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Warfare in the Eighteenth Century was a comparitively simple matter, once the battle was joined. Combat was at close range, massed-fire melee, where rapidity of firing was of primary importance. Accuracy was little more than firing faster thatn the opposing line. Much of the Regulations dealt with the manual of arms and firing drills. But battle was close-order drill, and speed of firing could only be obtained by drilling men in the handling of their firearms until the motions of loading and firing were mechanical. Firing was done in eight counts and fifteen motions.

Barron von Steuben Teaching Manual of Arms, Valley Forge, 1777-78

Fire! One Motion.
Half-Cock--Firelock! One Motion.
Handle--Cartridge! One Motion.
Prime! One Motion.
Shut--Pan! One Motion.
Charge with Cartridge! Two motions.
Draw--Rammer! Two motions.
Ram down--Cartridge! One Motion.
Return--Rammer! Two motions.

Complicated as they seem, the new firing regulations were much simpler than those used by foreign armies and they speeded up firing considerably. The bulk of the fighting in the Revolutionary War was a stand up and slug match. The winning side was the one that could get in a good first volley, take a return fire and re-load faster than its foes. Once the individual could handle himself and his musket he was placed in groups of three, then in groups of twelve, and taught to wheel, to dress to the right and to the left. Alignment and dressing the ranks was emphasized but only because proper alignment was necessary for smooth firing.

Another program developed by Steuben was camp sanitation. He established a standards of sanitation and camp layouts that would still be standard a century and a half later. There had previously been no set arrangement of tents and huts. Men relieved themselves where they wished and when an animal died, it was stripped of its meat and the rest was left to rot where it lay. Stueben laid out a plan to have rows for command, officers and enlisted men. Kitchens and latrines were on opposite sides ot the camp, with latrines on the downhill side. There was the familiar arrangement of company and regimental streets.

The results of the army training were in evidence by May 20, 1778 at Barren Hill and then at Monmouth (ending June 28th). Washington recommended an appointment for Steuben as Inspector General on April 30th, and on May 5th, Congress approved it. It was Steuben serving in Washington's headquarters in the summer of 1778 who was the first to report the enemy was heading for Monmouth. During the winter of 1778-1779, Steuben prepared "Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States," also known as the "Blue Book." It's basis was the plan he devised at Valley Forge.

The following winter (1779-1780) his commission was representing Washington to Congress regarding the reorganization of the army. He later traveled with Nathanael Greene-the new commander of the Southern campaign. He quartered in Virginia since the American supplies and soldiers would be provided to the army from there. He aided the campaign in the south during the spring of 1781, culminating in the delivery of 450 Virginia Continentals to Lafayette in June. He was froced to take sick leave, rejoining the army for the final campaign at yorktown. At Yorktown his role was as commander of one of the three divisions of Washington's troops. He gave assistance to Washington in demobilizing the army in 1783 as well as aiding in the defense plan of the new nation. He became an American citizen by act of Pennsylvania legislature in March 1784 (and later by the New York authorities in July 1786). He was discharged from the military with honor on March 24, 1784.

He established residency in New York where he became a very prominent figure. His business acumen was not very keen, and he found himself in difficult financial condition once more. The primary reason was most likely the fact he was living off the prospect of financial compensation from the United States government which was unrealized until June of 1790 when he was granted a yearly pension of $2,500. His financial problems were not ironed out until Alexander hamilton and other friends helped him gain a "friendly" mortgage on the property he was given in New York (about 16,000 acres). He died a bachelor in 1794, leaving his property to his former aides, William North and Benjamin Walker.

The Prussian Baron von Steuben, being a newcomer to the Revolutionary cause in America, was in a position to see many of the deficiencies in military discipline and their causes. The reasons for his unique insight may have been due to the fact that he was distanced from the revolutionary ideals in America, and as a result, was able to better observe and understand them; and ultimately use them to shape his new and successful form of discipline in the Continental Army.

Most of the commanders of the Continental Army, from the commander in chief to the lower officers had subscribed to the traditional European method that relied on fear to achieve discipline. This method of fear was probably not essential, and had little if any effect in the early days of the war because the soldiers were mostly fighting for their own ideologies. 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, a citizen fighting in a group of citizens, and as a result did not respond well 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 looked down upon for not serving or leaving the army by his fellow revolutionaries. He had the freedom to chose how he wished to serve the revolution, and military service was not an obligation.

