Washington, the man of action . s con-siderable evidence that Congress wasbeing deceived by these constant mis-representations, when the publica-tion of some letters which Conwayand Gates imprudently wrote re-vealed the whole miserable plot, andits exposure was soon followed bya public outburst of affection andloyalty for Washington such as hehad never previously , recruiting had been 219 WASHINGTON steadily progressing in Valley Forge,and to train the newcomers and theveterans in the tactics of Europeanarmies there had come to Washing-tons assistance the most famousdrill-
Washington, the man of action . s con-siderable evidence that Congress wasbeing deceived by these constant mis-representations, when the publica-tion of some letters which Conwayand Gates imprudently wrote re-vealed the whole miserable plot, andits exposure was soon followed bya public outburst of affection andloyalty for Washington such as hehad never previously , recruiting had been 219 WASHINGTON steadily progressing in Valley Forge,and to train the newcomers and theveterans in the tactics of Europeanarmies there had come to Washing-tons assistance the most famousdrill-master known to history. Thiswas no less a personage than BaronSteuben, a former member of Fred-erick the Greats staff, who, likeLafayette, had come to America,volunteering to serve without payor reward of any kind, because ofhis belief in the principles for whichthe colonies were contending. Underthe guidance of this distinguishedinstructor the discipline and effici- 220 Americans Carrying Redoubt at Yorktown(October 14, 1781). WASHINGTON ency of the troops were vastly im-proved, and the formation of acavalry corps under Light HorseHarry Lee rendered the army, which,by the spring of 1778, numberedalmost 15,000 men, still more for-midable. Then news reached ValleyForge that France had officiallyrecognized the independence of thecolonies, and the encouragementwhich this brought to the sup-porters of the American cause wasnot lost upon General Howe, whosepossession of Philadelphia had bythat time become so precarious thathis foraging parties did not dare to 225 WASHINGTON venture from the city unless pro-tected by a full brigade. Indeed theBritish generals military reputationhad been greatly damaged by hiswinter in Philadelphia and there wasmore regret than surprise when heretired to England, turning over hiscommand to General Clinton, thenquartered at New York. The acceptance of his resignationwas a most unjust reflection onHowes generalship, but he probablywelcomed it as reliev
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