Baron Von Steuben :: essays research papers

The Prussian Baron von Steuben, being a newcomer to theRevolutionary cause in America, was in a position to seemany of the deficiencies in military soften and theircauses. The reasons for his unique insight may have beendue to the fact that he was distanced from the revolutionaryideals in America, and as a result, was able to better observeand understand them and ultimately use them to shape hisnew and successful form of discipline in the ContinentalArmy. Most of the commanders of the Continental Army,from the commander in chief to the lower officers hadsubscribed to the traditional European method that relied onfear to secure discipline. This method of fear was probablynot essential, and had niggling if any effect in the early days ofthe war because the soldiers were mostly fighting for theirown ideologies. To the soldiers, the commanders were oflittle importance. The soldiers were going to fight their ownfight, and leave the battle when they felt it inevitable. Thesoldier saw himself as a volunteer, a citizen fighting in a convention of citizens, and as a result did not respond well to thetraditional forms of discipline. The soldier knew it wasntnecessary for him to serve, and he knew that he would notbe looked implement upon for not serving or leaving the army byhis fellow revolutionaries. He had the freedom to chose howhe wished to serve the revolution, and military service wasnot an obligation. one aspect of the traditional Europeansystem that Baron von Steuben felt needed change was therelationship between the officers and the soldiers. Officers inthe Continental Army felt it was necessary to distancethemselves from the ordinary soldiers, as an officer had anobligation as a gentleman as well. This division was alongsocial lines, and by separation, the officers felt the commonsoldiers would show even greater respect. Royster describesthis accurately by saying that the officers tried to makethemselves haughty objects of the soldiers awe. (215)Steube n did several things to put the officers and the soldierson common ground. First, sergeants were no eight-day to dothe training and drilling of soldiers. Officers were encouragedto train, drill, and march with their soldiers. They were alsoencouraged to eat with the common soldiers as well,whenever possible. The officers needed to show love of thesoldiers to earn their respect, and in doing this the officersneeded to set themselves as an example to the soldiers byoverachieving, rather than distancing themselves andunderachieving in the eyes of the soldier. Before Steubenarrived, the forms of drills, training, and discipline in the