Mount Gulian
Mount Gulian
is the Hudson Valley colonial homestead of the Verplanck
family (also Planck or Ver Plancken). Between
1633 and 1638, a Dutch entrepreneur named Abraham Isaac
Verplanck arrived in New Netherlands Colony (now New
York & New Jersey) from Holland. He originally came
to purchase land for a farming settlement and trading
post. The trading post would enable him to trade Dutch
goods with the local Native Americans in exchange for
beaver and other furs, Indian tobacco, and trade goods
that were rare in Europe. New Amsterdam was a thriving
port and frontier town, filled with Dutch settlers,
Indians and traders from all over Europe. Africans,
both freemen and slaves, as well as French Huguenots
seeking escape from religious persecution in Europe,
and Jews fleeing the Inquisition in South America came
to a relatively tolerant and busy New Amsterdam.
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In 1783, General Von Steuben was headquartered
at Mount Gulian, across the Hudson River from Washington’s
headquarters in Newburgh. While at Mount Gulian “The
Baron”, as he was often known, learned of the
signing of the Treaty of Paris, which meant total victory
for the new United States and independence from England.
Often a footnote in history, Friedrich
Von Steuben emerged from obscurity in Europe to become
the unsung hero of the Revolutionary War, making a lasting
impact on the Continental Army and American history.
Speaking virtually no English, Baron
Von Steuben arrived in Newport, Rhode Island on December
1, 1777. With instructions to report to General Washington
on February 23, 1778, Von Steuben arrived at the squalid
encampment at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Of the nearly
10,000 troops camped there during the winter of ‘77-’78
at least 3,000 died due to sickness, starvation, exposure
and infection from earlier wounds. Von Steuben met Washington
and inspected the camp. He wrote home of the extraordinarily
poor conditions of the men, but also of their extreme
patriotism and willingness to endure hardship for the
cause of liberty. In Europe, men fought for gold and
honors; in America, Von Steuben learned they fought
for ideals. Von Steuben was horrified at the terrible
conditions of the encampment and became aware of the
“administrative incompetence, graft, war profiteering”
that existed. He offered his immediate services to Washington
at no pay. Washington accepted his offer of services
with a General officer’s rank and pay, and Baron
Friedrich Von Steuben began to reform the American Army.
Beginning immediately, Von Steuben
worked as a “drill sergeant”, introduing
basic training methods, marching drills, uniform commands
and tactics to the farmer-soldiers. He initiated basic
hygiene into the camp and instructed the men in musketry
and artillery drills. Although initially ridiculed by
the troops for his demanding and Prussian aristocratic
manners, and lack of English (except some confused swear
words), Von Steuben quickly gained fellow officers’
and Washington’s trust and respect. He wrote a
simplified drillbook in French that was translated by
Alexander Hamilton, Washington’s aide.
Within three months of his arrival
at Valley Forge, Von Steuben was appointed the Inspector
General of the Continental Army with the rank of Major
General by Congress. Along with the newly appointed
Quartermaster General Nathaniel Greene, Von Steuben
resurrected the once rag-tag army. On May 5, 1778, he
prepared the troops for a military parade at Valley
Forge to celebrate the news that France had decided
to recognize America’s independence and would
be our ally. Washington was delighted at the professional
display of his troops.
Over the next two years, the Major
General’s reputation grew, as he was credited
with transforming the Continental Line into a trained,
disciplined force which could stand up to crack British
Regulars. He introduced Prussian concepts of general
staff duties and European field tactics that could rival
British and Hessian battle maneuvers. He taught the
men to break camp quickly, fire in volley, attack en
masse with bayonet and regroup or retreat in an orderly
fashion. He demanded that military camps be kept sanitary
and be ready for inspection, especially weapons and
equipment. He also set up a system of property accountability
and supply procurement for the army, which was essential
in stamping out corruption and waste. On March 29, 1779
Von Steuben’s “Regulations for the Order
and Discipline of the Troops” was formally accepted
by Congress as the official regulations for the United
States Army. The “Regulations” or “Blue
Book” as it was known, was used intact by the
army until the War of 1812, and it affected American
drills and tactics until the Mexican War of 1846.
After Yorktown, Washington still expected
renewed attacks by British forces against the Hudson
Valley so he had Von Steuben move his headquarters to
New York. He joined General Knox at Vail’s Gate,
near West Point, in the fall of 1782. He then moved
to Mount Gulian in Fishkill, opposite Washington’s
headquarters at Newburgh in early 1783. Throughout this
time Von Steuben was busy with the design and building
of the huge New Windsor Cantonment, which eventually
had 8000 soldiers and dependants living in 700 cabins.
As peace negotiations dragged on into the spring, at
Mount Gulian with Von Steuben presiding on May 13, 1783,
the Society of the Cincinnati was formed as America’s
first veterans’ fraternal organization. With news
of the Peace Treaty of Paris, Von Steuben furloughed
and then discharged his troops by June of 1783. In March
1784, General Baron Von Steuben was discharged from
the Continental Army with honors.
Mount Gulian stood on its hill above
the Hudson River for 200 years. But an arsonist’s
fire destroyed it in 1931. Family members, household
staff and neighbors rescued furniture, paintings, and
silver from the home. The ruin, with just the stonework
remaining, was left to the mercy of the woods for thirty-five
years.
In 1966, Bache Bleecker, a Verplanck
descendant and his wife Connie founded the Mount Gulian
Society for the purpose of reconstructing the homestead.
The new-born Society immediately hired
a restoration expert, Edward Litwin. He excavated the
ruins of the old homestead during the summer of 1967.
All that remained after the fire was a cellar choked
with weeds and the rubble of handmade bricks and cut
native sandstone, and remnants of stone walls, fireplaces
and chimneys. To help him with the restoration, Mr.
Litwin studied old photographs and consulted people
who remembered Mount Gulian, although the dwelling had
metamorphosed over its long life.
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The Society of the Cincinnati is an
organization that is as old and as venerable as our
Republic. Composed of living descendants of eligible
commissioned officers of the Continental Army and Navy,
as well as descendants of commissioned officers of the
French Army and Navy who served during the Revolutionary
War, the Society has 14 branches. Each branch (State
Society) is composed of descendants of officers who
served in their respective original 13 States’
armed forces and one branch for France, whose help ensured
our at victory in the War.
The Society of the Cincinnati was
organized on May 13, 1783, at Mount Gulian, in Fishkill,
New York, by Continental officers who fought in the
American Revolution, including patriot General Baron
Von Steuben, whose headquarters was located at Mount
Gulian. The Society was the first veterans’ fraternal
organization established in the United States. The Society’s
original purpose was to facilitate fellowship, friendship
and recognition for officer war veterans of the Continental
Army. At a time when there were no “veterans benefits”
the Society was also created to act as an “insurance
policy” of sorts, an institution that collected
funds from every member and which would remit benefits
to their fellow officers in time of need. The Society
also acted as a powerful organization which would lobby
Congress for the back-pay and land grants promised to
veteran officers of the War.
George Washington was the Society's
President General from 1783 until his death in 1799.
Originally a somewhat controversial organization due
to its membership being limited to direct male heredity
from original officer members, the Society has been
active continuously since its founding in 1783, and
was a model for many other fraternal organizations and
lodges in America. Today, the Society is a not-for-profit
organization that supports educational, cultural, and
literary activities, promoting the ideals of liberty,
heritage and constitutional government.
Open 1-5 p.m. Wed.-Fri. and on Sundays
for special events. Guided tours. Admission fee. |
