Do I look like I’m from Steubenville?
You hear a lot about American soldiers here in Germany, and not just in connection with Iraq. Southern Germany currently hosts approximately 57,000 U.S. military personnel (roughly the number of Americans who died in the Vietnam War). So who’s responsible for getting this army off the ground in the first place? Well, as the Germans have a sticky reputation for being militaristic, perhaps you wouldn’t be too surprised to find out that it was Baron von Steuben.
Formerly in the service of the King of Prussia, Frederick II (Frederick the Great), Steuben fought in the Seven Years War (1756-1763)...a little idea greatly advanced when Louis XV’s mistress suggested turning the rival Hapsburgs and their Holy Roman Empire into an ally. He was discharged in 1763 for reasons that ‘are only speculative’...and after some years of trying to find work as a mercenary in a Europe that was every bit as international as it is now, he zeroed in on Benjamin Franklin (in Paris at the time) who gave him an introductory letter to George Washington. By the end of February, 1778 he had reported for duty at Valley Forge, and by the end of March his training program was accepted by the Commander-in-Chief.
Although Steuben (pronounced ‘shtoy-ben here) spoke German, French and Russian, he did not speak English...so, he got his French speaking aid to curse at the trainees for him. Much of the military drills one sees today were instigated by Steuben, and stem from the need to load and fire as quickly as possible without getting in your neighbor’s way. The rest was just common sense, like ‘put your kitchen on the opposite side of the camp from your latrine’ (oh, and by the way, put the latrines on the downhill side).
Formerly in the service of the King of Prussia, Frederick II (Frederick the Great), Steuben fought in the Seven Years War (1756-1763)...a little idea greatly advanced when Louis XV’s mistress suggested turning the rival Hapsburgs and their Holy Roman Empire into an ally. He was discharged in 1763 for reasons that ‘are only speculative’...and after some years of trying to find work as a mercenary in a Europe that was every bit as international as it is now, he zeroed in on Benjamin Franklin (in Paris at the time) who gave him an introductory letter to George Washington. By the end of February, 1778 he had reported for duty at Valley Forge, and by the end of March his training program was accepted by the Commander-in-Chief.
Although Steuben (pronounced ‘shtoy-ben here) spoke German, French and Russian, he did not speak English...so, he got his French speaking aid to curse at the trainees for him. Much of the military drills one sees today were instigated by Steuben, and stem from the need to load and fire as quickly as possible without getting in your neighbor’s way. The rest was just common sense, like ‘put your kitchen on the opposite side of the camp from your latrine’ (oh, and by the way, put the latrines on the downhill side).
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