The Red Cloud chief., 1881-12-15
nmoa Sseshea, TIE Great Drill
S>rHesut.


S~esgesst.
Il vas e. and proper ths, The rrpre-
sen:stivcs Of the Steuben family Should
be invited TO participate IN he YORK.
town ceremonial The Baron steueen
was ore % The foreign officers ueo eAfoe
10 ;hs ASSISTANCE OF our Revolutionary
fathen. and who =, NAMED An American
citizen To the end Of h, life. lie WA.
decd . great acquisition Tr7in~i N
the martial school Of ireiertck the
Great. he had won his laare.s 4; Prague
and Rossbach. and bad risen - b, Al
Acknowledgement on the Rags STAG
He am Ia Us NJ + dark PERIOD Of the
war. and his srsi services were rendered
amid The wintry want Of Waller Forge
lie drilled or troops - he ouly could
have drilled them He ~ \ thorough
dlsciplinarian. and his manual for the
army was approved By Congre~. IN
1919. He Was an accomplished soldier
O! grea; knowledge and experience. an !
sometimes. II is said. the cluusiness Of
his men sorely tried his temper. Ills
knowledge Of the English language wa.
limited. and the tradition Is that be
swore very freely II the troops IN Ger
man and French once. when particu-
larry exaspersted. he called out 10 his
aid "venez, mon ami Walker. sacrex
de gaucheri OF desc bsdauds -le men
puts plus can curse dem no more -
He was q member of the court MARTA!
which tried and doomed Major Andre
in 1880. and in the same year had com
msnd Of the troops in Virginia. and did
good work in making matters uncom-
Portable for Benedict Arnold. who Was
in command o! the British forces. Sub
sequently he was attached TO Lafsy-
cites division. and took part N the
siege Of Yorktown.
Major Ebenezer benny. a diarist OF
the Revolution. writing n; Williams
burg September IL. 1881. says: baron
Steuben is our great military oracle.
The guards attend the grand parade NJ
an early hour. where the Baron is al
WAYS found waiting with one or two
aids on horseback. These men are ex-
ercised and put through yariou, eyolu-
tons and military experiments for tvs
hours many officers and spectators
present; excellent school this. At
length the duty Of the parade comes
on. The guards are told off; officers
take their posts; wheel by piatoons 10
the right; fine corps OF music detailed
for this duty. which strikes up; the
whole march of. saluting the Baron
and iield-ofiicer of the day rs they
pass" We can here imagine the Baron
in his element. his vigilant eyes watch
ing every movement, and his voluble
tongue eXecrating in mingled French.
German and English every sign OF L.
norance. Of Incidence and Of clumsi-
ness. In a separate command he did
not win much distinction; indeed. he
did not have much chance. for his OPP
erations in Virginia were brief and
were not very fortunate. Congress.
however. put a high estimate upon bis
services, for in 1890 it voted him a life
annuity of 81, 500; and he had a plenty
of land also voted him by different
States. New York gave him 10. ~
acres near Utica. He transferred n
good deal Of it To his aids. Some of it
he himself improved. and he lived until
1894.
When Steuben was appointed In
spectOr there seemed to have been
some fear that the underlined duties Of
his Office might give rise to dissatisfac-
ton and occasion embarrassment. Ham
ilton was apprehensive that "a fondness
for power and importance. natural To
every man. might lead him TO wish for
more extensive prerogatives in his de-
partment than it would be for the good
Of the service to grant" Yet Hamil-
ton considered the Baron "a valuable
man." and thought that he ought To be
treated with all the Difference which
good policy might warrant" At times
Steuben was verv much discontinued,
and almost resolved TO quit the service.
He was particularly hampered by Lee
and Milliin. or he thought so; but the
matter was patched up by sending him
to Rhode Island.
The Republic undoubtedly owed the
services of Baron Steuben To French in
fluences. He came TO this country
partly through the persuasions of st.
German. Perhaps, as a soldier. he was
ready for service in any honorable
cause; but he liked the United States
well enough TO remain in them the rest
of his life. He gave us the benefit OF
his great knowledge and military eX-
~perience; and it is paying 10 his MEM
DRY no doubtful compliment to say that
he was precisely the man wanted at the
moment when ne lent US his sword
NeD York Tribune.