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 COMPLIMENTS OF GEO. SAVAGE. 
 
 iR pRBFReRiariri 
 
 -^' 
 
 THE BARON DeKALB. 
 
 ADDRESS 
 
 1 
 
 ^ 
 
 DEMVERED BY 
 
 G-EOisa-E S.^^r.i5^a-E IEsq.. 
 
 BEFORE THE 
 
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 (^. 
 
 UNITED GERMAN SINGERS OF BALTIMORE. 
 
 Mugust 12th, IBBB. 
 
 POE)M 
 
 COMPOSED BY 
 
 JOHN STRAUBENMUELLERofNewYork, 
 
 AND RECITED BY 
 
 WILLIAM ECKHARDT Esq, 
 
 b altimor e: 
 
 From the Press of James Yodng, 
 
 No. U4 South Street. 
 
 1886. 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 ^^-''^^^ (S^-"^ — ** 
 
 -. — «^* 
 
iR m.EmoRiQm, 
 
 THE BARON DeKALB, 
 
 ADDRESS 
 
 DELIVERED BY 
 
 G-EOISOE S.iL.'V.i^a-E IBSQ- 
 
 BEFORE THE 
 
 UNITED GERMAN SINGERS OF BALTIMORE. 
 
 Mugust 12th, IBBB. 
 
 POE)M 
 
 COMPOSED BY 
 
 JOHN STRAUBENMUELLER OF New York, 
 
 AND RECITED BY 
 
 WILLIAM ECKHARDT Esq. 
 
 baltimore: 
 
 From the Press of James Young, 
 
 No. 56 South street. 
 
 1886. 
 
^5z 
 
-^ 
 
 eORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 Baltimore. July 14, 1886, 
 
 GEORGE SAVAGE. Esq. 
 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 The United German Singers of Baltimore will, 
 
 on the 12th of next month, hold, in the hall of the Germania 
 Maennerchor Society in this City, a celebration in memory of the 
 Baron DeKalb, and we take pleasure in cordially inviting you, in 
 their name, to deliver an address on that occasion. 
 
 Your well known interest in whatever concerns American citi- 
 zens of German birth leads us to believe that you will heartily 
 unite with us in honoring a hero of the Revolution. 
 With high regard, we are. 
 
 Very Respectfully Yours, 
 
 JOHN HOFFMEISTER, Chairman. 
 Of The Germania Mannerchor. 
 OTTMAH MERGENTHALER, 
 
 Of The Ballimore Liederkranz. 
 HERMAN BAAKE, 
 Of The A7-ion. 
 ROBERT D. BOSS, 
 
 Of The Baltimore Liedertafel. 
 A. BRUNIER, 
 
 Of The Frohsinn. 
 E. KOESTER, 
 
 Of The Arbeiter Liedertafel. 
 ANTON REICH, 
 , Of Tlie East Baltimore Liedertafel^ 
 
 JACOB KLEIN, 
 WM. ECKHARDT, 
 
 Of The Germania Mannerchor. 
 HENRY THOMAS, Secretary. 
 
 Of The Barmonie. 
 FRED. SCHEIDT, 
 
 Of The Arbeiter Mannerchor. 
 
 BALTIMORE. July 17, 1886. 
 
 MESSRS. JOHN HOFFMEISTER (Chairman), 
 
 OTTMAR MERGENTHALER, HERMAN BAAKE, 
 ROBERT D. BOSS and others. 
 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 I am in receipt of your complimentary invitation 
 
 to address the United German Singers of Baltimore on the occa- 
 sion of a celebration to be held by them in memory of the Baron 
 DeKalb, and I accept it with pleasure. I hope I may be able to 
 recall to all Americans who may be present the rare nobility of 
 life and character which the heroic DeKalb illustrated to his last 
 hour. I am, Gentlemen, 
 
 Very Truly Yours. 
 
 GEO. SAVAGE. 
 
.i^HDIDI^ESS. 
 
 Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : 
 
 It is patriotic, instructive and inspiring to recall our coun- 
 try's heroic past and to review the lives, the characters and 
 the services of the heroes who have illustrated, bj their valor 
 and self-abnegation, the proudest pages of American history. 
 We owe to the memories of all who fell in the long and des- 
 perate struggle of the Colonies for Independence the sacred 
 duty of repeating and perpetuating the story of their sacri- 
 fices and achievements and commemorating their love of 
 liberty. Though more than a century has rolled over their 
 graves their examples, written in blood and consecrated by 
 death, remain to guide, encourage and inspire us and those 
 who will come after us. It is not enough that enduring 
 memorials should attest our gratitude ; we should tell again 
 and again to each other and to mankind how they labored, 
 fought and died that this nation might exist and that the 
 inestimable blessings of free government might be the price- 
 less heritage of this great people. 
 
 I would now direct your attention to a conspicuous and 
 highly admirable soldier who gave his all in that most impor- 
 tant and eventful war for self-government which began amid 
 many and darkest clouds, and was continued for seven years 
 with varying success, but ended, at last, in glorious victory at 
 Yorktown, and was fitly closed with the exultant words of 
 Washington: "It is done, and it is well done I" Let us 
 pause to note that the limits of the application of the prin- 
 ciples of self-government first asserted and successfully defend- 
 ed by the American Colonies, and for which DeKalb died, 
 have not yet been reached, that at this time the British Par- 
 liament and public are deeply agitated by their discussion, and 
 
that a vast number of the suffragists of Great Britain, fol- 
 lowing the lead of her foremost statesman, Mr. Gladstone, 
 deliberately and with deep earnestness reassert them. 
 
