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GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

October 21, 2011

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www.GayPeoplesChronicle.com

LGBT History Month

October is LGBT History Month. As part of this celebration of our heritage, honoring those who have come before and their efforts, the Gay People's Chronicle is proud to join with dozens of other newspapers and magazines across the country in presenting a month of special features highlighting notable LGBT people throughout history. This year, these features focus on people

who have had an impact on the formation of our nation. There will be no singers, no actors, no celebrities. This year's theme is "We Are America," discussing how LGBT people and their allies formed a more perfect union, a promise equality advocates strive to fulfill every day.

This issue, we continue our trip through a queerer history than we were taught

Friedrich Von Steuben, father of the U.S. military

by Mark Segal

NATIONAL GAY HISTORY PROJECT

There are few historians today who would doubt that Baron Friedrich Wilhelm Von Steuben was gay.

To appreciate the contributions von Steuben (1730-94) made to the American Revolution, consider this: Before his arrival in Valley Forge in 1778, the Revolutionary Army had lost several battles to Great Britain and, without him, the United States of America might still be the British colonies.

Before Valley Forge, the Revolutionary Army was a loosely organized, rag-tag band of men with little military training. The military fumbled through the beginning of the war with little training and organization. Gen. George Washington and the Continental Congress knew that without help from additional seasoned military experts, the colonies would clearly lose.

Since Washington himself was the best the colonies had, they looked to Europe for someone who could train the troops. To that end, Washington wrote the colonies' representative in Paris, Benjamin Franklin, to see what he could come up with. Franklin, a renowned inventor, was treated as a celebrity in the French court. This would be pivotal in achieving his two major objectives in France: winning financial support for the revolution and finding military leaders who could bring a semblance of order to the Revolutionary Army.

Franklin learned of a "brilliant" Prussian military genius, Lt. Gen. Baron Frederich von Steuben. Von Steuben had a string of successes (some self-embellished) with the Prussian army. There was one problem. He'd been asked to depart because of his "affections for members of his own sex." This became urgent in 1777 when he escaped imprisonment in what is now Germany and traveled to Paris. There, Franklin was interviewing candidates to assist Washington back in the colonies when he discovered von Steuben.

During the interview process, Franklin discovered von Steuben's reputation for having "affections" with males and the issue became pressing as members of the French clergy demanded the French court, as in other countries, take action against this sodomite. They had decided to make their effort a crusade and run him out of France.

Franklin had a choice here, and he decided that von Steuben's expertise was more important to the colonies than his sexuality. At the same time, another colonial repre-

sentative was in France with the explicit job of recruiting experienced military personnel from Europe to train the Continental Army. He was Silas Deane, a former representative to the first Continental Congress and friend of Franklin. Deane is best known for recruiting the Marquis de Lafayette. He also had a side job as a spy for the colonies. Besides being intelligent themselves, Franklin and Deane knew how to spot intelligence. It would have been impossible for either to not know about the reputation of von Steuben. Franklin, working with Deane, decided von Steuben's "affections" were less important than what he, Washington and the colonies needed to win the war with England. Deane learned of

von

Steuben's indiscretionsand that the French clergy was investigating from a letter to the Prince of Hechingen, his former employer, which read in part:

"It has come

with profiles of the German tactician who aided in the Revolutionary War efforts against Britain, the woman who wrote "America the Beautiful," a freeman who commanded an all-black regiment of volunteers protecting Boston during the war, and an examination of George Washington's pro-gay pragmatism.

Friedrich von Steuben

to me from different sources that M. de Steuben is accused of having taken familiarities with young boys which the laws forbid and punish severely. I have even been informed that that is the reason why M. de Steuben was obliged to leave Hechingen and that the clergy of your country intend to prosecute him by law as soon as he may establish himself anywhere."

Deane, along with Franklin, acted quickly before the clergy could deport or imprison

Col. George Middleton,

von Steuben, and plotted to send him to the colonies to serve with Washington. Von Steuben was given an advance for passage to America and began as a volunteer, without pay.

Once he'd arrived in Valley Forge, Washington was concerned about von Steuben's inability to speak English so he appointed two of his officers who spoke French to work

as his translators. One of those officers was Alexander Hamilton and the other his close friend John Laurens. Within months, von Steuben gained Washington's confidence and began to transform the colonial army.

Washington and Franklin's trust in von Steuben was rewarded. He whipped the ragtag army of the colonies into a professional fighting force, able to take on the most

black Revolutionary War hero

by Kevin Trimell Jones

NATIONAL GAY HISTORY PROJECT

During the time of the American Revolution, George Middleton (1735-1815) was recognized as a great fighter for liberty and independence, and a respected leader among the community of blacks living in Boston, Mass. Local politicians, neighbors and other contemporaries viewed him as a central figure in promoting and garnering freedoms while advancing America's cause. Throughout his life, Middleton possessed an unconventional style of leadership, a commanding voice and an encompassing presence that motivated the allegiance of those connected to him.

Middleton stands out in Boston and queer

histories because of his relationship and the home he built and shared with his Caribbean friend Louis Glapion. According to the History Project's "Improper Bostonians: Lesbian and Gay History from the Puritans to Playland," Middleton and Glapion maintained a peculiar relationship. As bachelors, they "built the oldest standing house on Beacon Hill," and "lived together until 1792, when Glapion married and the house they shared was divided in two." In 1781, Middleton married Elsey Marsh. According to the 1790 census record, Middleton was the head of household for a family of three. While e exists no concrete proof that Middleton

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and Glapion had a romantic relationship, it was common at the time for gays and lesbians to marry individuals of the opposite sex and have children, while maintaining separate same-sex relationships. At his time of death, Middleton left his possessions to his "true friend Trimstom Babcock."

Life was probably nothing short of interesting on Beacon Hill. Middleton and Glapion live in a home together. Glapion, who was from the French West Indies, ran a hair salon out of the house, and maintained the business throughout his years (his wife later ran the business from Continued on facing page