216

Lot 216: Baron Von Steuben Signed Document

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:1,200.00 USD Estimated At:2,000.00 - 2,500.00 USD
Lot  216: Baron Von Steuben Signed Document
<b>Autographs</b><hr><b>Baron Von Steuben Signed Document </b>

<b>BARON FRIEDRICH VON STEUBEN, American Revolutionary General From Prussia Who Trained the Continental Army; Trusted Advisor To Washington. </b>
Manuscript Document Signed “Steuben,” May 20, 1790, no place, 6.5” x 7.25”, Very Fine. A note in French to Benjamin Walker, who had served as aide-de-camp to both Steuben and George Washington during the American Revolution, and was naval officer of New York during Washington’s administration. Translated, in full: “Will you please be so kind, my friend, as to send me once again by Lopez £20. I am yours, Steuben.” Signed in brown ink with a paraph below. Walker notes at lower left, “Give Lopez £20” and signs with his initials, “BW.” Light toning and soiling; paper loss at lower left corner affects nothing. At this time, Steuben lived in a township near Utica, New York, which had been given to him, along with a $2,400 pension and land grants in three other states, for his service to America during the Revolution.

Von Steuben came to America from Prussia in 1777 and was recommended to General George Washington by Benjamin Franklin. In 1778, at Valley Forge, he was designated inspector general of the Continental army, which he reorganized and forged into a formidable fighting force. After the war, he was one of the organizers of the Society of Cincinnati. He became an American citizen in 1783 and from then until his death in 1794, he made his home in New York. Steuben wrote the first American army manual in 1778-79, “Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States.”