 I have been highly honored by your invitation to address 
 you, and I join heartily with you in paying a well deserved 
 tribute to the memory of John Kalb who is better known as 
 the Baron DeKalb. Neither the time kindly allotted to me nor 
 even your generous patience will permit a presentation of 
 the many interesting facts of his life, and my object will 
 have been accomplished if, happily, I succeed in outlining 
 the most prominent in sufficiently bold relief. I come not to 
 unduly praise him ; it would be presumption to attempt to 
 add to the laurel-wreath which encircles his brow. He was a 
 German. Let that fact be remembered not only with heart- 
 felt pride by all who have German blood in their veins and 
 who are among us and of us, but by all who honor the noblest 
 qualities and are grateful to the soldiers of the Revolution, and 
 especially to those who, though foreign-born, gave their lives in 
 support of the Revolutionary cause. He was born on the 29th 
 of June, 1721, at Huettendorf, now embraced in the Bavarian 
 District of Erlangen. His father was John Leonard Kalb, 
 son of Hans Kalb, yeoman, of Leimburg, near Altdorf, and 
 is mentioned in the church records of the parish of Frauen- 
 aurach as " sojourner and peasant of Huettendorf." His 
 mother was Margaret Seitz, whose birthplace was Eschen- 
 bach. He was the second of three sons and received his 
 earliest schooling at Kriegenbronn. It is to be regretted that 
 of the boyhood and early manhood of DeKalb no records 
 exist. The story of his early ambitions, trials and struggles 
 will never be told ; but we know that his pathway was a 
 rugged one ; that he was compelled to wring from the reluc- 
 tant hand of fortune all that he gained ; and "that he owed 
 everything to his exertions, character and talents. How con- 
 sonant with the opinion of highest merit which prevails in this 
 land is the subject of my eulogy to-night ! In the truest sense 
 he was self-made. " The accident of birth " was against him, 
 but steadfastly relying on his own heart, and hand, and head, 
 he carved his way from poverty and obscurity to power and 
 
fame. Well may the youth of America seek to emulate him ! 
 His early life was more or less adventurous, but he must have 
 borne himself well, for at the as^e of twenty-three he became 
 a lieutenant in the famous Loewendal regiment of French 
 infantry, a corps which though enlisted under French colors 
 was officered almost exclusively by German noblemen. It 
 has been alleged against him that he was a soldier of for- 
 tune, but in the language of his most faithful and discrim- 
 inating biographer, " throughout the last century more than 
 at any other time the line of distinction between an ad- 
 venturer and a hero was very dim, often scarcely discerni- 
 ble, and the antecedents of many a man who at a sub- 
 sequent stage of his career scaled the heights of fame 
 were checkered with alternate displays of either charac- 
 ter." In France he accepted the title of the Baron DeKalb. 
 In the language of another, " regarding this step in the light 
 of his time it cannot be judged too mildly. The title of 
 nobility was simply the password which unlocked the world to 
 him, the indispensable starting point for all future operations; 
 one more scruple on his part and the world would probably 
 have gained a sturdy yeoman but lost a hero!" Let it not 
 be a matter of surprise that DeKalb entered the military 
 service of France; it was the goal of the ambition of many 
 of the best and bravest at that period. His native land 
 afforded him no opportunity for distinction; the absolutism 
 which prevailed there would have subjected him to the iron 
 will of the ruler of a petty State and he would have been 
 treated as a plebeian. France offered every inducement to 
 men of his stamp. Marshal Saxe, one of the greatest military 
 leaders of his day and a German by birth, had risen to the 
 command of the French army, and it was well known that 
 the Bourbon Kings were partial to the foreign-born officers who 
 served them faithfully. History records that in 1748 the for- 
 eign troops, who followed the fleurs de lys of King Louis the 
 15th, numbered 52,315, that among them were nineteen Ger- 
 man infantry battalions with 525 officers and 17,601: of the rank 
 and file and three regiments of cavalry numbering 78 officers 
 and 1410 troopers; and that, in addition, thousands of Ger- 
 
8 
 
 mans were in the thirteen Swiss regiments of the French 
 army. As late as 1776 the Germans in the army of France 
 comprised eight regiments of foot with 448 officers and 12,032 
 privates and three cavalry regiments numbering 96 officers 
 and 2,520 men. I rejoice with you that to-day the world 
 sees, with admiration and fear, that Germans are all for their 
 Fatherland ! 
 
 The occasion will not admit of more than a brief mention 
 of the military services rendered by DeKalb to his adopted 
 country. They were distinguished and valuable. In the 
 war declared by France in 1744 against Great Britain and 
 Austria he showed such personal bravery, endurance and 
 energy, united to aptitude for the profession of arms, and so 
 occupied all his leisure in study, principally of the modern 
 languages and the higher branches of mathematics and the 
 internal organization of troops, that he soon attracted the at- 
 tention of his superiors. He was promoted rapidly and was 
 assigned to posts of importance. In less than four years he 
 was made a captain and adjutant and was charged with the 
 responsible duties of an officer of detail. He was noted also 
 for his executive ability and humanity. In the Seven Years' 
 War DeKalb actively participated on the side of the French 
 with the Loewendal regiment which was conspicuous for its 
 gallantry, and especially at Kossback where Frederick the 
 Great gained a decisive victory, DeKalb won during 
 that time the lasting friendship of the Due DeBroglie, one 
 of the ablest of the generals of France and who Jomini de- 
 cla,red was the only French general engaged in the Seven 
 Years' War who was capable on all occasions. In 1760 he 
 was appointed by Marshal Dnc DeBroglie assistant quarter- 
 master general with the Army of the Upper Rhine, and in 
 1761 he was made a lieutenant colonel. I cannot follow him 
 step by step, but DeKalb displayed accomplishments of such 
 a high order that he was selected, without consultation with 
 him, by the Due DeChoiseul, then at the head of the direc- 
 tion of the French Government and who has been truly 
 called " one of the greatest if not the greatest French states- 
 men since the days of Richelieu," to visit this country on a 
 
