The Unpopular History of the United States
knowledge of organization and discipline gained from his great master. He was appointed Inspector-General of the army, and set about getting things into shape. A fluent linguist, Steuben swore in fourteen different languages, which was none too many for those recruits. He straightened out even the three months’ men, put them under rules, and kept them under. He boiled and stewed and roasted those raw recruits until your Uncle Samuel began to get action for the money he was paying. And, my son, we are using to-day much of what we learned from Baron Steuben, using it to fight against the Prussian system which Frederick the Great created.
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