Queer Places:
Steuben House, 1209 Main St, River Edge, NJ 07661, Stati Uniti
Steuben Memorial State Historic Site, Starr Hill Rd, Remsen, NY 13438, Stati Uniti
Friedrich
Wilhelm August Heinrich Ferdinand Steuben (born Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf
Gerhard Augustin von Steuben; September 17, 1730 – November 28, 1794), also
referred to as Baron von Steuben, was a Prussian and later an American
military officer. He served as Inspector General and a Major General of the
Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He is credited with
being one of the fathers of the Continental Army in teaching them the
essentials of military drills, tactics, and disciplines.[1]
He wrote Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the
United States, the book that served as the standard United States drill
manual until the War of 1812.[2]
He served as General George Washington's chief of staff in the final years of
the war.
Baron von Steuben’s exits from the court of Hohenzollern-Hechingen and from
Paris were under clouds of accusations.[28]
Von Steuben arrived in the United States with his 17-year-old secretary,
Peter Stephen Du Ponceau, who is rumored to have been his nephew.[29]
At Valley Forge, he began close relationships with
Benjamin
Walker and William
North, then both military officers in their 20s, which are assumed by many
to have been rivals.[30]
Because homosexuality was criminalized at the time, records of his
relationships are limited to references in correspondences. Von Steuben
formally adopted Walker and North and made them his heirs.[31]
A third young man,
John W. Mulligan, also considered himself one of Steuben's "sons"; he inherited
Von Steuben's vast library, collection of maps and $2,500 in cash.[32]
Following Baron Steuben's death, North divided the property bequeathed to him
among his military companions.
Von Steuben died on November 28, 1794, at his estate in Oneida County,[33]
and was buried in a grove at what became the Steuben Memorial State Historic
Site.[34]
The estate became part of the town of Steuben, New York, which was named for
him.
Steuben did not marry and had no children. He did not care much for his
European relatives.[4]
Thus, he left his estate to his companions and aides-de-camp, Captain Benjamin
Walker and Major General William North, with whom he had had an
"extraordinarily intense emotional relationship ... treating them as surrogate
sons."[35]
Steuben House, 1209 Main St, River Edge, NJ 07661
My published books:
BACK TO HOME PAGE
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Wilhelm_von_Steuben