secret mission. The farsighted and alert French minister 
 was determined to be prepared for the war between the Colo- 
 nies and the mother country which lie foresaw and to avail 
 himself of the opportunities it would afford France to humble 
 England. DeKalb was at first averse to the service. But 
 the Due DeChoiseul insisted, and added : " Do not decline 
 the mission with which I have entrusted you ; I know it is 
 diflScult and requires great sagacity. But I have fixed my 
 choice on you after much deliberation. Ask of me the means 
 which you think necessary for its execution ; I will furnish 
 you with them all." DeKalb was instructed to inquire into 
 the intentions of the Colonists ; to ascertain their need of 
 good engineers and artillery officers or other individuals, and 
 whether they should be supplied with them; to inform him- 
 self of their facilities for procuring supplies and their ability 
 to procure munitions of war and provisions ; to acquaint 
 himself with the greater or lesser strength of their purpose 
 to withdraw from the English Government ; to examine their 
 resources in troops, fortified places and forts ; and to seek to 
 discover their plan of revolt and the leaders who were ex- 
 pected to direct and control it ; and the Due DeChoiseul 
 added : " Great reliance is placed in the intelligence and ad- 
 dress of Monsieur DeKalb in the pursuit of a mission requir- 
 ing an uncommon degree of tact and shrewdness." I well 
 know that you will welcome the insight into the private life 
 of DeKalb as a most aifectionate husband and father which is 
 afforded by the concluding sentence of his letter to DeChoiseul, 
 written from London in 1767, on the eve of his departure for 
 Philadelphia. He wrote: "In conclusion, Monseigneur, I 
 would recall to your mind the promises kindly made me on 
 my departure from France, beseeching you to be a father and 
 protector to my wife and children if it should be written in 
 the book of fate that the journey upon which I am setting 
 out should lead directly to my final resting place." Truly 
 wrote Bayard Taylor : 
 
 The bravest are tlie tenderest, 
 The loving are the daring. 
 
 It would be very profitable to recall the state of feeling 
 
10 
 
 here at that time and to give lengthy extracts from DeKalb's 
 reports, but I can only say that they were remarkable for their 
 calmness, accuracy and fullness and the foresight shown by 
 their author. Let me delay you with a few lines from his 
 pen written nearly ten years before the 4th of July, 1776. 
 DeKalb wrote : " All classes of people here are imbued with 
 such a spirit of independence and freedom from control, that 
 if all the provinces can be united under a common representa- 
 tion, an independent state will soon be formed. At all 
 events it will come forth in time. Whatever may be done in 
 London this country is growing too powerful to be much lon- 
 ger governed at so great a distance." An incident of 
 DeKalb's journey from Philadelphia to New York, in Janu- 
 ary 1768, must be related to illustrate his self-reliance and 
 common sense. In those days the marvels of steam and 
 electricity were not dreamed of. DeKalb's trip from 
 Philadelphia to a point opposite Staten Island occupied four 
 days. He there took a ferry boat between seven and eight 
 o'clock at night to cross the Kill van Kull. The frail craft 
 was driven by the wind and ice upon a little island and there 
 sank, the passengers being obliged to save themselves by 
 swimming and by wading through mud and ice. The island 
 was without any inhabitants or shelter. Cries for help were 
 unheard, and the unfortunate travelers, nine in number, were 
 obliged to huddle together, exercise and keep watch in order 
 to keep alive. Several died during the night. Relief did 
 not come until morning. DeKalb then bathed his feet and 
 legs in ice-cold water, took refreshments, went to bed and 
 slept until evening. When the surgeon who had been sum- 
 moned was told what he had done he refused to look at him, 
 and declared that a man who had so maltreated himself must 
 be lying dead in his bed. But DeKalb was the only one of 
 the party who escaped without injury. 
 
 Let us come, without delay, to the year in which DeKalb 
 
 joined his fortunes to a cause in which he was destined 
 
 to yield up his life. The commencement of hostilities be- 
 
 -tween England and her American Colonies found DeKalb 
 
 in the enjoyment of honor, wealth and the best prospect of 
 
11 
 
 -continued success. It had been his good fortune to marry in 
 1764 the beautiful and accomplished daughter of Mens. Peter 
 van Robais, a wealthy retired cloth manufacturer, who lived 
 near Paris. One of his biographers thus writes of his married 
 life : " In marked contrast to the dissolute manners of the 
 time, DeKalb lived exclusively for his family, while his wife, 
 in her turn, was no less devotedly attached to her husband 
 than solicitous of the welfare of her children. The warmth 
 of this attachment remained unaltered to the hour of DeKalb's 
 death, and his last letters to his wife breathed the same fervor 
 which had inspired the first and all the others." His wealth 
 enabled him to live in luxury with his wife and three child- 
 ren. He had reached the age of fifty-five years. His friends 
 were among the best known and most influential leaders in 
 France. But he determined to ofier his services to the new 
 born nation that had thrown down the gauntlet to the most 
 powerful in the world. Mr. Silas Deane, the American 
 agent in France, gladly accepted DeKalb's offer, and wrote 
 to his government : " Count DeBroglie, who commanded the 
 army of France daring the last war, did me the honor to 
 call on me twice yesterday with an officer who served as his 
 quarter-master-general in that war and now has a regiment in 
 this service, but being a German — the Baron DeKalb — and 
 having traveled through America a few years since, he is de- 
 sirous of engaging in the service of the United States of North 
 America. I can by no means let slip an opportunity of 
 engaging a person of so much experience, and who is by every 
 one recommended as one of the bravest and most skillful 
 officers in the kingdom." And with a just appreciation of 
 DeKalb's motives he added : " This gentleman has an inde- 
 pendent fortune and a certain prospect of advancement here, 
 but being a zealous friend to liberty, civil and religious, he is 
 actuated by the most independent and generous principles in 
 the offer he makes of his services to the States of America." 
 Mr. Deane engaged DeKalb as a major-general, his seniority 
 to date from the 7th of November, 1776, and the formal con- 
 tract was signed by both parties soon after, DeKalb signing 
 for himself and fifteen companions, among whom were the 
 
