M;ap of the Town of Stanford, 1797 Opp

campaign he distinguished himself at Prague. In 1747 he was appointed Cadet in the army, and became a Lieutenant in 1753. He fought in the Seven Years War and in 1758 was made Adjutant General of Free Corps. He was wounded at the battle of Kumersdorf, and later was captured and carried to St. Petersberg as a prisoner of war. In 1761 he re-entered the regular army and became Aide to King Frederick, the founder of the Hohenzollern dynasty. At the conclusion of the war he was appointed Canon of the cathedral at Havelberg. Naturally, this proved unsatisfactory to our soldier, and he became Grand Marshal to the Prince of Hohenzollern-Heichinsen.

In 1777 we find Steuben in Paris, greatly interested in the struggle of the American Colonies. His friend, Count St. Germain, then the French Minister of War, endeavors to persuade Steuben to go to the assistance of the Colonies, who needed discipline and instruction in military tactics. Steuben met Franklin and tried to make arrangements with him for joining the American army, but found that only Congress could make such arrangements. Steuben, however, was assured that he could rely on the French court for remuneration if he could not get satisfaction from America, and, armed with this doubtful assurance, he sailed for America. He arrived at Portsmouth, N. H., December 1,1777, and offered his services to Congress as a volunteer. His proposition was as follows : "He must have restoration of money expended by him, and, as he had given up offices netting him 600 pounds sterling, he should have the equivalent of that sum, and such further compensation as Congress might deem he had deserved if his services were acknowledged to be satisfactory by the Commander in Chief, and if the Colonies gained independence. But, if his services proved unsatisfactory, or the war failed, he would call it quits, and look for no compensation."

I call this a sporting proposition, and I think you will agree with me. Congress accepted his offer, and in March, 1778, he took up his duties in the army, and began drilling the undisciplined soldiers at Valley Forge. Valley Forge! What a mem-

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ory, and what frightful conditions prevailed there. Yet Steuben established a thorough system of discipline and training. "No European army," said he, "could be kept together under such dreadful conditions." Coming to us at the darkest period in our conflict, he proved indeed to be the man of the hour. His services were highly appreciated and commended by Washington, who recommended that Congress should pay Steuben in suitable fashion. Consequently Congress appointed him Inspector General in May, 1779, with pay from the time he joined the army. The results of his work were shown in the next campaign, especially at the battle of Monmouth, where he rallied the discouraged, retreating soldiers of General Charles Lee. After Monmouth Colonel Alexander Hamilton said he had never before known or conceived the value of discipline. Steuben prepared a manual of tactics, which was adopted by Congress in March, 1779. This manual was used in the war, and by the Militia of the States for many years after the war. Steuben was a member of the Court Martial which tried Major Andre in 1780, and at that time had his headquarters in Dutchess County. After the defeat of General Horatio Gates at Camden, Steuben was placed in cornmand of the District of Virginia. But he returned to his former duties as Inspector General in the Yorktown campaign. And then Yorktown fell, Cornwallis surrendered, and soon the war was over. The cause which Steuben had made his own had succeeded, and in the war he had rendered conspicuous services.

After the war Congress voted him a gold headed sword, and a pension of $2,500 a year. Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Jersey and New York gave him land grants. New York's grant consisted of 1,600 acres in what is now Oneida County. There Steuben built a house in which he lived during the remaining years of his life, and there he died, November 28, 1794.

A county in New York State is named for him, a fort in Ohio bore his name, and afterwards became the town of Steubenville and here, close at hand, we have a tablet to his memory on the Hasbrouck place at Tarrytown. It seems to me the

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irony of fate that for our cause of independence, we adopted and used to great advantage, the German military system, brought to us by Steuben. Steuben has been called a soldier of fortune. He was a soldier of fortune, and I regard it as our very good fortune that he took up our cause when he did and in the manner he did. He has also been slightingly referred to as a drill master and this term is correct if used in its largest sense, for he brought to us, and put into operation, what we most needed—discipline and tactics. For these services of his, we should hold in grateful memory the name of Baron Steuben.

WILLIAM B. DWIGHT.

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Dutchess County Men of the Revolutionary Period Captain Israel Smith

Israel Smith was born at Newton, Long Island, December 8th, 1748. He was the son of Samuel Smith and Elizabeth Bayles, and a younger brother of Major Melancton Smith, one of the most prominent and active of Dutchess County's patriots during the whole period of the Revolution. Another brother, Samuel, served as captain in Col. John Frear's Regiment of Dutchess County Militia, and also was employed by the Committee of Safety in its various activities.

Israel received his education at home, but as a younger son in a family of thirteen children, and his father being what might be called an English country gentleman, he left home at quite an early age, to engage in business with his brother, Melancton, in Poughkeepsie. When the first call was sent out by the Provincial Convention of New York early in June 1775, for the raising of four regiments of soldiers in the State, the fourth of these regiments was apportioned to Dutchess County. One of the first to enroll was Israel Smith. He was first commissioned a lieutenant and soon afterward promoted to a captaincy.

This regiment was known throughout the war as the Fourth New York Regiment, Continental Line. Mustered into service June 30th, 1775, it was made a part of Schuyler's (afterward Montgomery's) army for the invasion of Canada, and was commanded by Lt. Col. Henry B. Livingston, a brother-inlaw of General Montgomery. Upon its return it was stationed in the Highlands, helping to build Forts Montgomery and Constitution and other fortifications for the protection of the Hudson River. During the winter of 1776-1777 at the request of its officers it was stationed at Saybrook on Long Island Sound, where it helped in the raids against the tories in Connecticut and also, crossing the Sound, upon the Eastern end or Long Island, where important captures were made on more than one occasion.

In the summer of 1777 the Fourth was one of the regimenu, sent north to oppose the advance of Burgoyne and it took an

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