Yes, the good "Baron" was quite an asset--truly. When he arrived, he could only speak German and French. He had determined upon a time honored method, training one company which would then train the others. He therefore acquired an officer who spoke French to translate for him. Naturally, the "hay-foot, straw-foot" greenhorns (veteran soldiers, but clueless about drill) stumbled all over one another, and von Stueben would grow livid, and begin cursing pungently in German. His officer-interpreter would shrug, so he'd curse in French--which the officer would then faithfully and innocently translate. The troops would fall out with laughter (they always loved a good "swearer," one of the things they admired in their Commander in Chief), and eventually, von Steuben would loosen up and laugh himself. The training went quickly after that. The army which pursued Clinton from Philadelphia to New York was a very different one than that which the English had previously faced, and Clinton was in very real danger.
As his English improved, Washington used von Steuben first as a Quartermaster and Commisary, then gave him frequent independent commands. Truly, the Baron made a very real difference to us.
Thomas wrote:... and don't forget Mr. von Steuben, who turned George Washingon's bunch of bear-hunters into an army. On reflection, it seems that Tories and the Yankees were barely involved in this whole fourth of July affair -- it was essentially a German plot.
Von Steuben, Lafayette, Hessian mercenaries....were there any Americans involved? :wink:
A few, but why bust a sweat when you can get all the feriners to do it?
Setanta wrote:A few, but why bust a sweat when you can get all the feriners to do it?
That's right, they outsourced unpleasant work from the beginning. I'm pretty sure the
Union of American Revolutionaries petitioned George Washington about it, and demanded fair soldiering standards for everybody. But their petition was rerouted to Washington's customer care center in Germany, whose operators spoke a mutant of English vitch vas incomprehensible to zeir Amerikan korrespondents.
Thomas wrote:Setanta wrote:A few, but why bust a sweat when you can get all the feriners to do it?
That's right, they outsourced unpleasant work from the beginning. I'm pretty sure the
Union of American Revolutionaries petitioned George Washington about it, and demanded fair soldiering standards for everybody. But their petition was rerouted to Washington's customer care center in Germany, whose operators spoke a mutant of English vitch vas incomprehensible to zeir Amerikan korrespondents.
"Ja?" Over.
"The American drill is not working" Over.
"Bitte? Vurken?" Over.
"Not ferkin....WORKING" Over.
"Vas ist not ferkin vurken?" Over.
"The drill...its not ferkin working, they keep falling over." Over
"Over, Over?" Over.
"Jeez.....t-h-e d-r-i-l-l.....is poppenzeecorken". Over.
"You vant more Schnapps?" Over.
<click......brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr >
"Try him one more time, find out where Washington is"
"Yessir"
<ring ring>
"Ja?" Over.
"Where is Washington?" Over.
"In ze Laundry" Over.
"Why is he in the laundry?" Over.
"Who?" Over.
"You just told me he's in the goddamn Laundry." Over.
"Nein, you asked vere the vashing vas done" Over.
"Tell him the British are coming." Over.
"OK, just make sure you get ze beach towels out on all ze good sunbeds before zey arrive". Over.
<click brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr >
The one I liked was
"Send reinforcements, we're going to advance!"
-"What's he say?"
He said "Send three-and-fourpence, they're going to a dance".
(This joke only works in old money)
All them wars for independence was for naught. Just goes to show, wars sucks.
quite right ci
welcome back into the fold
new england
new hampshire
new jersey
new york
etc
been a long time but worth it
It is 10.54pm here in the heart of England.....and there are BLOODY FIREWORKS going off all over the place.
Just how many Yanks live over here for chrissakes?*!?
They get everywhere.....bet they'll keep me awake all night.
Saw a Humvee on the road the other day, and with the size of English roads, he was banging up both kerbs at the same time. I bet he sells it on soon.
Goodnight, you Yanquis. Dont go drinking too much.
Are you SURE they are fireworks, M'Lord? Was it a civilian Humvee?
Great photo in today's Washington Post