12 
 
 Yicount DeMauroy, major-general ; Dubnysson, afterward 
 his aide and major, and VonHoltzendorif, a Prussian lieuten- 
 ant-colonel. DeKalb then held a commission as a brigadier- 
 general in the service of France. On the 7th of December, 
 1776, a new agreement with Mr. Deane was concluded, and 
 it bore the additional signature of Lafayette, then in his 
 twentieth year. It is important to call attention to the rela- 
 tions which existed between the veteran who had been so 
 warmly welcomed by Mr. Deane and the young nobleman 
 of whom it has been well said that "♦he was filled with 
 youthful enthusiasm for America and a burning desire to 
 flash his sword in a transatlantic crusade." Lafayette was a 
 kinsman of the Count DeBroglie, DeKalb's warm friend, 
 and was by him referred to DeKalb for counsel and protec- 
 tion. It was indeed fortunate for the ultimate success of the 
 American arms that DeKalb and Lafayette were sincere 
 friends and were heartily in accord. DeKalb keenly appre- 
 ciated the great importance of enlisting in the cause of 
 American Independence the sympathies of the nobility of 
 France, and he used, before leaving for America, every influ- 
 ence to that end. Subsequent events showed how farseeing 
 and astute he had been and how invaluable were his personal 
 eflbrts. He introduced Lafayette to the American agent, 
 and doubtless urged acceptance of his services. It is too much 
 a matter of detail for me to recite the difiiculties which imme- 
 diately beset those who longed to follow Washington. They 
 were many, and arose from the remonstrances of Lord Stor- 
 mond, the English prime minister, the prohibitory order of 
 the French government, the necessity for secrecy in every 
 movement and the open opposition of Lafayette's father-in- 
 law. It was not until the 13th of June, 1777, that, after a 
 voyage of forty-five days, DeKalb, Lafayette and their com- 
 panions beheld from the deck of La Victoire the shore of 
 South Carolina at Georgetown. After being hospitably en- 
 tertained by Major Huger, they rode to Charleston and 
 there began their preparations for their journey to Phila- 
 delphia, setting out on the 27th of June. Owing to the 
 excessive heat they did not reach Philadelphia until thirty 
 
13 
 
 days had elapsed. En route they passed through Anna- 
 polis. Doubtless DeKalb saw the spot where, in a few 
 days, another lasting memorial, erected by a grateful nation 
 to commemorate devoted valor and love of liberty, will be 
 dedicated with imposing ceremonies, and thousands will hail, 
 with a glad acclaim, the statue and the name of DeKalb. 
 
 A reception of a character very different from that which 
 they had a right to believe awaited them was given DeKalb, 
 Lafayette and the foreign-born officers with them when they 
 presented themselves, on the day after their arrival in Phil- 
 adelphia, to the President of the American Congress. They 
 were not welcomed, but were coldly received. Jealousy of 
 foreigners as commanders was then rife in the American 
 army and Congress. The claims of Coudray, a French offi- 
 •cer, who had reached Philadelphia a few weeks previous to 
 the coming of DeKalb, Lafayette and DeMauroy, founded on 
 an agreement with Mr. Deane, to the rank of a major-general 
 and the command of both the artillery and the engineers of 
 the Continental army, had aroused much indignation, and so 
 violent and nnreasoning had the feeling become that three 
 American generals — Knox, Greene and Sullivan — had ten- 
 dered their resignations on the mere rumor that Coudray's 
 demands had been granted. Congress was much annoyed and 
 embarrassed by the situation ; on the one hand was the open 
 opposition to foreign officers — the more strongly evidenced by 
 those American officers who were notoriously incompetent — 
 and on the other the just claims of soldiers of experience and 
 capacity. Thirteen foreign officers were entitled to appoint" 
 ments, and three of them, DeKalb, Lafayette and DeMauroy, 
 to the rank of major-generals. Congress finally refused to 
 ratify the contracts made by Mr. Deane and declared that he 
 had exceeded his powers. The dilemma was a most painful 
 one to the noble spirits who had made such sacrifices for the 
 cause of th» Colonies. Influenced by a desire to take advan- 
 tage of the special influences which it believed would follow 
 the appointment of Lafayette because of his great family 
 connections and wealth, Congress, on the 31st of July, 1777, 
 appointed him a major-general. That act, however viewed, 
 
14 
 
 was almost an affront to DeKalb. But it only strengthened 
 the friendship between DeKalb and his youthful protege. 
 Lafayette, with proper delicacy, assured DeKalb that he 
 would decline the proffered rank unless the same was given 
 to him. In the generosity of his nature DeKalb declined 
 Lafayette's proposal and advised him to accept the commis- 
 sion. Lafayette sensibly followed DeKalb's excellent advice 
 and soon after was slightly wounded in the battle of Brandy- 
 wine. DeKalb could not but keenly feel the wrong which 
 had been committed, and he was made of " sterner stuff" 
 than to quietly submit. The day after Lafayette's appoint- 
 ment he wrote to the President of Congress, strongly setting 
 forth his claims and protesting against the injustice which 
 had been done him. Be it remembered that DeKalb was the 
 more valuable as an officer and the better able to assert and 
 defend himself inasmuch as he spoke and wrote English with 
 fluency and accuracy whereas all other ofiicers born in France 
 or Germany, and then in America, could make themselves 
 understood only with difficulty. In his letter of August 1,. 
 1?77, to the President of Congress he wrote : " I was vastly 
 surprised at my being introduced to Mr. Lowell to hear him 
 (almost in public) exclaim loudly against Mr. Deane's pro- 
 ceedings, and disapprove all the conventions that agent has 
 made with several officers as contrary to his powers. To this 
 I answer that a public man ought to know what powers he 
 hath from his constituents or hath not ; that Mr. Deane is 
 generally esteemed to be a candid man and a man of sense; 
 that whatever he may have agreed to with others and this too 
 in a language he did not understand, mine is in English and 
 so very plain that it can admit of no various interpretations;" 
 and he added : " As I have now fulfilled my part of that 
 agreement, I wish Congress would do theirs, without loss of 
 time, and let me hear of their resolution; I would not be 
 a simple spectator in the scenes preparing for opening." 
 
