The Rich Legacy of a Forgotten Founder
Baron de Steuben may have been a fraud but he knew how to wage war
Reader Comments
So someone had to ruin it
People living a perverted lifestyle should be honored for what they do. The perverted and unclean lifestlyle they lead should not be promoted.
PS AIDS is rising the fastest among homosexual men.
So someone had to ruin it
People living a perverted lifestyle should be honored for what they do. The perverted and unclean lifestlyle they lead should not be promoted.
PS AIDS is rising the fastest among homosexual men.
The Baron's Lifelong Bachlorhood and Flirting
I am surprised to discover that no mention is made of Baron von Steuben's believed homosexuality. My understanding is that Washington as well as most if not all of the other staff commanding generals were aware of it AND TOLERATED it.
Sources: Historian Jonathan Katz reports that Steuben' adopted William North and Ben Walker , and that they remained in "intimate and tender relationships" until his death. Katz quotes John McAualey Palmer's book "General Von Steuben" New Haven Yale University as his source.
My primary source of information regarding the Baron is Jonathan Katz's book Gay American History, printed in 1976.
If memory serves, Baron Von Steuben lies in a relatively small, haphazardly maintained grave in a cemetery just south of the hamlet of Alder Creek just west of the Adirondack Mountains. New York State has (or did) maintain a state historical marker on the major highway closest to the grave site NY Rts, 28 and 12.
and that's why we named a school after him
The city of Kankakee Ilinois named a school after him and hopefully other cities did the same with schools and streets. He his not forgotten by many - although it is a shame he wasn't properly applauded when he was alive. Articles like this help to educate the children and remind the adults of who are real heros in this country were and are.
