History of Steuben county, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 2

Author: Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford)
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Philadelphia, Lewis, Peck & co.
Number of Pages: 826

USA > New York > Steuben County > History of Steuben county, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 2

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Joseph M. Hopkins 374

John Van Hoasen

375

PULTENEY.

John Coryell

facing 378

THURSTON.

Judge L. H. Phillips .

. 391

TROUPSBURGH.

Hon. Samuel Griggs facing 392

N. M. Perry, M.D.

396

James Carpenter .

400

URBANA.

M. T. Babcock, M.D. . facing 408

John W. Taggart between 408, 409

Benjamin Myrtle

l'acing 412

Charles L. Bailey

. 419

WAYNE.

Francis M. McDowell . facing 428

Lewis V. Houck . 430

M. V. Knapp 432

Joel Wixson 439

Samuel Hallett

433

WEST UNION.

David Sherman

439

W. W. Wormley . between 264, 265

Joshna B. Graves, M.D. . facing 267

Chas. II. Thomson

268

NAME. PAOE

Alonzo II. Gorton . facing 269

Ilon. John N. Hungerford .

. 272

Hon. C. C. B. Walker . 273

Hon. George B. Bradley 275

Franklin N. Drake 275

Ellsworth D. Mills 275

facing 167 Austin Lathrop, Jr. 276

Lansing D. Hodgman .

175

William B. Ruggles

176

Addison F. Ellas .

44 182

Monroe Brundage

183

C 1, Ira Davenport

186

Hon. John Magec

Hon. Constant Cook 189

John A. Bowlby .

190

BRADFORD.

John Kishpaugh .

facing 192

B. B. Switzer

198

Jesse Munson

2010

William Hedges .

201

CAMPBELL.

Geo. W. Campbell facing 208

Jonas Stevens between 20S, 209

Deacun Jacob Woodward facing 209

W. W. Bartlett between 210, 211

Abram Hollenbeck 210,211

John P. Knox facing 213

John D. Hamilton

. 216

Daniel B. Curtis .

216

CANISTEO.

Georgo II. Stephens facing 2IS

Nathan Crosby

between 218, 219

Joshna Stephens 218, 219

M. H. Stephens facing 210

Hon. Jeremiah Baker

- 220

Lyman A. Cook

Thomas Hallett between 222, 223

C. B. Travis

facing

226

Nathan Stephens

227

John Carter

229

CATON.

John Gillett

facing 232

William D. Gilbert

234

Philip Hubbard

235

Benoni and Lucius Jobnson

235

Deacon Titus Smith 236

Col. Frederick Barnard

236

COHOCTON.

Valentino Van Wormer

facing 240

Lewis and Smith Clayson

244

George W. Drake

. 249

Thomas C. Armstrong 250

David S. Wait

251

CORNING.

Rev. Benjamin F. Balcom between 252, 253

John McBurney . 252, 253

Hliram Pritchard . facing 25.I

Hiram W. Bostwick 255

Hon. Stephen T. Hayt 259

George Davenport

James Alley

Daniel K. Belknap N. B. Ilaskell

WHEELER.

Gen. Otto F. Marshal .

. 441

Quincy W. Wellington 276

187

221

Wil

BARON STEUBEN.

1 L

HISTORY

STEUBEN COUNTY, NEW YORK.

CHAPTER I.

BARON STEUBEN.

His Early Life and Military Services in Europe.

THIS county derives its name from Frederie William Augustus, Baron Steuben. The baron never had the honor of living within its borders. Hle was one of those distin- guished foreigners, like Lafayette, De Kalb, and Kosci- usko, who came to this country to aid the cause of liberty in the American Revolution. Unlike those other distin- guished foreigners, however, who first became conspicuously known ou this side of the ocean, Steuben had acquired a high military reputation in the Prussian service, where he had attained the rank of aide-de-camp to Frederic the Great, and was particularly connected with the quartermaster- general's department.

FREDERIC WILLIAM AUGUSTUS, BARON STEUBEN, Was born abont 1730, in some part of Germany, probably in Suabia, as he possessed a small estate in that province. That he was not a Prussian by birth is shown by a remark of his on one occasion, that if he had been a native subject the great Frederic would certainly have dispatched him as a prisoner to Spandau for daring to request a dismission from his service. The father of Baron Steuben in 1779 wrote a letter to Dr. Franklin, making inquiry about his son. It is dated Custrin, Prussia, Oct. 8, 1779, and is signed " W. K. von Steuben, Major and Chevalier of the Order of Merit." In this letter the father says he is eighty- one years old, and his wife seventy-three.