 In the same letter, referring to Lafayette, he wrote : " I 
 am very glad that you granted his wishes ; he is a worthy 
 young man and no one will outdo him in enthusiasm in your 
 cause of liberty and independence. My wishes will always 
 
15 
 
 be that his success as a major-general will equal his zeal and 
 your expectations. But I must confess, sir, that this distinc- 
 tion between him and myself is painful and very displeasing 
 to me. We came on the same errand, with the same prom- 
 ises,* and as military men and for military purposes. I flat- 
 tered myself that if there was to be any preference it would be 
 due to me. Thirty-four years of constant attendance on mil- 
 itary service, and my station and rank in that way, may well 
 be laid in the scale with his disinterestedness and be at least 
 of the same weight and value !" With thoughtfulness of the 
 eifect in France of such action in regard to himself and La- 
 fayette he added : " It would seem very odd and ridiculous 
 to the French minister and experienced military men to see 
 me placed under the command of the Marquis de Lafayette." 
 On the Sth of September Congress declared, by resolution, 
 that the contracts made by Deane were not binding, and it 
 returned its thanks to the gentlemen who had come, and 
 oftered to pay their expenses to and from America. A 
 week later DeKalb and his companions started for France. 
 He journeyed by way of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in order 
 to visit his Moravian countrj'men there, but a messenger from 
 Congress overtook him and informed him that on the day 
 of his departure from Philadelphia he had been elected a 
 major-general. A new major-generalship had been created 
 for him. His commission was dated October 4, 1777, but 
 Congress ordered his seniority to date from the 31st of July, 
 the date of Lafayette's commission, and even ofiered to ante- 
 date his commission to the 7th of November, 1776. DeKalb 
 was, however, satisfied to have his commission bear the same 
 date as Lafayette's. I have been thus explicit in dealing 
 with this period of DeKalb's life in order that his disposition, 
 trials and sacrifices may be the better understood and appre- 
 ciated. 
 
 On joining the American army, then north of Philadel- 
 phia and near Geruiantown, DeKalb was cordially received, 
 and was assigned, early in November, 1777, to the command 
 of a division formed of New England regiments. Let us 
 now look at DeKalb as he was in appearance, manners and 
 
16 
 
 habits when he wielded his sword for the liberties of the Col- 
 onies, and we are fortunate in having a most interesting ac- 
 count of him from the pen of Col, Nicholas Rogers, of this 
 city, who served for a while as one of his aids. He wrote of 
 him : " In size he was a perfect Ariovistus, being upwards of 
 six feet, and fully equal to the fatigues of a soldier. He 
 would often walk twenty or thirty miles a day without a 
 sigh or complaint, and indeed often preferred that exercise to 
 riding. His complexion and skin were remarkable, being as 
 fair and fresh as those of a youth. Besides his extreme tem- 
 perance, sobriety and prudence, with his great simplicity of 
 manners which highly fitted him for his undertaking, he had 
 also many of the other qualifications for a soldier such as 
 patience, long-sufi'ering, strength of constitution, endurance 
 of hunger and thirst, and a cheerful submission to every in- 
 convenience in lodging, for I have known him repeatedly to 
 arrange his portmanteau as a pillow, and, wrapping his great 
 horseman's cloak around him, stretch himself before the fire 
 and take as comfortable a nap as if upon a bed of eider-down." 
 Col. Rogers also records that he was in the habit of rising 
 before daylight and at once commencing his work, and that 
 his favorite drink was — water. General Henry Lee, who is 
 known as " Light Horse Harry," and was the father of the 
 late General Robert E. Lee, wrote of him : " No man sur- 
 passed him in simplicity and condescension which gave to 
 his deportment a cast of amiability, extremely ingratiating, 
 exciting confidence and esteem ;" and he added : " Such 
 had been the temperance of his life, that he not only en- 
 joyed to the last the finest health, but his countenance still 
 retained the bloom of youth." He was prompt and method- 
 ical, gave his personal attention to every detail, and perform- 
 ed, with the most conscientious fidelity, every duty. He 
 wrote almost daily to his wife and friends. 
 
 I am admonished by the length of time already occupied 
 of the impossibility of following his career in the American 
 army or even of recalling his connection with the events 
 and the men of that period. I must content myself with a 
 cursory statement, and must avoid even the most interesting 
 
17 
 
 details. But let me express the hope that you will seek in 
 tl>e pages of history, and especially in his numerous letters to 
 his wife and the Due DeBroglie, the essential facts of his life 
 and of the times which I must deny myself the pleasure of 
 relating. 
 
 On the 30th of December, 1777,DcKalb was made Inspec- 
 tor-General of the army. He shared the hardships of the 
 winter at Valley Forge. He commanded the centre of the 
 army in the grand manoeuvre made in celebrating the con- 
 clusion in 1778 of the alliance between France and the United 
 States. He was continually kept in important positions in the 
 field and rendered most valuable services. There is ever}' rea- 
 son to believe that he approved himself and was regarded as 
 one of the ablest commanders. In 1779 he was assigned to 
 the command of one regiment from Delaware and seven from 
 Maryland. It was divided into two brigades which were com- 
 manded by Gens. Smallvvood and Gist, both of Maryland. 
 A military critic of the Revolutionary war gives this just 
 praise to the Maryland and Delaware patriots : " One fact 
 in the struggle for American Independence should have spe- 
 cific notice. From 1776, before Boston and through the entire 
 war the States of Maryland and Delaware were represented 
 on nearly every battlefield. Although their troops were few 
 in numbers they were distinguished for valor, so that their 
 failure in an emergency was a sign of great peril or of some 
 over-mastering superiority or panic." 
 
