Washington Journal., 1942-09-04

impressions of the Continental Army:
My determination must have been very firm that did
not abandon my design when / saw the troops. Matters
had to be remedied, but where to begin was the great
problem. / directed my attention to the condition of
the troops, and I found an ample field, where disorder and
The eternal ebb and flow Of men engaged for three,
six, and nine months, who went and came every day,
rendered it impossible to have either a regiment or a com
pany complete; and the words Company, regiment,
brigade were so vague that they did not convey any
idea upon which to base a calculation either of a particular
corps or Of the army in general. They were so unequal
in their number, that it would have been impossible to exc
than a brigade. I have seen a regiment consisting Of 80
men and a company of one corporall Nothing was so diff
return of any company, regiment or corps.
The soldiers were scattered about in every direction. The
army was looked upon as a nursery for servants. and every
one deemed it a right to have a valet; several thousand
soldiers were employed in this way. We had more com.
missaries and quartermasters at that time than all the
armies of Europe together.
General Knox assured me that, previous to my coming,
there never was a campaign in which the military maya.
zines did not furnish from 5000 to 5000 muskets to replace
those that were lost. The loss of bayonets was still greater.
The American soldier, never having used this arm, had no
bacon, and indeed often left it at home. Each man who
went away took his musket with him. His successor re-
The arms at Valley Forge were in a horrible condition,
covered with rust, half of them without bayonets, many
from which no single shot could be fred. The powder
pouches were quite at bad as the arms. A great many
of the men had tin boxes instead of pouches, others had
COW horns. Muskets, earbines, fowling pieces and rifles
were to be seen in the same company.
Many of the men were literally naked, others in rags.
lit OmcefS WIN coats ndQ Unem OF every color and make.
saw officers at a grand parade in Valley Forge mount
ing guard in Q sort of dressing gown made Of an old
blanket or wooden bedcoyer.
With regard to their military discipline 1 may truly say
that no such thing existed. From winter quarters they
almost all went home. So there were often not more than
four officers with a regiment. | found a Massachusetts
regiment commanded by a lieutenant. The idea they had
Of their duty was, that the officers had only to mount
guard and put themselves at the head of their troops when
they went into action.
1t would be an endless task to enumerate the abuses,
which then nearly ruined the army. The above is a general
view of the condition of the American Army as l found
it at Valley Forge in the month of February, 177s.
Young Duponceau, whose knowledge of
English enabled him to understand the com
plants OF the poor starvelings at Valley
Forge, in his memories thus supplements the
Baron's first Impressions:
We were in want Of provisions, Of clothing, Of fodder
for our horses, in short, Of everything. | remember seeing
huts and heard them waiing: Ono bread, no sodier!"
We put the best face we could upon the matter. Once,
with the Baron's permission we aides invited a number Of
none should be admitted fiat had on n whole nair Of
brooches. Torn clothes were an indispensable requisite for
admission, and in this the guests did not fail us.
For the dinner the guests dubbed their rations and we
Jared on tough COW meat and potatoes with hickory nuts
for desert, brought by His Excellency, the Commander in
Chief. Instead Of wine, we had raw spirits, wherewith we
made "Salamanders" =, that is to say, after filling our
glasses we set the liquor on fire and drank it up, flame
and all. Such a set of ragged, and at the same time merry
The Baron loved to speak later of that dinner and of
his ''sans coulottes' as he called us. Thus that denomina-
oHn vas ASI AHFNhtOu III SIN
Elsewhere Duponceau told how the Baron
always encouraged him and the other aides
to invite their subaltern friends to share
meals with them at the Baron's quarters,
saying "the poor fellows must be hungry
A Phenomenal Success
Won Steuben's phenomenal success in bring
ing order out of such chaos in so adverse
circumstances is a remarkable tribute to his
genius, to the thoroughness Of his Prussian
training and, last not least, to the native
adaptability Of the raw American recruits
with whom he had to deal. On repeated
occasions he declared that they we're better
marksmen than any European soldiers, knew
better how to take cover and adapt them
selves to emergencies and, when ably led,
how they were a match to any foe.
The Baron, too, showed himself adaptable
and mentally elastic. John Laurens remarked
that he was less hidebound in his drilling and
maneuvering of the men than the other for
eign officers with their Old World military
traditions. In the loading Of the musket he
reduced the Prussian manual of 80 motions
to 10, and he lost no time in dispensing with
useless parades. He tempered the cast
distinctions between officers and men, recog-
nlzlng the democratic principle that III a free
country all men are born equal and therefore
strove to do away with all degrading punish
ment. In battle tactics he p%rofited from
Washington's early experiences in the wilder
ness by encouragement of sharpshooters, by
making the most of skirmishing or deploying
and by using the terrain for seeking cover
while under fire. 1t is recorded that the
signal successes of American rangers in battle
tactics after they had been drilled by Steuben
prompted his old master, Frederick the Great,
to introduce such tactics in the Prussian
army.
h. C4o-l.. .aoo-~-Is.Iol II III 49,