One aspect of the traditional European system that Baron von Steuben felt needed change was the relationship between the officers and the soldiers. Officers in the Continental Army felt it was necessary to distance themselves from the common soldiers, as an officer had an obligation as a gentleman as well. This division was along social lines, and by separation, the officers felt the common soldiers would show even greater respect. Royster describes this accurately by saying that the officers tried "to make themselves haughty objects of the soldiers' awe."

Steuben did several things to put the officers and the soldiers on common ground. First, sergeants were no longer to do the training and drilling of soldiers. Officers were encouraged to train, drill, and march with their soldiers. They were also encouraged to eat with the common soldiers as well, whenever possible. The officers needed to show love of the soldiers to earn their respect, and in doing this the officers needed to set themselves as an example to the soldiers by overachieving, rather than distancing themselves and underachieving in the eyes of the soldier.

Before Steuben arrived, the forms of drills, training, and discipline in the Continental Army were mainly achieved at the discretion of each particular officer. There was no set standard for drills and training, and each battalion, company, and regiment had different methods. Baron von Steuben set a standard that became universal in the army and all soldiers and officers were to follow it. Through constant repetition of these rather simplified drills and training methods, coupled with the newly evident compassion and caring being shown by the officers, soldiers soon began to show a level of pride and professionalism in doing their duties in the Continental Army.

Steuben catered to the needs and ideologies of the men in the Continental Army. He knew that soldiers who felt that military service was not a necessity, would often question authority. When given an order many soldiers would ask 'Why?' This was what Steuben realized and built his form of discipline around. If a soldier asked why, and there was a good reason for it, then the soldier would ultimately obey the order. This is why the uniformity and simplicity of Steuben's system was so successful in the Continental Army.

Steuben's method of discipline and training was so successful for one main reason, it was catered to the soldier and not to the officer. It had the ultimate result of making the soldier feel like a soldier and not like a volunteer. It established a sense of pride in the soldiers and in the job they did. By the later years of the war, native courage, virtue, and liberty were not enough to encourage soldiers. Steuben method created a professionalism in the Continental Army which, along with the ideologies of the men, was enough to keep the moral of the soldier high despite the many hardships of winter camps like Valley Forge and Morristown.

Additional Sources:

homepages.rootsweb.com/~george
deseretbook.com
www.cyberessays.com
www.cr.nps.gov
www.americanrevwar.homestead.com
philadelphia.about.com
www.postage.dk
www.sar.org
www.happyones.com
www.lombardmaps.com
www.fhsclassmates.com
www.mjdtools.com
www.jim-frizzell.com
www.pasocietyofthecincinnati.org

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on July 19:
1814 Samuel Colt inventor (colt revolver)
1817 Mary Ann Ball Bickerdyke US, army nurse (union)
1823 George Henry Gordon, Bvt Major General (Union volunteers)
1828 Roger Atkinson Pryor, Brig General (Confederate Army), died in 1919
1833 John Wesley Turner, Bvt Major General (Union Army), died in 1899
1834 Edgar Degas France, impressionist painter (Bouquet)
1846 Charles Edward Pickering pioneered American spectroscopist
1860 Lizzie Borden murderer, gave her mother forty whacks
1865 Charles Horace Mayo surgeon, cofounded Mayo Clinic
1917 William W Scranton (Gov-R-Pa)
1922 George McGovern (Sen-D-SD), pres candidate (D-1972)
1923 Pat Hingle Denver Colo, actor (Baby Boom, Norma Rae, Bloody Mama)
1937 George Hamilton IV NC, actor/tannist (Evel Knievel, Love at 1st Bite)
1937 Larry Boxx founded Land B Computer Serv
1938 Richard Jordan NYC, actor (Dune, Old Boyfriends, Gettysburg)
1938 Vikki Carr El Paso Tx, singer (Let it Please Be Him)
1943 Roy D Bridges Jr Atlanta Ga, Col USAF/astronaut (STS 51F, STS 61F)
1946 Ilie Nastase Bucharest Romania, tennis player (US Open 1972)
1952 Howard Donald Saunders Danbury Ct, murderer (FBI Most Wanted List)
1954 Kathleen Turner actress (Accidental Tourist, Jewel of Nile)
1963 Marla Duncan, Fairfield Calif, Miss Northern Calif fitness (1990)
1968 Carolie DeVonne Howe Chugwater Wyoming, Miss Wyoming-America (1991)
1984 Holly Roffey, Englnd, youngest heart transplant