 We will now go with DeKalb to his last battle field. The 
 order of the 3d of April, 1780, directing DeKalb to march to 
 the relief of Gen. Lincoln, then besieged by Gen. Clinton, 
 at Charleston, S. C, showed the confidence of Washington 
 in him and his troops. When it was issued DeKalb, having 
 relieved Gen. St. Clair, was performing with a corps the very 
 difficult task of guarding and defending Washington's head- 
 quarters at Morristown, protecting the country bordering on 
 the British line, ascertaining and reporting the strength and 
 movements of the enemy along the coasts of New Jersey and 
 Staten Island, and securing, in the advance with an inade- 
 quate force, the safety of the American army. It had required 
 
18 
 
 the utmost vigilance and had subjected him and his officers 
 and men to great hardships. Charleston had fallen and the 
 victorious regulars of King George were free to make battle 
 in the interior and to reduce the Carolinas to submission. 
 Gen. Lincoln was a prisoner, and Gen. Horatio Gates, who had 
 won a great reputation with Congress and the masses by the 
 capture, in October, 1777, of Gen. Burgoyne and his whole 
 army, was appointed by Congress commander-in-chief of the 
 Southern army. General Gates was dictatorial, haughty, con- 
 ceited and incompetent. In his own opinion he was superior 
 to Washington in generalship, and he had actually intrigued 
 for the command of the American army. He was on his farm 
 in Virginia when intelligence of his appointment reached him. 
 " Take care," said an old friend, Gen. Charles Lee, " lest your 
 Northern laurels turn to Southern willows." The words were 
 prophetic. Gen. Gates reached his army on the 25th of J uly, 
 and to the amazement of DeKalb, who he had succeeded, and 
 of his troops, he issued the next day, to what he called his 
 " Grand Army," orders to march on Camden, a town in South 
 Carolina. He thereby betrayed total ignorance of his sur- 
 roundings and of the condition of his troops who had been 
 but one day under his command. Gen. Henry Lee thus 
 criticises him : " Calculating proudly on the weight of his 
 name, he appears to have slighted the prerequisites to victory, 
 and to have hurried on to the field of battle with the impet- 
 uosity of youth ; a memorable instance of the certain de- 
 struction which awaits the soldier who does not know how to 
 estimate prosperity." In vain did DeKalb and the leading 
 officers set out in writing the dangers which would inevita- 
 bly surround him, the necessity for at least a brief delay, and 
 the advantages of marching towards Salisbury, North Caro- 
 lina. Gates promised to consult with his best officers at 
 noon of the first day's march but never did. Ignorant of 
 the position and movements of his enemy, and supposing that 
 he would be opposed by Lord Rawdon alone when in fact 
 Lord Cornwallis, alarmed at Gates's audacity, had hurried 
 from Charleston to Lord Rawdon's support, and despite the 
 fact that his total force was nominally only three thousand 
 
19 
 
 and fifty-two men, of whom about fourteen hundred were 
 good troops and well officered, while the remainder were raw 
 militia hastily collected from Virginia and North Carolina, 
 who did not know how to use the bayonets they had only just 
 received and many of whom had never been under fire, 
 Gates, on the 15th of August, ordered his army "to march 
 promptly at ten o'clock that night." Lord Cornwallis was a 
 capable commander who had served under the Duke of 
 Brunswick in the Seven Year's war, and he commanded over 
 two thousand men, a majority being the best troops in the 
 British army. He, too, had determined to make a night at- 
 tack, and he set out, at the same hour as did Gates, for Cler- 
 mont, where Gates had arrived, about twelve or thirteen 
 miles from Camden. About two o'clock on the morning of 
 the 16th of August, the British and Americans met, and after 
 some sharp fighting with the advantage to the British, both 
 sides, as if by common consent, suspended hostilities until 
 daybreak. Gen. Gates then learned for the first time, from 
 prisoners, that Cornwallis was himself in command, and that 
 his army was within five or six hundred yards of his front. 
 He called a council of war, and when DeKalb was invited to 
 it and told of what had been ascertained, he immediately in- 
 quired : " Well, did not the Commanding General immediate- 
 ly order a retreat ?" thus indicating his opinion. But it does 
 not appear that DeKalb at the conference which was thereupon 
 held without delay, and at which the unwelcome news of 
 Lord Cornwallis's presence was communicated to the generals 
 and the regimental commanders, opposed the impetuous Gen. 
 Stevens, who, when he saw that no one, not even the Com- 
 manding General, had 'any proposition to submit, exclaimed: 
 " We must fight, gentlemen ; it is not yet too late; we can do 
 nothing else; we must fight!" Lord Cornwallis kept his 
 ground and his flanks were well protected by impassable 
 marshes. The American line was formed with the Virginia 
 militia on the left under Gen. Stevens ; the North Carolina 
 militia in the centre under Gen. Caswell ; and the right wing, 
 consisting of the Second Maryland Brigade and the Delaware 
 Regiment under Gen. Gist, commanded by DeKalb. The 
 
20 
 
 First Maryland Brigade, under Gen. Smallwood, occupied the 
 second line as a reserve. Two pieces of artillery were placed 
 on Gist's right flank, and two on the right and one on the left 
 of Caswell's command. The Americans were practically 
 without cavalry, Armand's mounted legion of sixty men hav- 
 ing fled at the first attack during the night. Gen. Gates took 
 his position about six hundred yards in the rear to overlook 
 the struggle. At dawn the battle opened. The British 
 regulars under Lt. Col. Webster advanced with closed ranks 
 and impetuously upon the Virginia militia, and, panic strick- 
 en, they fled almost without firing, despite prayers, entreaties, 
 appeals and threats. The panic soon involved the North Car- 
 olinians, and, excepting four hundred of Dixon's regiment, 
 who fired several times, they too abandoned the field. Gen. 
 Gates, in his report, calls the militia " a torrent," and he was 
 a part of it, for he slept that night in Charlotte, sixty miles 
 from the battle-field, and four days later he was at Hills- 
 borough, one hundred and eighty miles from Camden, with- 
 out so much as an escort. While disaster and dishonor held 
 sway on the left and in the centre, DeKalb and the men of 
 Maryland and Delaware were performing feats of bravery. 
 DeKalb ordered Smallwood's brigade to form a junction with 
 Gist's, and did all that was possible to retrieve the fortunes of 
 the day. Inspiring officers and men with his own dauntless 
 spirit, he not only successfully resisted the furious onslaught 
 of Lord Rawdon on his right, but drove the enemy with the 
 bayonet and took prisoners. But in the meantime Small- 
 wood's brigade had been outflanked, overpowered and forced 
 back. It soon rallied and renewed the fight there, but with- 
 out avail. DeKalb fought at the head of Gist's Marylandera 
 and the Delaware regiment. He advanced three times, and 
 maintained his ground before superior numbers. A sabre cut 
 laid open his scalp, and his horse was shot under him. Ja- 
 quette, the Adjutant of the Delaware regiment, hastily band- 
 aged the wound with his scarf, and besought DeKalb to retire. 
 But the lion-hearted warrior heeded him not, and on foot led 
 his brave Marylanders to the charge. Every foot of ground 
 was contested, and DeKalb and his men performed prodigies 
 
