Memorial in honor of Von Steuben in Washington D.C.
The Gay
Man Who Saved the United States
by Mark Segal
After years of studying almost anything available on
Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, the material suggesting that von Steuben
was gay is so overwhelming that the only thing that can be asked of anyone who
doubts it is, "Prove to me he's not." There literally is not room in
this article to list all the facts that point to a practice of homosexuality on
the part of von Steuben.
On the other hand, there is only one thing historians
can point to that suggests von Steuben was heterosexual, and it comes from the
first biography on the baron in 1859, "The Life of Frederick William von
Steuben" by Friedrich Kapp. At the end of the 700-plus-page bio, Kapp
writes, "Steuben was never married. It seems, however, that he met with a
disappointment in early life. While preparing to remove to his farm, the
accidental fall of a portrait of a most beautiful young woman, from his
cabinet, which was picked up by his companion and shown to him, with the
request to be told from whom it was taken, produced a most obvious emotion of
strong tenderness, and the pathetic exclamation, 'O, she was a matchless
woman!' He never afterwards alluded to the subject." This flimsy story is
one of the few items in the book with no attribution. It has since been
attributed to a host of the baron's acquaintances. But most interesting of all
is that each time von Steuben encountered the charge of being "homosexual,"
he never denied it or defended himself, he just moved on.
There are few historians today who would doubt that
von Steuben was gay. I have argued for the past two years, and no accredited
historian has refuted its main theme that, without von Steuben, there would be
no United States and that, in today's terms, von Steuben would be considered a
gay man. This update contains new historical material to add to the growing
list of details about him. This new information might prove Baron von Steuben
was the first case of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
To appreciate the contributions von Steuben (1730-94)
made to the American Revolution, consider this: Before his arrival in Valley
Forge in 1778, the colonies were on the path to defeat. Without his leadership,
our modern America might still be the British Colonies.
Before von Steuben arrived at Valley Forge, the
Revolutionary Army was a loosely organized, rag-tag band of men with little
military training or discipline. The military fumbled through the beginning of
the war for independence lacking training and organization. Gen. George
Washington and the Continental Congress knew that, without help from additional
seasoned military experts, the colonies would clearly lose. Since Washington
himself was the best the colonies had, they looked to Europe for someone who could
train the troops. To that end, Washington wrote the colonies' representatives
in Paris, among them Benjamin Franklin, to see what he could come up with.
Franklin, a renowned inventor, was treated as a celebrity in the French court.
This would be pivotal in achieving his two major objectives in France: winning
financial support for the American Revolution and finding military leaders who
could bring a semblance of order to the Revolutionary Army.
Franklin learned of a "brilliant Prussian"
military genius, Lt. Gen. Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, who had a string
of successes across Germanic Europe. But there was one problem. He'd been asked
to depart many of those states and countries because of his "affections
for members of his own sex," according to biographer Paul Lockhart's The Drillmaster of Valley Forge.
This became urgent in 1777 when von Steuben literally
escaped imprisonment in what is now Germany and traveled to Paris. There,
Franklin was interviewing candidates to assist Washington back in the colonies
when his fellow Colonial representative Silas Deane brought von Steuben to his
residence for an interview in June.
During the process, Franklin discovered von Steuben's
reputation for having "affections" with males and the issue became
pressing, as members of the French clergy demanded the French court, as in
other countries, take action against this sodomite, whom they considered a
pedophile. They had decided to make their effort a crusade and run him out of
France.
Lockhart's biography tells of von Steuben's being
summoned from Paris for Karlsruhe, at the court of the Margrave of Baden, for a
military vacancy. But, Lockhart notes, "what he found waiting for him at
Karlsruhe was not an officer's commissioner but a rumor, a horrible, vicious
rumor" that the Baron had "taken familiarities with young boys."
Those allegations were fueled by von Steuben's close
ties to Prince Henry and Frederick the Great, also "widely rumored to be
homosexual."
