USA > New Jersey > Essex County > Newark > A History of the city of Newark, New Jersey : embracing practically two and a half centuries, 1666-1913, Volume II > Part 47
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And so they lived, a peaceful, orderly, God-fearing people, making slow but sure progress in all that belongs to civic prosperity. There is great advantage as well as propriety in rescuing from oblivion as well as neglect, the character of these old German pioneers. As Lord Macaulay says: "It is a sentiment which belongs to the higher and purer parts of human nature and which adds no little to the strength of states. A people which takes no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote descendants."
CHAPTER III.
THE GERMANS IN THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE.
THE GERMANS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR-VERY FEW TORIES AMONGST GERMANS-PROCLAMATION OF GERMAN CHURCHES-THE GERMAN REGIMENTS AND WASHINGTON'S BODYGUARD-MOLLY PITCHER AN HEROIC GERMAN WOMAN-DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE FIRST PUB- LISHED IN A GERMAN NEWSPAPER -- BARON VON STEUBEN AND HIS SERVICES -WILLIAM DOUNIG, THE CANNON-MAKER-THE HESSIANS-GERMANS IN THE FRENCH SERVICE.
Men and women, who, on account of their work, as well as their spiritual life, were so inflexible and self-reliant, had naturally to take a most profound and eager interest in the great political disturbances, which were to produce the United States of America from the Colonies. It is difficult to describe the part which the Germans of a single state played in the war; since the relations between the Germans living in Pennsylvania and New Jersey were very intimate, because of the conformity of their religious beliefs, the events are of equal value and equal significance for all. The German journals and pamphlets published in Pennsylvania, which, naturally, were also widely circulated in New Jersey, asumed an attitude very decidedly opposed to England. In the so-called Correspondence Com- mittee, which the citizens of Philadelphia appointed to agree on universal measures with the citizens of other colonies, a step which followed the clos- ing of Boston Harbor in 1774, the following Germans were found: Chris- toph Ludwig, George Schlosser, Paul Engel and Michael Hillegass. Ger- mans sat in the Colonial Congress as well as in the Committee of Safety, and Michael Hillegass was the first treasurer of the United Colonies and Isaac Melcher the first inspector of the barracks.
All contemporary accounts and sources of information seem to indicate that in the German population there were very few Tories indeed. They were not members of families that had been in favor at court for genera-
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tions; they were not owners of estates that were gifts of the crown; they felt no emotional sentiments binding them to a prince. They were men who had hewn their own farms out of the wild forest, had maintained their independence against its savage inhabitants, and who claimed as their own the soil on which their battles had been won. Frontiersmen-and most of the Germans were or had been such-gained from their mode of life a degree of independence, which often set them in opposition to the policies of the seaboard.
Benjamin Franklin, when questioned before the English Parliament concerning the dissatisfaction of the Americans with the Stamp Act, was asked about the Germans; how many there were, whether a part of them had seen service in Europe and whether they were as dissatisfied with the Stamp Tax as the native population. He answered that about one third of the population of Pennsylvania and a large portion of New York and New Jersey were Germans, that many had seen service in Europe as well as in America and that they were even more dissatisfied than the native popula- tion, "and they were justified, because in many cases they must pay double for their stamp paper and parchments." The German press teemed with sermons and addresses. The "Staatsboote," a German newspaper published in Philadelphia by Henry Miller, later the printer of Congress, was one of the papers that fanned the flames of rebellion.1 Of significance with refer- ence to the political temper of the entire German population, is the pamph- let printed in 1775 by H. Miller, with the title "A Letter of the Councils of the French Lutheran Church and the Reformed Church, as well as the officials of the German Society of the City of Philadelphia to the German inhabitants of the colonies of New York, New Jersey and North Carolina." (Schreibendes franzosisch lutherischen und reformirten, kirchenrathes, wie auch der Beamten der Deutschen Gesellschaft der Stadt Philadelphia an die Deutschen Einwohner der Provinzen New York, New Jersey and North Carolina). The aim of the writing was no other than to inform the Ger- mans everywhere of the political situation and to win their favor for the regulations of the Congress which "purposed to defend the rights of a numerous and free-born people, weapon in hand, against all attacks and actions of mighty enemies and oppressors." What sentiments the Germans in Pennsylvania and New Jersey cherished at that time, are clearly enough manifested in the following words: "We have from time to time seen daily before our eyes that the people in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, rich and poor alike, approve the decision of Congress; particularly have the Germans in Pennsylvania and New Jersey distinguished themselves from us near and far and have not only raised a militia but also selected rifle-corps, which are in readiness to march wheresoever necessary; and those among the Germans who cannot themselves enter active service are thoroughly willing to contribute to the public good in accordance with their power."
