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Facts About Germany German History German Recipes |
Establishing Order in the American Army
Upon his arrival at Valley Forge in February of 1778, von Steuben was terrified by the state of the army and soldiers. Supplies were not under account, soldiers had no clothing, some of them had no weapons. To crown it all, there was a complete lack of discipline. Soldiers would just come and go as they wished. To the soldiers, the commanders were of little importance. The soldiers were going to fight their own fight, and leave the battle when they felt it necessary. The soldier saw himself as a volunteer, and as a result did not respond appropriately to the traditional forms of discipline. The soldier knew it wasn't necessary for him to serve, and he knew that he would not be punished for not serving or leaving the army. He had the freedom to choose the way to serve the revolution, and military service was not an obligation. Von Steuben immediately took control and started teaching marching, marksmanship and battle tactics. He picked 100 men, trained them and sent them to train the others. He improved the sanitary conditions of the military camps, had the men set up their tents in rows so the camp began to have a military structured appearance. Thus, by April of 1778 the colonial army became quite an organized and trained military force. In May the Prussian captain von Steuben was appointed Inspector General of the Army. In spite of the conflicts with the other American Generals, von Steuben kept training the American troops and maintained the respect of General Washington. Steuben wrote Regulations For The Order And Discipline Of The Troops. The book included detailed instructions for the discipline and conduct of officers and soldiers, as well as organization of units, and all related issues. The Blue Book, as it was informally called, is the finest example of German order and punctuality. Every manual exercise dictated a precise number of motions, distance between the feet and position of the arms: "XVIII. Secure, Firelock ! 3 motions. Previous page > The Revolutionary War General von Steuben > Next page > Victory and Glory of Baron von Steuben |
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