21 
 
 of valor as they fouf^ht hand to hand with the British. Corn- 
 wallis now concentrated all his force on DeKalb's weakened 
 and wavering ranks, and Tarleton's irresistible troopers fell 
 upon his tianks. Then the day was lost. But again did 
 DeKalb, heading a handful of the bravest of the brave, rush 
 upon the foe, waving his sword and calling on his men to 
 follow. Several balls pierced his body, and blood streamed 
 from his wounds. Still he had strength to cut down a 
 Britisher who had a bayonet at his breast. The enemy now 
 recognized him by his epaulets and pressed upon him, crying : 
 " The rebel General ! The rebel General !" Bleeding from 
 eleven wounds he fell upon the field of battle. His ever 
 faithful aid, Dubuysson, imploring the British to " save and 
 spare the Baron DeKalb," and protecting him as best he 
 could, received in his own body the thrusts intended for his 
 chief. The British soldiers raised DeKalb to his feet and 
 stripped him to his blood-dyed shirt. Cornwallis, happening 
 to ride past, inquired who he was, and when told he said : " I 
 regret to see you so badly wounded, but I am glad to have 
 defeated you." He then ordered that the wounds of his dis- 
 tinguished prisoner be dressed and that proper attention be 
 shown him. DeKalb was thereafter treated with marked 
 kindness and humanity. 
 
 In all the annals of our country there is no story of battle 
 more replete with pathos and inspiration than the one which 
 I have, in the simplest words, recited to you. It has its dark 
 side, but it tells also of all that honor could demand and self- 
 sacrifice could avail; and when DeKalb fell on the fatal and 
 bloody field of Camden he presented to the world a spec- 
 tacle such as had not been witnessed since Leonidas, obedi- 
 ent to the laws of the Lacedemonians, died at Thermopylie, 
 and "Winkelried, receiving in his breast the spears of his 
 country's invaders, made waj for liberty. Foreign-born, 
 leaving all behind him, having much, very much, to make 
 life dear to him, with other fields of honor and success 
 open to him, in the maturity of his mental and physical pow- 
 ers, and worthy of higher command than had been given him, 
 he was true and steadfast unto death. When we hear, as 
 
22 
 
 sometimes we may from the lips of those who know not the 
 whole truth of history, the opprobious w^ord " Hessian," we 
 may well point to Camden and pronounce the blessed name 
 of DeKalb. We may add, too, the honored name of Von- 
 Steuben. 
 
 Let us return to him .who was the luminous figure where 
 all was lost save honor. The strong man, though in his six- 
 tieth year and bearing in his body so many grievous wounds, 
 bore up against death for three days. Dubuysson was with 
 him to the last, and British officers helped to soothe him. 
 What thoughts of his wife and children must have come to 
 him ere his eyes closed forever! What distress of mind 
 must have been added to bodily pains ! But the dying hero 
 met the last enemy as well became him. His mind turned 
 to the battle-field and the brave men who had fought with 
 him. Dubuysson wrote to Gens. Gist and Smallwood : " It 
 is with particular pleasure I obey the Baron's last commands 
 in presenting his most aftectionate compliments to all the ofii- 
 cers and men of his division. He expressed the greatest sat- 
 isfaction in the testimony given by the British army of the 
 bravery of his troops, and he was charmed with the firm op- 
 position they made to superior force when abandoned by the 
 rest of the army." The British ofiicers buried DeKalb with 
 military and masonic honors. Gen. Gates wrote to Washing- 
 ton : " Too much honor cannot be paid by Congress to the 
 memory of the Baron DeKalb ; he was everything an excel- 
 lent otficer should be, and in the cause of the United States 
 has sacrificed his life." Gen. Gates also, by letter, urged 
 Congress to declare to the world its high estimate of his ser- 
 vices and sacrifices. Washington was also sensible of what 
 was due to DeKalb, and declared that he had fully justified 
 his high opinion of him, and that his memory must ever be 
 precious to all Americans. On the 14th of October, 1780, 
 Congress passed a resolution directing that a monument be 
 erected at Annapolis to his memory, and that it bear this in- 
 scription : " Sacred to the memory of the Baron DeKalb, 
 Knight of the Royal Order of Military Merit, Brigadier of 
 the Armies of France, and Major-General in the service of thq 
 
23 
 
 United States of America. Having; served with lionor and 
 reputation for three vears, he gave at hvst a glorious proof of 
 his attachment to the liberties of mankind and the cause of 
 America, in the action near Camden, in the State of South 
 Carolina, on the 16th of August, 1780, where, leading on the 
 troops of the Maryland and Delaware lines against superior 
 numbers and animating them by his deeds of valor, he was 
 pierced with many wounds, and on the I'Jth following expired 
 in the 48tli year of his age. The Congress of the United 
 States of America, in gratitude to his zeal, services and merit, 
 have erected this monument." At the time of the passage of 
 the resolution, it was supposed, owing to DeKalb's compara- 
 tively youthful appearance, that he was in his -ISth year, 
 whereas he was in his 60th year. The monument was not 
 erected; the nation was still struggling for existence ; peace 
 found its treasury empty ; and subsequently that lack of ar- 
 dent, active interest which causes so many good works to be 
 deferred, operated to postpone to this month the payment by 
 the nation of the debt it owes to DeKalb's memory. But he 
 was not forgotten, and our immortal Washington, standing 
 in the spring of 1791 by the little turf-clad mound that 
 rose above his grave, said: " So here lies the brave DeKalb, 
 the generous stranger who came from a distant land to 
 fitjht our battles and to water with his blood the tree of 
 our liberty. Would to God he had lived to share with 
 us its fruits !" And to the citizens of Camden he said : 
 " Your grateful remembrance of that excellent friend and 
 gallant officer, the Baron DeKalb, does honor to the goodness 
 of your hearts. With your regrets I mingle mine for his loss, 
 and to your praises I join the tribute of my esteem for his 
 memory." Still his resting place remained unmarked, save 
 by a single tree, until 1825, when his admirers in Camden and 
 throughout the State which has the boner to preserve and 
 cherish his ashes erected a suitable monument to mark the 
 hallowed spot and tell of his virtues and heroism. Lafayette, 
 bent with years, reverently laid the corner-stone, and said : 
 " His able conduct, undaunted valor and glorious fall in the 
 battle of Camden form one of the remarkable traits of our 
 
24 
 
 struggle for independence and freedom. He was cordially 
 devoted to our American cause, and while his public and pri 
 vate qualities have endeared him to his contemporaries, here 
 I remain to pay to his merits, at this tomb, the tribute of an 
 admiring witness, of an intimate companion, and of a mourn- 
 ing friend." 
 