But we now come to the share of the Germans in the war itself, through which the independence of the United States was won and the real republic called into existence. When the signs increased that war was inevitable, military associations of volunteers were formed everywhere, which always numbered very many Germans among their members. In Philadelphia a society of this sort existed, consisting entirely of Germans, which regularly
' This paper was read in New Jersey, and as far as the valley of Virginia. The edition of March 19, 1776, contains an appeal to the Germans beginning: "Remember that your forefathers emigrated to America to escape bondage, and to enjoy liberty.""Virginia Magazine," vol. x, p. 45. ff.
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came to the drill. The Germans furnished a very considerable contingent, not only of privates but also of officers in the regiments which Pennsylvania and New Jersey provided for the Continental army. Besides on May 22, 1776, Congress consented to the formation of a battalion exclusively Ger- man, which many of the Germans of New Jersey immediately entered. This battalion was at first commanded by Colonel Nicolas Hausegger, then by Baron von Arendt, and finally by Ludwig Weltner. On December 1, 1776, it joined Washington's army at Bristol, and in May, 1776, joined the brigade of General P. Muhlenberg. It took part in the battles of the Brandywine and Germantown, and endured the sufferings of the terrible winter at Valley Forge (1777-1778). Many Germans served in the first Continental regiment under Colonel Philip de Haas, and in the legion of the Marquis Armand de la Rouerie, with which the independent rifle-corps of Baron von Ottendorf, which consisted almost exclusively of Germans, was united.
In the Pennsylvania regiments and also in some from New Jersey, the Germans were particularly well represented,? and furthermore, they were particularly conspicuous in Washington's body-guard and in the corps of volunteers. We are told concerning the body-guard of General Washington, which was called the "Independent Troop of Horse," also the "Provost Guard," "Body Guard" and "Life Guard," that it had been essentially recruited by its leader, the former Prussian officer, Major von Heer, in the German counties of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. According to modern German military conceptions the little corps of about 150 men formed the so-called aides and sentries of the main headquarters and were employed as couriers and bearers of despatches. In the lists which are still extant are found 14 officers and petty officers and 53 privates, who are Germans beyond a doubt, and yet in these only a part of the body-guard is accounted for. The troop served until the end of the war, and when peace was pro- claimed it was discharged with the exception of 12 men, the two officers, von Heer and Meytinger, a sergeant, a trumpeter and eight privates.
Of the corps of volunteers, that of the Frenchman Armand de la Rouerie has already been mentioned, and also the independent rifle-corps of Baron von Ottendorf. Under him were Captain Anton Seelin, Jost Driesbach and Jacob Bauer, and not a single one of the men understood English; also among the privates of this corps, the German blood of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Virginia was especially represented. A troop which was like- wise German was the dragoon-corps of Captain Paul von Schott, which, after the latter's capture, was incorporated in the Armand legion.
And just as the Germans gave their men to the army in the ranks of the fighters, so likewise were there loyal German hands at home, which cared for the wounded. Hospitals were established by the Moravian brethren in particular, as well as by other German sects. After the battles of the Brandywine and Germantown the rooms of Bethlehem were filled. Lafayette, too, was nursed here by Mrs. Breckel and her daughter Liesel. The convent community of Ephrata, where, after the battle of the Brandy- wine, probably 500 of the sick and wounded were nursed, distinguished itself for its sacrificing kindness. A Pennsylvania German woman whose
2 Cf. Rosengarten, pp. 100-101, "Pennsylvania in the Revolution," 1771-1783, 2 vols., (Harrisburg, 1880), edited by Linn and Eagle. Full lists of officers and men serving in Continental forces are there given. See also "Der Deutsche Pionier," vol. viii, pp. 133-142, 185-187, 275-282, 333-336, 496-499; vol. ix, pp. 276-278, 329-333; vol. x, pp. 158-161. The Ists were verified by comparison with the statistics of the Pension Bureau at Washington. The investigation was made by II. A. Rattermann, editor of "Der Deutsche Pionier."