Deaths which occurred on July 19:
0514 Symmachus, Italian Pope (498-514), dies
1374 Francesco Petrarca, [Petracco], Italian mountaineer/poet, dies at 69
1814 Matthew Flinders, English cartographer (Australia coast), dies at 40
1850 Giovanni Ossoli, Italian marquis/revolutionary, drowned
1940 Samuel H Chang American newspaper magnate murdered in Shanghai
1944 Carl Bock, Danish Gestapo agent, liquidated
1958 Robert Earl Hughes weighed 1,041 lbs (473 kg), dies at 32
1974 Earl Warren, gov of Calif/Supreme court justice (1953-68), dies at 83
1974 Joe Flynn actor (McHale's Navy), dies at 59
1990 Johnny Wayne comedian (Wayne & Shuster), dies at 72 of cancer
1995 James Smiddy, high school basketball coach (1,216 wins), dies at 71

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1966 DIAMOND STEPHEN WHITMAN ROSLYN HEIGHTS NY.
[03/18/77 SRV RETURNED REMAINS TO PCOM]
1966 DENNISON TERRY A. COSMOPOLIS WA.
[03/06/74 REMAINS RETURNED]
1966 WINTERS DARRYL G. SAN FRANCISCO CA.
1967 FRYE DONALD P. LOS ANGELES CA.
[REMAINS RETURNED 10/14/82]
1967 JACKSON WILLIAM B. STOCKDALE TX.
[REMAINS RETURNED 10/14/82]
1967 MC GRANE DONALD P. WAVERLY IA.
[REMAINS RETURNED 10/14/82]
1967 PETERSON DENNIS W. HUNTINGTON PARK CA.
["CRASH, NO SURV OBS"]
1969 MARTIN AUBREY GRADY BEEVILLE TX.
[07/74 REMAINS RECOVERED]
1969 SIKKINK ROY DEAN TULSA OK.
[07/69 REMAINS RECOVERED]