 At last the American people stand ready to demonstrate, 
 in the capital of our State, that they are not ungrateful to 
 the Baron DeKalb. The skillful hands of a Baltimore-born 
 sculptor, who we welcome here, have well perpetuated in 
 bronze the hero as he led the sons of Maryland and Dela- 
 ware in his last battle; the nation will, by its final action and 
 through its representatives, testify its faithful and dutiful 
 memories of him ; and Maryland, represented then, as we 
 recognize, with much pleasure, that she is among us, by her 
 worthy Governor, and remembering him with special pride 
 and affection, will add a full share to his memorial honors. 
 
 Another shrine has been reared upon American soil! 
 There Liberty may worship. Patriotism rekindle its fires, 
 and Freedom offer prayers and benedictions! Let it stand 
 forever, inspiringly typical of a hero's sacrifice ! Let it make 
 its silent but eloquent appeal to the homage of every citizen 
 of the Republic! Let it tell of the storied past, enrich the 
 present, and sentinel the future ! And let patriots every- 
 where rejoice that, although all that was mortal of DeKalb 
 long since mouldered into dust and ' his good sword is rust,' 
 he lives in the hearts of a free, happy and grateful people, 
 and that for him the years to come contain 
 
 The thanks of millions yet to be. 
 
maron l>e Stalb. + 1781. 
 
 ( (i^ebic^tet Don 3 t) a n 11 2 t r a u b c ii m (i 1 1 e r.) 
 
 SBaron be Salb, ein SJaiicr, 
 
 edjlagfertig immerbav, 
 i*eilic6 bte gtirflciibieiifle 
 
 Unb trat jur i'urgetfdiaar. 
 
 Om SDaffeiijpiel eriabien, 
 
 @eiub[)nt nn iJ^ulDerbQmpt, 
 2rat er mit ganjev Seele 
 
 3n ben aefieiiuiqSfninpf. 
 
 21IS JJiember ^iei umgeben 
 
 SJon (5iferfu(fet unb yjeib, 
 @ing er luie ber Sportaner 
 
 VeonibaS in Streit. 
 
 $f[b 2Saif)ington jiu®eite 
 3tnnb er in mandjer Sd)Iad)t, 
 
 iBiS 5ialb jule^t im Siiben 
 eitag ber yUebertvndJt. 
 
 3n Stib-Sarolina's ®Quen, 
 fflo's iriift nod) mar unb leer, 
 
 3)n iagten fid) bie IMauen 
 Unb 8iotl)cn ()in unb t)er. 
 
 a5ie ?)Qnfec=jLruppen ijatttv 
 Diidt aiabrung, slcibung, 2olb, 
 
 Uno aud) ber ®ott ber gdjladjtcn 
 Sdjien if)nen nid)t me^r f)olb. 
 
 @ateS modjie einen Scftlag t[)un, 
 
 jDod) tDox ble I'age fd.Ied)t, 
 er jog trotj slBiberiprudjes 
 
 syei Samben in'S Oefeajt. 
 
 IBeil iialb i^m als gtratcgc 
 
 aJliO.'Qtljen feinen '^Jlan, 
 2)rumnit er if)n q(s ^iBerrattjer- 
 
 Unb -ieigen 3remb(ing" an. 
 
 „3 d) f iege oa er fall e I" 
 
 antmortet 5ta[b doU aJ2ut^, 
 Unb bran finb ieine Iruppen, 
 
 S>a§ ^j;2art)ianber :;i5Iut. 
 
S)ie Siiten finb im SSort^eil 
 
 Unb fdjlagcn tapfcr loS, 
 a)a Wixb balb bic 35er)t>inung, 
 
 2)er ©djtecfen tie'engrofi. 
 
 ©(^on >Tjeid)tbie linfe gianfe, 
 
 SJirflinien (netft aus, 
 5Co(l) unei(d)iittett ftelje" 
 
 Malb'S Sruppenin bem Straug. 
 
 2)e Sntb ttifft eine Sugel, 
 (5r titeft eom 3?lute rotft, 
 
 3)0(1) reitet er nod) DoriDdits 
 Unb corrodxts bi§ in Zob. 
 
 Bait blutet QUS eilf asunben, 
 S)Qnn fintt er «ft oom 8to6. 
 
 Unb nut tt)m, fdjWer getroffen, 
 jDe 2?uiffon, fein @eno|;. 
 
 2)e tQlb mirb nun gefangen, 
 
 St ftiibt im Sritenjelt, 
 !©od) trdumte con golb'ner ^-teiljeit 
 
 9?od) fterbenb unjer S^dD. 
 
 %us \xt\em Siirgerblute 
 ©iebt er erfteb'n ein Steid), 
 
 S)em feincS ouj be: (Stbe 
 3n @(anj unb gteitjeit gleic^. 
 
 3)er IiQum ip njo^r gertoiben I 
 
 Unb tjeute mirb cnttitiat 
 Itafii £)unbert unb {fit f ;3Qf)ien 
 
 3)eS eblen .fietben 23ilbl 
 
 D, blelbe unoergcffen, 
 
 2)u Opfet iener 3e't» 
 Unb ttecf' nod) mand)en ©elben 
 
 i)er Unabpngigteit: 
 

LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 
 
 011 801 084 n 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 011 801 084 A