Baron von Steuben, friend of Guilderland’s Frederick Crounse, helped Washington at Valley Forge

Baron von Steuben, known for his knowledge of military discipline, has not been widely known in the Hellebergh history annals. However, he was touted for his military skills, and he did have a great connection with Frederick Crounse, one of the town of Guilderland and Altamont's prominent ancestors.

Born in 1730, von Steuben was educated by the Jesuits and became a Prussian officer. Benjamin Franklin recommended him to George Washington as a Lieutenant General. Schooled in the armies of Frederick the Great, he brought invaluable military knowledge to the disheartened troops of Washington at Valley Forge.

On Feb. 23, 1778, von Steuben reported to Valley Forge and was put in charge of Washington's battered army encampment for training. He wrote a training manual, drilled the men hard, and whipped the army into shape. Coming without a contract or monetary promises, he waited many years after the war for Congressional recognition.

His adopted son and aide-de-camp was Colonel William North who had a mansion on Duane Lake near Duanesburgh.

While he would visit his son in the Hellebergh area, Baron von Steuben, would also call on one of the most famous German men in this area, Frederick Crounse, the man renowned then for furnishing food from Hellebergh farms for the victorious armies at Saratoga; the man who had also helped many captured Hessians to find work here and at Schoharie, and the man who had been one of the first members of the German Society of New York State founded by Baron von Steuben in 1784.

Historian's Note: This information was found in an Altamont Enterprise of July 9, 1976 written by the late Guilderland historian Arthur Gregg.