Benjamin Franklin:
Smuggler & Scandal Fixer
Von Steuben returned to Paris, and Franklin had a
choice here -- and he decided von Steuben's expertise was more important to the
colonies than his sexuality. While it can be debated how much a part Franklin played
in the recruitment of von Steuben, one cannot doubt that one of the most
informed people at the French court would know of the allegations against the
baron. With that knowledge, and with von Steuben about to be jailed, Franklin,
along with Deane, wrote what must be the nation's first example of "Don't
Ask, Don't Tell" as they mutually signed a recommendation letter to Gen.
Washington that embellished von Steuben's military expertise and titles and
suggested he had been recommended by various princes and "other great
personages." Most surprisingly, it remarked that "his distinguished
character and known abilities were attested to by two judges of military merit
in this country."
The judges of character that Franklin referred to were
two of the four involved in the plot to bring von Steuben to America, along
with Franklin and Deane, and personal friends of the baron: Pierre
Beaumarchais, author of the "Figaro" plays and an arms dealer who
supplied arms for the ship von Steuben eventually sailed on, and Claude Louis,
Comte de Saint-Germain, the minister of war under Louis XVI.
What the letter didn't mention was that he was about
to be arrested and appear before judges in France.
Franklin, working with Deane, decided von Steuben's
"affections" were less important than what he, Washington and the
colonies needed to win the war with England. Deane learned of von Steuben's
indiscretions -- and that the French clergy was investigating -- from a letter
to the Prince of Hechingen, which read in part:
"It has come to me from different sources that M.
de Steuben is accused of having taken familiarities with young boys, which the
laws forbid and punish severely. I have even been informed that that is the
reason why M. de Steuben was obliged to leave Hechingen and that the clergy of
your country intend to prosecute him by law as soon as he may establish himself
anywhere."
The proof of Franklin and Deane's knowledge lies in
the letter to Washington recommending von Steuben and their quick action to
secure the baron from France. So in September 1777, von Steuben boarded a
24-gun ship named Heureux -- but, for this voyage, the ship's name was changed
to Le Flamand, and the baron's name was entered onto the captain's log as
"Frank." And he was on his way to the colonies.
Baron von Steuben Whips
the Men Into Shape
Washington and Franklin's trust in von Steuben was
rewarded. He whipped the rag-tag army of the colonies into a professional
fighting force, able to take on the most powerful superpower of the time,
England. Some of his accomplishments include instituting a "model
company" for training, establishing sanitary standards and organization
for the camp and training soldiers in drills and tactics such as bayonet
fighting and musket loading. According to the New York Public Library,
("The Papers of Von Steuben") these were his achievements:
February 1778: Arrives at Valley Forge to serve under
Washington, having informed Congress of his desire for paid service after an
initial volunteer trial period, with which request Washington concurs.
March 1778: Begins tenure as inspector general,
drilling troops according to established European military precepts.
1778-79: Writes "Regulations for the Order and
Discipline of the Troops of the United States," which becomes a
fundamental guide for the Continental Army and remains in active use through
the War of 1812, was published in over 70 editions.
1780-81: Senior military officer in charge of troop
and supply mobilization in Virginia.
1781: Replaced by Marquis de Lafayette as commander in
Virginia.
1781-83: Continues to serve as Washington's inspector
general, and is active in improving discipline and streamlining administration
in the Army.
Spring 1783: Assists in formulating plans for the
post-war American military.
Washington rewarded von Steuben with a house at Valley
Forge, which he shared with his aide-de-camps Capt. William North and Gen.
Benjamin Walker. Walker lived with him through the remainder of his life, and
von Steuben, who neither married nor denied any of the allegations of
homosexuality, left his estate to North and Walker. There wasn't much else to
claim, as the baron was in debt at the time of his death, according to both
Kapp and Lockhart. His last will and testament has been described as a love
letter to Walker and has been purported to describe their "extraordinarily
intense emotional relationship," yet that line was not in the Kapp
biography of 1859.
Both North and Walker are featured in the statue of
von Steuben in Lafayette Park across from the White House.
