Extraordinary Exagerators

It is, to say the least, interesting, when considering the men whom Washington surrounded himself with, to consider the cases of Major Pierre L'Enfant and General Friedrich Wilhelm Von Steuben - both of whom came to Washington's attention at Valley Forge.

Von Stueben appears in Portsmouth, New Hampshire (birthplace of Tobias Lear) in 1777 having served on the general staff of the Prussian army. He represents himself to Washington not only as royalty, but as one of Frederich the Great's generals (in reality having only attained the rank of Captain). Nonetheless, he single-handedly shaped a militia on the brink of both starvation and desertion into a disciplined force that rivalled that of the British. He also wrote the drill manual that would become that standard for U.S. armed forces through the War of 1812.



Pierre L'Enfant, who had studied Art at the Louvre before joining the Revolution, parlayed a modest talent for drawing into a career as both a military and civil engineer. While initially involved in less significant travails upon his arrival at Valley Forge - such as creating a portrait of Washington at the behest of Maj. Gen. LaFayette, L'Enfant would go on to draw the blueprint for the city of Washington, D.C. The saga of his schemes, scams, and unlikely successes is most excellently, if densely, told by Les Standiford (author of the brilliant Henry Flagler biography "Last Train To Paradise") in his monumental "Washington Burning".

Colonel Tobias Lear

Early today I learned about the man named Colonel Tobias Lear. For many years a trusted aide and personal secretary to George Washington, Lear is also noteworthy as "The Man Who Stole from the Father of Our Country" - having embezzled rents he was collecting for General George following his years as president. Lear is most famous as the man who was present as Washington passed, immortalizing his final words "'Tis Well." Following Washington's death, Lear became custodian of the late president's papers and personal effects...ostensibly with the intention of co-authoring a definitive biography of the country's first commander in chief. When this honor fell to Justice John Marshall and Lear was instructed to forward the source materials to him, large portions of Washington's diaries along with much of his correspondence had gone missing. Most poignantly absent were a series of letters from a heated exchange with Thomas Jefferson. During Washington's presidency, Jefferson criticized his administration as "Anglican, Monarchial, and Aristocratical" in a letter to an Italian friend. The letter found its way into publication abroad and was eventually translated for the American public by Noah Webster. Washington was understandably furious and initiated a correspondence that one of Washington's servants described as being so dire that it could only end in a duel.

It is suspected that Lear destroyed this correspondence at Jefferson's request and this theory is supported by Lear's appointment to diplomatic positions in the Caribbean and on the Barbary Coast during Jefferson's presidency. While my early education painted a stellar portrait of Thomas Jefferson, history's soft, white, underbelly continues to reveal a less than moral if not wholly unpleasant man behind the myth.