Steuben was fortunate enough to engage the friendship and confidence of Prince Henry, the king's brother, to whose family he was for some time attached. In an un- fortunate campaign, the prince incurred the displeasure of his inexorable brother. He was ordered to retire from the field, and his suite were placed in situations intended to make them feel the misfortune of being friends to a man who had dared to displease the king. Steuben was sent into Silesia, with orders to recruit, equip, and discipline, within a certain period, a regiment broken down by long and hard service. The pecuniary allowance was wholly insufficient for the end proposed ; but in such a service no intrinsic difficulties could exense a failure in executing the king's commands. The baron repaired to the appointed spot, and by his unwearied exertions the regiment was marched com-

plete to headquarters within the prescribed time. This service was performed at an early period, and probably pro- cured the appointment which he subsequently held, of aide- de-camp to Frederic himself.

An arbitrary exertion of the royal authority, consequent upon the peace of Hubertsburg, in 1763, induced him to withdraw from the Prussian army, which he did withont forfeiting the favor of the king. Ile seems ever after to have retained a strong attachment for his stern old master, and was observed to be much affected on receiving news of that monarch's death in America.

That his military talents were highly esteemed in Prussia is shown by a fact of more recent date. When, in the course of the Revolutionary war in this country, Congress applied to the several European courts for a transcript of their military codes, the prime minister of Prussia replied that their military instructions had never been published, nor even transcribed, except for the use of the generals. Ile added that he was surprised at the request, for he un- derstood that Baron Steuben was employed in the American service, and that no one was better able to give accurate information respecting the minutest details of the Prussiau system.

Upon leaving the army, Steuben repaired to his estate of Weilheim, in southeastern Bavaria. In 1764, Prince IIo- henzollern-Hechingen made him marshal of the court, with a salary of twelve hundred florins. He was at the same period appointed colonel in the Circle of Suabia, an office more honorable than lucrative. The troops of the Circle were chiefly militia, and the duty consisted in little else than attending a periodical review. In 1767, Prince Margrave, of Baden, made him a Knight of the Order of Fidelity, and soon after gave him the chief command of the troops, with the rank and title of general, and yearly emoluments to the amount of two thousand florins. Thus situated, he refused two liberal proffers from the prime minister of Austria to induce him to enter the service o the emperor.

Steuben retained through life the pride and bearing of an old soldier. IIe always wore the insignia of his order, a star ornamented with gold and diamonds, suspended at the breast of his coat. Ilis military subordinates were obliged to conform strictly to the rules of etiquette in rendering the outward testimonials of respect due to his office. A little incident, which oceurred near the close of the American

HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY, NEW YORK.

war, affords an amusing illustration of this amiable weak- ness.

One day, while at dinner at headquarters, the baron happened to express himself with much feeling and energy on some important subject. Gouverneur Morris, who sat at his right hand, was peculiarly struck with the remark, and, in his frank way, slapped Steuben somewhat roughly on the back, and cried out with an oath, " Well done, general, well done !" Much irritated at the insult, as he deemed it, the old baron abruptly quitted the table, and re- tired to his marquee, exclaiming, with great warmth, " Con- found the fellow ! with his old wooden leg he will govern the whole country !"

The circumstances which induced Baron Steuben to take an active part in the American struggle for independence are briefly as follows :

In April, 1777, he visited Paris, with the intention of repairing to London about the end of June, whither he had been invited by Lords Spencer and Warwick, whose acquaintance he had previously formed in Germany. As good fortune would have it, he was induced by Count de St. Germain, the French minister of war, to postpone his visit to England, and finally to abandon it; otherwise, he might never have joined the American army.

There was much interest at that time in France respect- ing the difficulties between England and the colonies, and the French ministers wished to aid the revolutionists as far as they could without openly compromising themselves with England.

Ou his arrival in Paris, Steuben sent a note to St. Ger- main, testifying a desire to visit him at Versailles. The same evening Col. Pagenstecher, a gentleman attached to the court, waited upon Steuben to inform him that St. Germain desired him not to come to Versailles, but to be at the arsenal in Paris in the course of a few days, where the count wished to converse with him on business of im- portance. As Steuben had no project to execute, nor any favor to ask of the count, there was a mystery in this pro- ceeding which he could not fathom. At the interview, however, which soon occurred, all was explained.