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brave deeds in the Revolutionary War are better known than the fact of her Tentonic blood, is the heroine of Monmouth, whom we call by the soldiers' nickname of "Molly Pitcher." She was a servant on the farm of Dr. Irvine, of Carlisle, and her maiden name was Maria Ludwig. She was married to a man named Heis or Hays, and, when her employer went to the war, Hays also enlisted. "Mollie," as she was called, stayed behind in some anxiety, particularly after a friend, with the kind thoughtfulness which distinguishes some friendships, came and told her of a dream of some misfortune to Mollie's husband. A few days after, when Mollie's washing was just finished and still hung wet upon the line, a man came riding up to tell her of her husband's sickness. Taking her clothes, still wet, and making them into a bundle, Mollie jumped up pillow fashion behind the messenger, and went to nurse her husband. Once with the army, she found much to do for other sick soldiers and remained in camp attending to the wounded and carrying water to the soldiers; the men used to say, "Here comes Moll with her pitcher," and so arose her sobriquet. Her heroism at the battle of Monmouth, when she helped to serve a cannon at which her husband had just fallen wounded, is famous. For this her husband was promoted, and after the war the brave woman herself was given the pension and brevet rank of captain." A grandchild of Molly Pitcher, Polly Maletter, lived in 1876 in Carlisle; she was at that time seventy-three years old. She had been raised by her grandmother, and recalled many of her stories of the war. In a letter to Mr. H. A. Rattermann, who for a long time was the editor of the "Deutsche Pionier," she relates what her grandmother had told her regarding her experiences at the battle of Monmouth. Mrs. Maletter describes her grandmother as a short, stout woman, with blue eyes and reddish hair.4
Later, in the "Staatsboote," a German paper in Philadelphia, we find the following notice set forth in the boldest antique type that the office of Henry Miller could boast:
"Philadelphia, den 5, July. Gestern hat der achtbare Congres dieses vesten Landes die vereiningten Colonien freye und unabhaengige Staten erklaert. Die Declaration in Englisch ist gesetzt in der Presse; sie ist datirt den 4, July, 1776, und wird heute oder morgen im druck erscheinen."
As the "Staatsboote" was the only Philadelphia paper which appeared on Friday and the Declaration was adopted on Thursday, it was through the columns of a Pennsylvania German paper that the first news of indepedence was published.º
The struggle for liberty in the American colonies attracted soldiers from foreign lands, some of them adventurers, who proved troublesome to the commander-in-chief and Congress, but others again were of an entirely different stamp. Of all the distinguished foreigners who aided the American cause, none did more real service than Baron von Steuben, the drill master of the American forces. In the words of Hamilton, quoted by Bancroft: "He benefited the country of his adoption by introducing into the army a regular formation and exact discipline, and by establishing a spirit of arder and economy in the interior administration of the regiments."
"Baron von Steuben, born in Madgeburg, in Prussia, had served with dis- tinction in the war of the Austrian succession and during the war of seven years, where he had won high honors on the field of Rossbach. He became
3 "The Germans in Colonial Times," by Lucy Farney Bittinger.
+"Pionier" vol. viii, p. 189.
B "The Germans in Colonial Times," by Lucy Farney Bittinger.
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an aide of Frederick the Great, but was not satisfied with an inactive life after the war. So, when, during a visit to Paris, he had an opportunity to become acquainted with Benjamin Franklin, he learned of the new and vast held of activity which he might expect in America, he accepted an offer from this statesman and embarked for the New World, after he had asked the king to transfer the income of his estate-amounting to over four thousand six hundred livres, to his nephew Baron von Kanitz-Steubens; the offer, supported by the letters from Franklin, was at once accepted by Congress and he was sent to Valley Forge, where Washington received him in accord- ance with his rank and experience as a soldier. The two men soon discovered the worth of each other, and this mutual regard and esteem lasted until their death." "
Baron von Steuben indeed found work to do. At no time was the condition of the army at a lower ebb, not only through lack of supplies and equipment, but also through the absence of discipline and military spirit. Through desertion and disease the original force of seventeen thousand men had dwindled down to a little more than five thousand men who could be called out for duty. Even these were poorly armed and clothed in rags. Yet there were capabilities in these men, which the trained eye of Steuben recognized. He drafted from the line one hundred and twenty men to form a military school, and he drilled them twice a day. He became the inventor of the light infantry. These bodies of skirmishers fought in Indian fashion under cover, as the American backwoodsman was accustomed to do, using his rifle to the best advantage and according to his own judgment, always being careful to keep his body sheltered as much as possible. In order to make the principles of military discipline accessible to all quarters, Steuben published a manual, long known in the army of the United States as "Steuben's Regulations" or the "Blue Book." For the first time since the war began, American officers had a clear and definite guide for the per- formance of their military duties."
