Essay on Baron Von Steuben

Baron Von Steuben Term Papers

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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 wasnÕt

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 Òto make

themselves haughty objects of the soldiersÕ awe.Ó (215)

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,...

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