St. Germain laid the American cause before the baron in as flattering colors as possible. The Spanish minister, Count d'Aranda, the Prince de Montbarrey, and, finally, Vergennes himself, added the weight of their authority to the proposal of St. Germain. As the French ministers had no authority to settle upon terms, they referred the matter to the American envoys then in Paris. At the house of M. de Beaumarchais, Steuben was introduced to Dr. Franklin and Silas Deane. At the same place he became acquainted with Peter S. du Ponceau, then a young man only seventeen years of age, whose services as au interpreter (for he spoke English fluently) were pecu- liarly valuable. The envoys showed a desire to enlist the baron in the American cause, but when the terms were mentioned a difficulty immediately arose. Mr. Deane was willing to enter into any proper engagement, but Dr. Franklin demurred, and urged that he had no authority from Congress to form any contract whatever with any foreign officer, still less to make the required advance of funds to defray the expenses of the voyage. On the con-

trary, Congress had already refused to ratify the conditions upon which he had engaged M. Ducoudray and the officers of his suite to embark for America.

To the baron this answer was decisive, and he soon after left Paris and returned to Germany. But St. Germain and others were unwilling to let the matter rest. They wrote to Steuben that a ship was all ready to sail for America, and induced him to return early in August, and embark without any stipulations from the American min- isters, but with letters of introduction to Washington and the President of Congress. On the failure of any other chance, he was to rely on the French court for remunera- tion, and Beaumarchais advanced the money to defray immediate expenses.

The French ship, L' Heureux, of twenty-eight guns, commanded by Capt. Landais, who had served under Bou- gainville in his voyage round the world, was appointed for the expedition. Her name was changed to Le Flamand, and she was ostensibly freighted by private individuals for a voyage to Martinique. But her lading really consisted of arms and munitions of war for the American service, and the captain had secret orders to proceed to the United States.

Baron Steuben embarked at Marseilles, on the 26th of September, 1777, under the assumed name of Monsieur de Frank. His suite consisted of M. du Ponceau, who acted as private secretary, and three French officers,-Romanai, L'Enfant, and Ponthierre. After a rough voyage the ship arrived at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on the 1st of De- cember. On their first communication with the shore, they received the news of the capture of Burgoyne, an event of happy omen to Steuben, as it assured him that he had not embarked in a desperate cause.

He immediately wrote to Gen. Washington, inclosing Dr. Franklin's letter, and requesting permission to enter the American service, if no other arrangement could im- mediately be made, in the capacity of a volunteer. “ I could say, moreover," he added, " were it not for the fear of offending your modesty, that your Excellency is the only person under whom, after having served under the King of Prussia, I could wish to pursue an art to which I have wholly given up myself. I intend to go to Boston in a few days, where I shall present my letters to Mr. Hancock, member of Congress, and there I shall wait for your Excel- leney's orders, according to which I shall take convenient measures."

Washington replied on the 9th of January, 1778, refer- ring the baron to Congress, then in session at Yorktown, Pa. On the day after his arrival at that place, Congress appointed a committee of five members to confer with him. The famous Dr. Witherspoon was chairman, and the only one to whom Steuben could explain himself in French. Steuben said, in answer to the questions of the committee, that he had come to serve as a volunteer in the army, and in order to do this he had resigned offices in Europe which gave him an income of six hundred pounds sterling. If his services should not prove acceptable, or if the United States should fail in establishing their independence, he would hold them quit of any obligation to him, either for indemnity or reward. But if the value of his services

1 2

HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY, NEW YORK.

should be acknowledged by the commander-in-chief, and the war should have a prosperous issue, he hoped that Congress would restore the money he had advanced, would render him an equivalent for the offices he had resigned, and give him such further compensation as they might deem he had deserved. In the mean time he expected that the officers of his suite should receive employment suitable to their ex- perience and rank These modest and reasonable proposi- tions were immediately accepted by Congress, with a vote of thanks to Steuben for his patriotic offer, and an order for him to join the army at once, which was then in winter quarters at Valley Forge. Ilis reputation had preceded him, and all ranks were eager to see and greet the distin- guished foreigner, who had come to devote his military skill to the cause of American freedom.

BARON STEUBEN IN THE AMERICAN ARMY.