But the most important work were the reforms introduced by Baron Steuben in the internal administration of the army. He introduced order and the strictest accountability for men, equipments, rations, etc. "In his inspection there was no trifling, no hurrying over detalls; every man not present was to be accounted for, if in camp, sick or well, he was produced or visited; overy musket was handled and searched; cartridge-boxes were opened, even the flints and cartridges counted; knapsacks were unslung, and every article was spread on the soldier's blanket and tested by his little book." In these words William North, one of the aides of General Steuben, describes these inspections, and he adds, "they were dreaded by every officer who had not done liis duty towards his men." The economies of the service resulting from Steuben's work were enormous. A single instance of this was that the war office, instead of having to count upon an annual loss of from five to eight thousand muskets, which the discharged men had taken home with them, could enter upon its record that in one year of Steuben's inspectorship only three muskets were missing, and that even these were accounted for.
6 Bancroft, vol. v. p. 220.
7 12. M. Steuben, "Regulations for the order and discipline of the troops of the United States; prefixed by Laws and Regulations for the Milltia of the United States and New Hampshire." (Published by order of the Gonoral Court of Now Hampshire, Portsmouth, 1791), and F. M. Stoubon: "Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the troops of the United States" (Boston, 1802).
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Washington very soon perceived the results attained by the directing mind which unfolded its remarkable talent for organization in the demoral- ized army. At his instigation, therefore, Steuben was appointed by a decree of Congress on May 5, 1778, acting inspector-general with the rank and pay of a major-general.
Events very soon proved the excellence of the work of General Steuben. In the spring campaign of 1778, Lafayette, seeing himself outnumbered and cut off from the main body, was able to save his men by an orderly retreat; Washington at the same time could get his whole army under arms and ready to work in fifteen minutes. At Monmouth, in our state (June 28, 1778), Lee and Scott's troops were already in full retreat when General Steuben arrived. His familiar voice rallied Lee's broken columns; they wheeled into line under a heavy fire as calmly as on the parade ground, and the victory was won. When, as a result of this affair, Lee was examined before a court-martial, Washington transferred the command over his corps temporarily to Steuben, but because of the intrigues of the American brigadier-generals, who would not serve under a foreigner, he was obliged to take it from him again. Steuben, dissatisfied, took a leave of absence and demanded from Congress an exact statement of his authority and official duties, the more so because de la Neuville, the inspector-general of the northern army, also refused him obedience. But it was not until February 19, 1779, that Congress complied with his wish.
With the help of the light infantry the Americans succeeded in storm- ing Stony Point and Paulus Hook without a shot. This brilliant military exploit proved immediately to the troops the great value of the bayonet, concerning the utility of which Steuben had heretofore preached in vain. From that time on, the soldiers held their bayonets in higher esteem and no longer used them as spits in the preparation of their roast beef, as they had been accustomed to up to this time.
At Yorktown, Steuben was the only American officer who had ever been present at a siege," and his experience was of great value. He was in com- mand of a division, and fortune willed that his division should be in the trenches when the first overtures for surrender were made. He had the privilege, therefore, so highly prized by all the superior officers-and notably by Lafayette, who wished to claim the honor-of being in command when the enemy's flag was lowered. No one was more deserving of the distinction than Steuben, the schoolmaster of the army.
With the capture of Yorktown the war was practically at an end, and Steuben returned with the army to the Hudson, where he assumed the inspection until the disbanding of the army. His last official act was a trip to Canada to demand from Haldiman, the English governor, the deliv- ery of the frontier posts ceded to the United States. But he was obliged to return without having effected his object, since the governor disclaimed any authorization for this on the part of the government.
