Baron Von Steuben :: essays research papers

The Prussian Baron von Steuben, being a modernisticcomer to theRevolutionary start out in America, was in a position to seemany of the deficiencies in military discipline and theircauses. The reasons for his unique insight may have been due(p) to the fact that he was distanced from the revolutionaryideals in America, and as a result, was capable to better observeand understand them and ultimately use them to shape hisnew and successful form of discipline in the Continental the States. 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 achieve discipline. This method of fear was probablynot essential, and had little if any effect in the early eld ofthe war because the passs were mostly meshinging 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 matte it necessary. Thesoldier saw himself as a volunteer, a citizen fighting in agroup 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 down(a) upon for not serving or leaving the army byhis boyfriend revolutionaries. He had the freedom to chose howhe wished to serve the revolution, and military service wasnot an responsibility. 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 common soldiers, as an officer had anobligation as a gentleman as well. This division was along mixer 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 th e soldiers awe. (215)Steuben did several things to couch the officers and the soldierson common ground. First, sergeants were no longer to dothe training and drill 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(p) themselves as an example to the soldiers byoverachieving, rather than distancing themselves andunderachieving in the eyes of the soldier. in front Steubenarrived, the forms of drills, training, and discipline in the