The Washington herald., 1915-03-14
The Voice of History.


were made and each was answered
i'll turn. One OF these was from
Carl Nicolay. 4 German citizen OF
New York City. Mr.. Nicolay re-
fcrrcd in his letter to the assistance
OF Frederick the Great as well as
the part PLAYED by Steubcn in the
Revolutionary war. lie took the
attitude that america 5 debt was
as great 10 Germany as to France.
This letter was answered by
William Beverley Rogers, of the
executive committee of the La
Fayettc Fund. Mr.. Rogers refer
red to the part played by the TWEEN
tv-odd thousand Hessians, Bruins
wickers and other German mcr-
cenaries who fought against the
Colonial army for pay. lie ex-
planned that although Frederick the
Great hated Hing George and his
ministers for cutting off the finan-
cial and military assistance that
England had been lending Prussia.
he remained entirely passive in his
attitude toward America. OF the
German monarch. Mr.. Rogers
wrote: He civilly. but very plain
" forbade Congress to Use his port
OF Embden as a base for their ma
val operations. He only recog-
nized the indepei dcnce OF the
United States after the twelfth
hour had struck and England her
self had done SO.
Concerning Stcuben. Mr.. Rogers
wrote: Il fully concur with YOU
as to the value of his services to
this country. His highnindedness,
fidelity and efficiency on all occa-
Sions made him one OF the most
valuable jor generals in the
Continental army. but how was it
that Steuben came to our assist
ance: Now. by the Treaty OF Ilu-
bertsburS in 1863. which ended the ,,
seven years war. SteubenS distin- !
Suished military career in Europe !.
came to a close. He was given the .
canonrv of the Cathedral OF HaSel- ,
burg and made a marshal to the
Prince of Hohenzollern. which hon 4
ors brought him a salary OF 2.4OO
horins In the summer of III. /.
while passing through Paris. he .
net Count St. German. the French
minister OF war. who, knowing
>teubens great ability as an organ
yer and disciplinarian. tried to
prevail on him to lend his services
o the American colonist>.
At first Steuben declined. stat
ng that he saw no reasons WHY he
should give up a comfortable liveli-
1oOd to go on such mission.
+ finally. st. German arranged AM
for Stcuben with Frank
in and Dean. AT this meeting
rankin stated that it would be
impossible to guarantee Steuben
my money for his services, as Con-
,ress had refused on several occa-
ions to ratify arrangements of this
nature. Discouraged at the result
If these tidings. and it being then
90 late 10 go to England, Steuben
eturned to Baden. Here St. Ger
main wrote letter which induced
nm once more to return to Paris. I
IN this occasion. Beaumarcllais adj .
anced Stcuben sufficient funds for |
rs expedition, So that he subse- ,
uently sailed from Marseilles on ,
December II, 1777." Now from |
hese facts are we not correct in at
-ibuting to France rather than to +
Germany the advent of Steuben to
ur cause: '
One is not disposed to point with d
ny measure of pride to that page ]
t American history which has to Il
o with Beaumarchais. Students il
t history will recall that the part 5
lken by Beaumarchais in furnish +
lg arms and munitions of war en- t,
bled the Continental army to win i,
lie decisive battle of the Revolu- o
on-Saratoga. The great drama
st was one of the first men in a
rance whose genuine enthusiasm e
n the colonists led him to use ev- h
" effort to arouse his government S,
support the cause of American n
The king and the r.
Ibinet. not wishing a rupture with Fl
ngland. for a long time turned d
m a deaf ear. At last his zeal 81
i'd ingenuity prevailed and p
rough an imaginary trading el
,use, supposedly private con- II
m, he received money from the c
which was promptly m
inverted into arms and sent to the CT
lonists. h;
He obtained, chiefly from the W
-ench arsenals, over 200 cannon, a,
900 guns, 100000 pounds of