December 22nd
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“This is the last Letter I shall ever write while I continue in the service of my Country.”
Baron Von Steuben, 1780
PAFA
To Baron von Steuben*
Annapolis, 23 December 1783
My dear Baron,
Altho’ I have taken frequent oppertunities, both in public and private, of acknowledging your great zeal, attention, and abilities in performing the duties of your Office; yet I wish to make use of this last moment of my public life, to signifie in the strongest terms my entire approbation of your conduct, and to express my sense of the obligations the public is under to you, for your faithful and meritorious Services.
I beg you will be convinced, My dear Sir, that I should rejoice if it could ever be in my power to serve you more essentially than by expressions of regard and affection; but in the meantime, I am perswaded you will not be displeased with this farewell token of my sincere friendship and esteem for you.
Baron Von Steuben (center) Drilling Soldiers George Washington (right)
Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Library of Congress
This is the last Letter I shall ever write while I continue in the service of my Country; the hour of my resignation is fixed at twelve this day; after which I shall become a private Citizen on the Banks of the Potomack, where I shall be glad to embrace you, and to testify the great esteem and consideration with which I am —My dear Baron Yr most Obedt & Affecte Servant.**
* Barron von Steuben was instrumental in instilling good order and discipline in the units of the Continental army. He produced the Blue Book. — MVLA15
** After von Steuben’s death, Washington wrote: “If the fortune of the Baron de Steuben had been as ample as his heart was benevolent, none of his friends would have been omitted in the dispositions of his will.” Washington and others commonly used “de” in place of “von.”
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