Fredrich W. von Steuben letter signed ("Steuben Maj: Genl"). One page, 6.5" x 8.25", Richmond; May 10, [17]81. To an unidentified cavalry officer. Major General Baron von Steuben orders a cavalry officer to meet with General Lafayette to aid in countering Benedict Arnold's advance toward Richmond. "You will therefore Join the Marquis...with all the Horse you have under your Command that are fit for service with all possible dispatch." Fredrich Wilhelm von Steuben (1730-1794), also known as Baron von Steuben, was a German-Prussian army officer who served as the Continental Army inspector general during the Revolutionary War. He is credited with teaching the Continental Army the essentials of military drill and discipline, thus helping to guide it to victory. In late 1780, Steuben was ordered to the southern theater to aid Major General Nathanael Greene. This letter transmits the news that Lafayette is now in command in Virginia and orders the officer to rendezvous with the Marquis at Osborne's Landing. It reads, in full: "I wrote you some time since ordering you down with all the Cavalry fit for service. The Marquis De la Fayette now commands. He has wrote to you to the same purpose but for fear his Express should miscarry desires me to write you again. You will therefore Join the Marquis at Osborns or where ever he may be with all the Horse you have under your Command that are fit for service with all possible dispatch." Signed, "Steuben / Maj: Genl." On April 25, 1781, Generals Steuben and Muhlenberg skirmished with General Benedict Arnold outside of Petersburg at the Battle of Blandford but were forced to retreat back to Richmond. Two days later, the supply depot on the James River at Osborne's Landing was raided by Arnold, who then turned his forces towards Richmond. However, as Steuben's transmits here, Lafayette had arrived in the state after rapidly marching south from New Jersey with reinforcements. He met Arnold just outside of Osborne's Landing the day before this letter was penned, and Lafayette's occupation of the high ground ultimately convinced Arnold to back down. In the spring of 1783, Steuben assisted George Washington in the preparation of a plan for the future defense of the United States and the arrangements for the demobilization of the Continental Army. The plan, his "Sentiments on a Peace Establishment", advocated the establishment of a small permanent army and a national militia but it never stood a chance of enactment because of Congress's traditional fears of a standing army in peacetime, coupled with the nation's financial weakness. Steuben became an American citizen after the war and resigned from service in 1784. He wrote the "Blue Book" that became the standard United States drill manual until the War of 1812, and essentially served as General Washington's chief of staff in the final years of the war. The letter is accompanied by a typed transcription and a vignette engraving of Steuben in uniform published by G. P. Putnam & Co. Condition: Smudge to one letter of signature. Thin strip of paper attachment to one edge of verso, presumably indicating prior mounting. Light scattered soiling and foxing. HID03101062020 © 2022 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved

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