John Adams' Son's
'Unsavory' Relationship with the Baron
Von Steuben and with whom he slept was long a matter
of discussion -- from Prussia to France to the United States. Yet he never
publicly denied it. The closest he came was to ask Washington to speak on
behalf of his morals in a letter to Congress so he could get his pension. And
why did he ask Washington?
Since his arrival in Philadelphia to assist the
Revolution, von Steuben had financial issues caused by a Continental Congress
that often didn't keep its funding promises, a challenge compounded by his own
personality: Von Steuben at times could be cold and aloof, which was
problematic when diplomacy was needed with an important member of Congress. He
also had a tendency to live and spend extravagantly, especially on his
uniforms, which were often emblazoned with epaulettes and medals of his own
design.
Adding to that were the constant rumors about his
sexuality, which by 1790, reached one of the revolution's first families, the
Adamses of Massachusetts.
Charles, the son of John and Abigail Adams -- the
second president and first lady of the new union -- was what today would be
called the black sheep of the family. Early on, Abigail considered him
"not at peace within himself." His biggest problem was alcoholism
but, as revealed in letters among the various members of the family, the
Adamses had other concerns.
As John Ferling wrote in the biography John Adams: A Life, "There are references
to [Charles'] alleged proclivity for consorting with men whom his parents
regarded as unsavory." One of these men was von Steuben, who, as Ferling
writes, many at the time considered homosexual. Charles had become infatuated
with and adored Von Steuben. It is clear from the family letters that the
Adamses were concerned about a relationship between Charles and the baron. Von
Steuben's sexuality was an open secret, one that he himself never challenged,
other than to ask Washington to defend his moral character.
The Nation's First
Underwear Party
The baron is a puzzle. At first, I really didn't like
him: The man himself was pompous, cold and theatrical, and his uniforms and
title were stage props for an officer who didn't even speak English when he got
to Valley Forge. But I respected him for what he did to help Washington's
rag-tag army to defeat the British, eventually leading to the creation of our
country. His knowledge created the first sense of military discipline in the
colonies. My appreciation for him came from his most recent biographer,
Lockhart, whose book The Drillmaster of
Valley Forge offers a complete look at von Steuben's work.
There is one story in the book that could be
considered rather scandalous in today's terms: Von Steuben most likely threw
the first underwear party in the United States military, at his house in Valley
Forge.
As Lockhart writes, "The Baron hosted a party
exclusively for their lower-ranking friends. He insisted, though, that 'none
should be admitted that had on a whole pair of breeches,' making light of the
shortages that affected the junior officers as they did the enlisted men."
Apart from this humorous anecdote, it's hard to
question von Steuben's importance -- especially as Washington's last official
act as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army was to write a letter to the
baron.
George Washington Says
Goodbye
Sent from Annapolis and dated Dec. 23, 1783,
Washington wrote:
"My dear Baron: Altho' I have taken frequent
opportunities, both in public and private, of acknowledging your great zeal,
attention and abilities in performing the duties of your office; yet I wish to
make use of this last moment of my public life, to signifie [sic] in the
strongest terms my entire approbation of your conduct, and to express my sense
of the obligations the public is under to you, for your faithful and
meritorious services.
"I beg you will be convinced, my dear sir, that I
should rejoice if it could ever be in my power to serve you more essentially
than by expressions of regard and affection; but in the meantime, I am
persuaded you will not be displeased with this farewell token of my sincere
friendship and esteem for you.
"This is the last letter I shall ever write while
I continue in the service of my country; the hour of my resignation is fixed at
12 this day, after which I shall become a private citizen on the banks of the
Potomack, where I shall be glad to embrace you, and to testify the great esteem
and consideration with which I am, etc."1
The nation that von Steuben helped found has
memorialized him with numerous statues, including those at Lafayette Square
near the White House and at Valley Forge and Utica, N.Y. (where he is buried)
and German Americans celebrate his birthday each year on Sept. 17, hosting
parades in New York City, Philadelphia and Chicago.
It was von Steuben, a gay man, who played a giant role
in not only the creation of our military, but the idea of military academies, a
standing Army and even veterans organizations.
If George Washington was the father of the nation,
then von Steuben, a gay man, was the father of the United States military.
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