When, owing to Lincoln's resignation (November 12, 1783), there was a vacancy in the War Department, Steuben sought to obtain this office, but he was disregarded because he was a foreigner to whom they could not entrust such an important position. This wounded his sense of honor so much that, full of bitterness and chagrin, he tendered his resignation to Congress on March 24, 1784, and on April 15, Congress accepted it, with
" Steuben was a volunteer at the siege of Prague when a boy of fourteen; the last siege in which he had participated was that of Schweidnitz, at the close of the Seven Years' War. He was then one of the aides of Kingg Frederick.
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the resolution that he should receive a vote of thanks as an expression of the gratitude of the United States for the great zeal and ability which he had evidenced in the fulfillment of his official duties, and that a sword with a gold hilt should be given as a token of the high appreciation of his char- acter and service. But Washington esteemed him even more highly than did Congress. On the day when the former resigned from the supreme com- mand of the army, he wrote a letter to Steuben in which he praised, in the most flattering terms, his zeal and skill in the fulfillment of his duties and with the most touching words assured him of his sincere friendship and esteem.
"It is difficult," says Headley, "to estimate in its full weight the value of Steuben's deeds, but this much is certain, that his arrival in our country marked an epoch in our Revolution. The discipline which he introduced worked such wonders at Monmouth and made the soldiers who stormed Stony Point into such veterans, that the eyes of the government and of the officers were at once opened and a complete change took place in the army."
Later Congress voted him a pension of $2,500, and the legislature of New York a gift of 16,000 acres in the neighborhood of Utica, Oneida county, New York. Virginia also gave him a land grant, and New Jersey gave Steuben a house in North Hackensack, which is still standing (1913).
His fellow-citizens were glad to see the old deserving soldier living among them, and accorded him all respect and honor. The German Society chose him president for many long years, and at the same time he was appointed as one of the administrators of New York University. From 1790 on, when Congress assured him his annual salary, he used to pass his sum- mers on his farm in the neighborhood of Utica, but in the winter he would return regularly to New York to visit his old friends there. Thus his declin- ing years were cheerful and care-free, and death came most peacefully to the old man, whose mental and physical powers were little impaired. On November 25, 1794, he had an attack of apoplexy, which caused his death after three days.
Other generals have received more praise in our histories because of valor shown on the field of battle; but such opportunities never came to Steuben, though he frequently felt a longing for them. Lafayette, for instance, a youthful enthusiast, who came to America in 1777 with an open purse, a warm heart and the inexperience of twenty winters, was given rare opportunity in the field; whilst the veteran, Steuben, trained the army, created its discipline, prepared its victories, and subsequently identified himself closely with the new-born republic as a public-spirited citizen.
One of the fighting generals that Germany supplied in the Revolutionary forces was Johann Kalb, so frequently called Baron de Kalb, son of a Franconian peasant, born in 1721, in Huttendorp (not the son of a Dutch nobleman). After his marriage with the daughter of a Dutch millionaire, he came to America in 1777 with Lafayette. He was appointed major- general, and served under Washington in New Jersey and Maryland. Fried- rich Kapp " says that of all the foreign officers Kalb was the most experienced, calculating and cautious. He had served in the Seven Years' War, and knew America from a previous visit.
º Kapp: Lebon des Generals Johann Kalb (Stuttgart, 1862); translated into English: "The Life of John Kalb, Major-General in the Revolutionary Army, (New York, 1884).
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He was a specialist in matters of topography and engineering. Ban- croft says 10 of General Kalb, in speaking of the battle of Camden: "The divisions which Kalb commanded continued long in action, and never did troops show greater courage than these men of Maryland and Delaware. The horse of Kalb had been killed under him and he had been badly wounded, yet he continued to fight on foot. Even then he did not yield until disabled by many wounds. The victory cost the British about five hundred of their best troops"; "their great loss," wrote Martin, "is equal to a defeat." Except one hundred Continental soldiers whom Gist " conducted across swamps through which the cavalry could not follow, every Ameri- can corps was dispersed. Kalb lingered for three days. Rich and happy with his wife and children, he gave to the United States his life and his example. Congress decreed him a monument.
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