The Drillmaster of Valley Forge by Paul Lockhart Page B

charge. This was a serious allegation. In the self-consciously masculine society of the Prussian army, homosexuality was not an issue of grave concern, nor was it an absolute taboo. Prince Henry’s more than professional interest in handsome young officers was a matter of public knowledge; the great Frederick himself was widely rumored to be homosexual, a notion that the king did little to discourage. In Europe in general, however, homosexuality was not acceptable, and even open-minded and progressive intellectuals such as Voltaire considered it to be a great moral failing. And pederasty, because it involved innocent youths, was doubly reprehensible.
    The allegations concerning Steuben’s behavior were never proven, but they were no less damning than if they had been. Most of his friends at Hechingen, with the notable exception of Chancellor Frank, distanced themselves from him. The charges effectively killed Steuben’s chances for employment in Baden. As a friend at Karlsruhe noted, the rumors would have to be disproven or “declared calumnious” before the margrave could even think of taking Steuben into his service. The burden of proof would therefore be on the Baron himself. 20
    Coming on the heels of the failed interview at Passy, this new development was devastating. Steuben was trapped: he dared not show his face at Hechingen, and a continued stay at Karlsruhe would have been unimaginably awkward. Broke, aging, and an accused pederast to boot, he had few options. He was unemployed and unemployable. The matter would never surface again—Steuben himself never mentioned it in his correspondence, and made only a vague reference to it later in life—but it clearly was the greatest crisis of his life.
    Just at that very moment he was offered a way out of his predicament. While he was at Karlsruhe, considering his next move, letters arrived for him from France. Beaumarchais and St. Germain had written to him in great urgency: he must return to Paris, and at once. Without pausing to reflect on the meaning of this ambiguous summons, Steuben fled to Paris. He had little choice. The path to his salvation would have to lead through Passy to America.
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    H E ARRIVED IN P ARIS sometime in mid-August 1777, where he visited Franklin and Deane once again at the Valentinois. Franklin, he found, had not changed his tune, but Beaumarchais and St. Germain had put their heads together and come up with a new plan. Steuben would still proceed to America as a volunteer, nothing more, with no commission in hand and no promise that he would get one upon arrival. He would proceed to Pennsylvania and meet with the Continental Congress, bearing written endorsements from the American commissioners. But Beaumarchais would underwrite the costs of his travel with a personal loan. Steuben would set sail from France as a guest of Roderigue Hortalez et Compagnie.
    There may have been an additional incentive to entice Steuben. A British agent in Paris reported that the “Baron Steinben” had worked out a secret, lucrative deal with St. Germain: once he had served three years in America, he would return to France and receive a commission in the king’s army. There was never any written confirmation of such an arrangement, but if true, then it helps to explain much about Steuben’s subsequent conduct: why, for example, he was so eager to reconsider the American offer, and why, when he later grew disenchanted with the Continental Army, he was so confident that the French would take him back in a heartbeat. 21
    Beaumarchais and St. Germain were not simply going out of their way to help their mutual friend. Assisting Steuben was also in their best interests, and France’s, too. If the Prussian proved to be half as useful as they thought he might be, he would fill an obvious gap inAmerican military leadership: the lack of officers experienced in the areas of army organization, logistics, training, and