New Britain herald., 1915-06-15

sometimes unreasonably severe corr
 mander. But his soldiers soon i learned that under the rough exter- for, like the velvety lining to tic chestnut burr, was hidden a heart full of charity, generosity and rev l erence for all things which. were l noble, honest and pure | .If Steuben was irritable and errat- l ic in his personality, it was largely 1 due to his lack of knowledge of Eng gz 1 lish, and often to the unpublished mans l ners of many of the army officers l with whom he came in contact, for he had been bred in a court of con-t ventio nal mannerisms. and of silk stocking diplomacy. and the rude manners of some of his brother off, cers often jared his aristocratic nerves.
 "He was naturally frank blunt and excitab ablc, expressing his sentiments without fear or favor and
 scrupulously just to foe and friend alike. Stern and infiexible as a dis
 ciplinarian. in battlee hee wss rash,
 violent and furious as a tornado, and
 as little .sparing of what he said or
 did. And yet under it all. he was one
 
 under man's coat.
 Ready to Attack Hell with Wayne.
 "Steuben and General Anthony
 Wayne had a great and mutual ad-
 miration for each other, and at the
 siege of Yorktown, when asked if he
 thought certain point could be tak-
 en by assault, said If someone will
 plan an attack on Hell. Wayne and
 I will storm the gates With his mon
 ey he was prodigal to a fault, and as
 appeals to his symathy, and conse- quently his pocket-book were fre- quent, .1e was never long possessed of funds. On one occasion when he had received 500 pounds from the sale of some property in the old country, it is related that he at once spent half of it for food and clothing for the more needy of his soldiers, and with in week had lent or given away nearly all the rest among his friends. His table, whenever he had anything to put upon it, was always filled with officers, often of an inferior rank. for, he said, the poor fellows have field officers capacities without their pay or rations. On one occasion he sold nearly all his camp equipment to give a dinner to some French ofn- cers whose hospitality he had often enjoyed. When the common soldiers heard of this, they soon stole enough from the neighboring villages, and from other officers, to refurnish his quarters Referring to this incident as showing the feeling which the soldies had for him, one of them wrote home to his father, saying we y.Ax tains in this camp, sleep on feather beds while the ''old Dutchman'' sleeps on straw After the siege of York .. town he sold his only horse to give dinner to the captured British off, 1 cers. and long before this he had pawned his watch to relieve the needs i of friend. When sometimes chided | for his impecunious habits he replied, 1 One can nearly always get money, ! but their friends are few
 When he was leaving Yorktown l after the surrender of Cornwallis, he | went to Major North. who was sick | with fever. and said, I am leav- ing you my shay that you may get out of this place as soon as you can,' and giving him piece of gold he l said, this is half of all the money I have in the world
 No Home After the War.
 When the army man disbanded at Newburg. most of the officers and men, though poor, unpaid and desti- ute, had at least homes to go to. 1 But Steuben had no home. He was a stranger in a strange land and yet so ready was he to aid and comfort those about him, that he turned to Colonel Cichrane who stood near him with look of sadness on his face, and said, Cheer up Cochrane, in such E, a country as this, things will soon be 1. better Cochrane replied I can take care of myself, but in the attic of the hotel across the street are my wife and daughters, and I have not l sufficient money to buy them a meal, i or to remove them to more suitable . lodging. Steuben was soon missed from the gathering of officers, and 1 t when he returned. he had not a dol ;, ar in his pockets, for he had sought : put the wife and children of his com y -ade in arms, and left with them the i entire contents of his purse" n
 Tn spite of his strict discipline. he \, vsa so loved by the common soldiers s hat one of them wrote home to his l f wife as follows, The Old Dutchman | ( would give the last loaf he had to l t lis men and go hungry himself s While was on picket yesterday he l t rave me a pipe of tobacco, and I Fl hink it was the last he had. The | nen respect most of the other off, ,ers, but they love the Old Dutch le 2 nan, and would follow him to hell iy nd back if he asked them Such 1 F vas the human side of the man whom h is soldiers called the 'Old Dutch q nan in the same spirit in which the Il