhesitatingly,
one-third for those who, either for the want of clothing or shoes,
are unable to make a single march in the present season of the
year, when the nights are already cold and wet. I am not afraid
to tell you the truth, disagreeable as it is; no, on the contrary,
I consider it my duty to show you the actual situation of our
army. I beg you, rather, sir, to examine attentively the land
forces which the enemy possesses on this continent; look at
their number, their nourishment, clothing, arms, order and dis-
cipline; see how much we are inferior, in all respects to them,
and then answer me if our game is not a very hazardous one?
How long will our country continue to stake her fortune
on the issue of one day? How many more millions has the de-
vastation of the Jerseys devoured than it would have taken for
the states to have completed the regiments upon the plan
adopted by Congress, in which case we should have had an
army of forty thousand men? Had we this force, nay, had we
only thirty thousand, would the enemy ever have dared to put
a foot out of New York island? Too numerous an army is ex-
pensive, but too small an army is dangerous. In 1776 General
Washington had the glory to maintain himself at the head of
an army of eighteen thousand men. I sincerely hope that he
may not have that glory a second time. If too much backward-
ness had not been exhibited in this matter the war would prob-
ably have been already at an end. In order to secure peace on
a solid and honorable basis, it is prudent to redouble every
preparation for carrying on the war. * * * in consequence
of the bad discipline, the service of picket guards of patrols is
entirely neglected in our army. Our cavalry is without a leader
— not a single officer of that arm understands the duty. They
are brave. I have no doubt, but bravery alone does not consti-
tute an officer.

Generals might plead and Congress might request,
but states continued indifferent, and matters continued to
jog along without any material change.

During his sojourn in Philadelphia, at the request of



CAMPAIGN OF 177!) 141

General Iveed, Baron Steuben spent several days with that
gcntJf.maii examining the country around the city, espe-
cially on the Jersey side, with the view of constructing
defenses which, fortunately, were never needed.

Impatient to get back to active service Steuben,
without wniting for the final action of Congress, which
tiow seemed assured, on March 20 hastened to rejoin the
army in northern New Jersey. He went to work imme-
diately, straightening out matters which needed attention.
The nominal strength of the army, according to the reso-
lutions of Congress, w^as eighty battalions of infantvs of
4-77 privates each, so that the whole should be about 40,-
000 men. but the real strength was scarcely half this num-
ber. The frrce under Washington's direct command at
thi<= time numbered just 11,007 men, and with this little
force he WrZ expected to keep Sir Henry Clinton in New
York (if n'3t capture him with the city) and prevent
sporadic raids along the coast and frontier, Steuben di-
vided the army into six divisions known as the Virginia,
Maryland, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts and
North Carolina. He drilled them thoroughly in the use
of the bayonet, which was soon to figure in the capta^e of
an importa^it stronghold, and his formation of light in-
fantry proved so efifective that after the Revolution it was
introduced into other European countries in contradistinc-
tion to the massing which had proved so fatal to Brad-
dock and others. Reviewing and drilling were tli-.' order
of the day, even after the army had taken the field. Arms
must be pol'shed, officers attentive to the wants o*^ their
men, the sick visited and cared for, and the improvement
of the army was marked in every direction. A fe ,v details
given by North indicated the amount and character of
the work [reformed. He says :



142 GENERAL WILLIAM VON STEUBEN

I have seen the Baron and his assistants seven long hours
inspecting a brigade of three small regiments. Every man not
present must be accounted for; if in camp, sick or well, they
were produced or visited, every musket handled and searched,
cartridge boxes opened, even the flints and cartridges counted;
knapsacks unslung, and every article of clothing spread on the
soldiers' blanket, and tested by his little book, whether what he
received from the United States within the year was there, if
not, to be accounted for. Hospitals, stores, laboratories, every
place and every thing were opened to inspection, and inspected,
and what officer's mind was at ease if losses or expenditures
could not. on the day of searching be fully and fairly accounted
for? The inspections were every month, and wonderful was the
effect, not only with regard to economy, but in creating a spirit
of emulation between different corps. 1 have known the subal-
terns of a regiment appropriate one of their two rations to the
bettering of the appearance of their men, but this was at a later
period of the war, when supplies and payments were more
regular.

The year 1778 closed and 1779 opened with a series
of barl:)arous raids both on the Northern and Southern
coasts, the main object being evidently to iinlnce Wash-
ington to send part of his forces to protect these sc ittered
posts. But Washington knew that such a procedure
would prove his undoing, for any material weakening of
his army along the Hudson would be the signal for an
advance by Clinton up that river, and by the occupation
of strat'^'gic points he would cut the American Confedera-
tion in two, and conquer each part in detail. The An^er-
icans with their fortifications at West Point held a firm
grip on the highlands of the Hudson, with two smaller
posts farther down, Stony Point on the west side, and
Verplanck's on the east bank of the river. But wdiile
the Americans were fortifying Stony Point Clinton cap-
t'-ired the place, and with its batteries reduced the works
at Verplanck's. It was deemed essential that Stony Point
be retaken, and the task was entrusted to General An-
thony Wayne, whose ''madness" was contr-^Med by
method, which brought victory on more than one occa-



f' CAMPAIGN OF i:rO 14:5

sion. There v\'as but one way to retake the fortress ami
that was !^y assault. But the usual storming party would
be subject not only to the fire of the occupying- garriso'".
but to crossfires from Verplanck's and the ri\-er, which
would make success out of the question. There was but
one resource, a bayonet charge under cover of darkr.Cr>s.
Every dog within three miles was killed, and at midnight