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

On this day...
2781 -BC- Presumed start of Egyptian calendar
0064 Circus Maximus in Rome catches fire
0514 St Symmachus ends his reign as Catholic Pope
0532 Start of Dionysian Pascal Cycle
1195 Battle at Alarcos: Almohaden beats Alfons VIII of Castilia
1510 38 Jews are burned at the stake in Berlin Prussia
1545 King Henry VIII's flagship Mary Rose sinks at Portsmouth; 73 die
1553 15-year-old Lady Jane Grey deposed as England's Queen after 9 days
1674 Court of Holland bans books of Hobbes/Spinoza/Meyer
1816 Survivors of French frigate Medusa rescued off Senegal after 17 days
1848 1st women's rights convention (Seneca Falls, NY)
1860 1st railroad reaches Kansas
1862 Nathan Bedford Forrest's 1st raid
1863 Battle of Buffington's Island (St George Creek), Ohio
1864 Battle of Winchester, VA (Stephenson's Depot)
1866 Tennessee is 1st to ratify 14th Amendment, guaranteeing civil rights
1867 Congress passed 3rd Reconstruction Act over Pres Andrew Johnson's veto
1870 France declares war on Prussia; the Franco-Prussian war begins
1875 Emma Abbott, a floating hospital for sick kids, makes trial trip, NYC
1877 1st Wimbledon tennis championships held
1882 J Palisa discovers asteroid #226 Weringia
1907 K Lohnert discovers asteroid #639 Latona
1909 1st baseman Neil Ball turns unassisted triple-play
1915 Wash Nationals steal record 8 bases vs Cleve Indians in the 1st inning
1918 German armies retreat across Marne River in France (WW I)
1927 Ty Cobb gets his 4,000th hit
1928 King Fuad of Egypt grabs power/disbands parliament
1928 H E Wood discovers asteroid #1305 Pongola
1933 Rick Ferrell homers off brother pitcher Wes of Cleve, who also homers
1939 1st use of fiberglass sutures, R.P. Scholz, St Louis, Mo
1940 Hitler orders Great Britain to surrenders
1941 1st US Army flying school for black cadets dedicted (Tuskegee Ala)
1941 British PM Winston Churchill launched his "V for Victory" campaign
1944 1,200+ 8th Air Force bombers bomb targets in SW Germany
1944 Japanese aircraft carriers Taiho/Shokaku sinks in Marianas
1949 Laos becomes associated state within French Union
1950 Pope Pius XII publishes encyclical Summi maeroris
1957 1st rocket with nuclear warhead fired, Yucca Flat, Nevada
1960 SF Giants Juan Marichal debuts, with a 1 hitter against Phillies
1961 1st in-flight movie shown (TWA)
1963 NASA civilian test pilot Joe Walker in X-15 reaches 105 km
1965 Shooting begins on Star Trek 2nd pilot "Where No Man Has Gone Before"
1966 50 year old Frank Sinatra marries 21 year old Mia Farrow in Las Vegas
1966 Gov James Rhodes declares state of emergency in Cleveland (race riot)
1967 Race riots in Durham NC
1967 US launches Explorer 35 for lunar orbit (800/7400 km)
1969 Apollo 11 goes into Moon orbit
1971 B Burnasheva discovers asteroid #2259 Sofievka
1973 Willie Mays named to NL all star team for 24th time (ties Musial)
1975 Apollo & Soyuz linked in orbit for 2 days, separate
1976 Rock group Deep Purple disbands
1977 N Chernykh discovers asteroid #2228 Soyuz-Apollo
1979 Nicaragua Liberation Day; Sandinistas take over from Somoza
1980 Moscow Summer Olympics begin, US & others boycott
1982 David S Dodge becomes the 1st American hostage in Lebanon
1984 1st female to captain a 747 across the Atlantic (Lynn Rippelmeyer)
1984 Geraldine A Ferraro, (Rep-D-NY), won Democratic VP nomination
1985 Christa McAuliffe chosen 1st schoolteacher to fly the space shuttle
1986 Indian pitcher Phil Niekro wins his 307th game tying him with Mickey Welch for 14th place on all time win list
1989 United flight 232 crashes in Iowa
1990 Cincinnati Red Pete Rose is sentence to 5 months for tax evasion
1990 Richard Nixon library opens in Yorba Linda, Calif
1991 Miss Black America contestant accuses Mike Tyson of rape
1993 The Pentagon unveiled its "don't ask, don't tell, don't pursue" policy

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Burma : Martyrs' Day
Laos : Independence Day (1949)
Minority Tourism Month

Religious Observances
Old Catholic : Feast of St Vincent de Paul, confessor

Religious History
1649 In London, Edward Winslow, governor of the Plymouth Colony, helped organize theSociety for Propagating the Gospel in New England, for the purpose of converting theAmerican Indians to Christian faith.
1692 Five Massachusetts women were hanged for witchcraft. Fifteen young girls in the Salem community charged as many as 150 citizens in the area with witchcraft during thegreater part of this year.
1825 The American Unitarian Association was founded by members of the liberal wing of the Congregational churches in New England.
1835 Birth of Jesse Engle, pioneer missionary. In 1898 he led the first party of five missionaries to Africa under sponsorship of the Brethren in Christ Missions.
1904 Construction began on the Liverpool Cathedral in England. The cathedral was completed 20 years later and consecrated on this same date in 1924.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

Thought for the day :
"Every noble work is at first impossible."

Things To Do If You Ever Became An Evil Overlord...
DO NOT agree to let the heroes go free if they win a rigged contest, even though your advisors assure you it is impossible for them to win.

PUNishment of the the day...
Authors in jail have their prose and cons.

Dumb Laws...
University City Missouri:
No person may own a PVC pipe

How to Annoy Osama bin Laden If You're Invited To A Dinner Party At His Secret Afghan Lair...
Ask whether the Taliban gets cable, because you haven't seen "Sex and the City" for weeks.