Washington wore himself out in fruitless efforts
to awaken Congress to a sense of its duty. And at length, utterly
despairing of any support, weary of seeing his men suffer and
dwindle day by day under the miseries of Valley Forge, he wrote out
his resignation as Commander-in-Chief of the army. And it needed
all the persuasions of his officers to make him tear it up.
It was to this camp of misery at Valley Forge that Baron von Steuben
came. And the ragged, hungry, perishing army he drilled. To these
men, brave enough, but all unused to discipline, he taught what
discipline meant.
At first it was by no means easy. For the Baron knew little English
and the men he tried to teach knew not a word of French or German.
So misunderstandings were many, and when one day a young American
officer named Walker, who knew French, came to von Steuben and offered
to act as interpreter he was overjoyed. "Had I seen an angel from
heaven," he cried, "I could not have been more glad."
But even then, between his own mistakes and the men's mistakes,
the Baron was often driven distracted, and lost his temper. Once,
it is said, utterly worn out, he turned the troops over to Walker.
"Come, my friend," he cried, "take them; I can curse them no longer."
But in spite of all hindrances and failings, both men and officers
learned so much from von Steuben that when the terrible winter was
over the army went forth again to fight far more fit to face the
foe than before.
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