The condition of the Continental troops during the gloomy winter at Valley Forge is too well known to need description. It was wretched in the extreme. Reduced to a mere handful in point of numbers, half-clothed, and ill-sheltered from the inclemency of the weather, they owed their preservation to the supineness or ignorance of the enemy. The baron frequently declared that no European army could be kept together under such dreadful privations. Discipline was relaxed, and the performance of military du- ties frequently postponed, from the necessity of employing the soldiers in excursions to procure daily subsistence, or of keeping them housed because they were too poorly elad to endure the open air. As he passed through the canton- ment, says his aide-de-camp, the baron was obliged to see through the half-closed doors of the huts the wretched fig- ures of the soldiers, with only a blanket thrown over them, and to hear, at every turn, their complaints for the want of pay, clothes, and provisions.

The want of economy and order in the army at that time was fearful, and needed just such a regulating hand as Baron Steuben's. Richard Peters, who then belonged to the war department, affirmed that it was customary in the estimates of that office to allow five thousand muskets be- yond the actual number of the muster of the whole army. Yet this allowauce was never sufficient to guard against the waste and misapplication that occurred. We have the same authority for the assertion that, in the last inspection return of the army, before he left the war department, Baron Steuben being then inspector-general, only three muskets were deficient, and those were accounted for.

When the spring opened partial supplies were received, and the new levies arrived in cousiderable numbers. To bring order out of the general confusion, to reduce the raw recruits to a homogeneous mass with the old troops, to ac- custom the whole to the utmost precision of movement and management of arms, and to yield punctilious obedience to arders, was the hard task assigned to Baron Steuben. Ile was obliged to instruct equally the officers and meu- the former to lead and the latter to follow-in intricate evo- lutions, with which all were alike unacquainted. IIis diffi- culties were increased by his ignorance of the English lan- guage. His secretary, Du Ponceau, who might have aided him in this point, was sick and absent from the army. At

the first parade, the troops, neither understanding the com- quand nor being able to follow in movements to which they had not been accustomed, were getting fast into confusion. At that moment Captain Walker, then of the 4th New York Regiment, advanced from the line and offered his as- sistance to translate the orders and give them out to the troops. " If I had seen an angel from heaven," said the baron, many years after, " I should not have been more re- joiced. Perhaps there was not another officer in the army (unless Hamilton be excepted ) who could speak French and English so as to be well understood in both." Walker became his aide de-camp, and in future was hardly ever from his side. Still, as the baron slowly acquired our lan- guage, his eagerness and warmth of temper would fre- quently involve him in difficulties. On such occasions, after exhausting all the execrations he could think of in German and French, he would call upon his faithful aide for assistance. " Venez, Walker, mon ami ! Sacre, de gauche- rie of des badauts, je ne puis plus. I can curse dem no more !"

A temporary department of inspection was organized, and the baron placed at its head. He was efficient and in- defatigable in the discharge of his duties, and under his training the raw and heterogeneous mass of recruits and veterans soon began to assume the solidity and discipline of an army. Every fair day, when the troops were to manon- vre, the baron rose at three o'clock in the morning, and while the servant dressed his' hair he smoked and drank one cup of strong coffee. At sunrise he was on his horse, and, with or without suite, galloped to the parade-ground. There was no waiting for a tardy aide, and one who came late was sufficiently punished by a reproachful look for the negleet of duty.

Dr. Thacher, in his " Military Journal," describes a scene on the parade-ground, showing how the baron attended to the minutest details : "The troops were paraded in a single line, with shouldered arms, every officer in his particular station. The baron first reviewed the line in this position, passing in front with a scrutinizing eye; after which he took into his hand the musket and accoutrements of every soldier, examining them with particular accuracy, applauding or condemning according as he found them. He required that the musket and bayonet should exhibit the brightest polish ; not a spot of' rust or defect in any part could elude his vigilance. Hle inquired also into the conduct of the officers towards their men, censuring every fault, and ap- plauding every meritorious action. Next he required of me, as surgeon, a list of the siek, with a particular statement of their accommodations, mode of treatment, and even visited some of the sick in their cabins."*

The value of Steuben's services was soon apparent. On the 30th of April, 1778, Washington wrote to Congress, " I should do injustice if I were to be longer silent with regard to the merits of Baron Steuben. Ilis knowledge of' his profession, added to the zeal which he has discovered since he began upon the functions of his office, leads me to consider him as an acquisition to the service, and to recom- mend him to the attention of Congress." Congress, on the

* Thacher's Military Journal, sezon 1 edition, p. 160.

HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY, NEW YORK.

5th of May, appointed him inspector-general of the army, with the rank of major-general.

The department of inspection was now organized on a permanent basis. Two ranks of inspectors were appointed. The lowest were charged with the inspection of brigades, and were chosen by the field-officers of the body to which they belonged. Over these were placed, as sub-inspectors, five other officers, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Among these were two French gentlemen, Ternant and Fleury, whose knowledge of both French and English made them necessary assistants of Baron Steuben. The duty of the inspectors was to superintend the exercise and discipline of the troops, and to assist in the execution of all field manœuvres, especially in time of action. They reviewed and inspected the number and condition of the men, and the state of the arms and accoutrements, and reported to the commander-in-chief any loss or damage, and by what means it had occurred. The various means for the accom- plishment of this very essential part of the service were projected and matured with great labor by Stenben himself, and they were productive of the happiest results. Much unnecessary expense was avoided, and habits of order and carefulness introduced throughout the army.

Baron Steuben, while engaged in the active duties of his office as inspector-general of the army, produced the first military manual or book of tacties and discipline ever pub- lished in this country. This book was undertaken in the autumn of 1778, to supply a demand which at that period became an urgent necessity. Hitherto the system intro- duced by the baron had been extended to the troops in separate and remote sections of the country by means of officers dispatched for the purpose, who had previously learned and practiced the rules under the eye of Steuben himself. Ternant had been sent upon this errand to the Southern army, and Neuville to the department in com- mand of Gates. But differences of practice still existed, which were perplexing when large bodies of troops were brought together, and in order to insure more perfect har- mony it was deemed advisable that a manual should be prepared and printed for distribution among the proper officers.

Baron Steuben engaged in the work at the request of Washington and the board of war. The difficulties in the way of executing the project were great. From his im- perfect acquaintance with the English language the work was originally composed in French, and the manuscript then translated into English by his aides, or persons eon- nected with the war department, who were not well ac- quainted with military phrases and duties. No treatise on military science could be obtained to serve as a basis for the work. Everything had to be drawn from the baron's recollections of the Prussian system, and then modified to suit the peculiar condition of the American troops.

It is no small praise of a work executed under such cir- cnustanees that it was immediately approved by Washing- ton, relied upon for direction during the remainder of the war, and continued to be in use as the only authority for disciplining the militia of the several States for nearly half a century. For this purpose the work was republished in many of the States. The completed manuscript was snb-

mitted to the perusal of Washington Feb. 26, 1779. Con- gress adopted it by a resolution dated on the 29th of March. Col. Pickering, who superintended the passage of the work through the press, wrote to Steuben announcing its publi- cation on the 19th of June.

The peculiar duties of Steuben during the war required his services in different parts of the country. In August, 1779, he left the main army on a visit to Providence, in order to introduce among the troops under Gen. Gates the rules which had been adopted in the main body. He re- mained in Providence but a short time, being ordered to Boston to receive and accompany to headquarters the Che- valier de la Luzerne, who had just landed as minister from France to Congress.

Steuben, although ardently desiring to take charge of a separate command and to engage in more active service, re- mained in the discharge of the duties of his office as in- spector-general until the autumn of 1780. Circumstances then occurred which were destined soon to gratify his long- cherished wish. The defeat of Gen. Gates at Camden, on the 16th of August, had entirely exposed the southern country to the operations of the army under Cornwallis. In October, Gen. Greene was appointed to the command of the South, with all the troops raised in the Southern States destined for his support. Baron Steuben was ordered to accompany him, to aid in recruiting and disciplining the raw troops which were to form the bulk of his army.

On arriving at Richmond, about the middle of November, Gen. Greene decided that Virginia could only be defended from the Carolinas : that unless the British forces in those States could be kept actively engaged there, the whole country up the Potomac must fall into their power. There- fore he proceeded to his chosen field of operations, leaving Steuben in command in Virginia, with instructions to re- cruit and discipline troops as rapidly as possible, and for- ward them, together with stores and provisions, to his support in North Carolina.

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History of Steuben county, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 2

Author: Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford) Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Philadelphia, Lewis, Peck & co. Number of Pages: 826

Author: Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford)
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Philadelphia, Lewis, Peck & co.
Number of Pages: 826