AN INTERESTING BARON DE KALB LETTER
By A. E. ZUCKER
The facts of the life of Major General Jean de Kalb, who served under
Washington in the Revolutionary Army, were often incorrectly given until
about a hundred years after the General's death. However, in 1862 Fried-
rich Kapp published a biography of this Revolutionary hero, establishing
among other things that de Kalb was not a member of one of several
German noble families of that name, but that church records show him to
have been the son of a Bavarian freeholder, born in Hüttendorf near
Erlangen. Kapp also discovered the letters de Kalb wrote to his wife
during his years in America, and likewise made use of documents in French
and American archives. On the basis of this biography one can readily
outline de Kalb's life as follows: 1721 born in Hüttendorf; 1743 lieutenant
in a German regiment in French service; 1743-1748 fought through the War
of the Austrian Succession and 1756-1763 the Seven Years War; 1760-1763
on the staff of the Duc de Broglie; 1762 received the Order of Military Merit
for valor at the Battle of Wilhelmsthal; 1768 sent by the French Prime
minister Choiseul to America to report on the friction between the Colonies
and the English Government, particularly on how the Americans would
act in case of a Franco-British war. Four months' investigation convinced
him that blood would prove thicker than water and the colonists would
fight on England's side against the French. He felt that the colonists were
right in their demand for "no taxation without representation" and came
to admire their determination to defend their rights. Futhermore, he could
not believe that the English Government would be so blind to its own
interests as to drive the colonists to rebellion and independence; he felt
convinced however that in the long run the colonies could not be governed
from the other side of the Atlantic. In 1777 de Kalb with Lafayette crossed
the Atlantic to fight under Washington. In 1780 he fell in the Battle of
Camden in South Carolina.
In view of Kapp's extremely careful search of State Department files for
material on de Kalb, it is rather surprising that he missed the following
letter, now preserved in the Archives Building in Washington, which is
very revealing as to the writer's motives in fighting for American freedom.
At a critical time in de Kalb's life it was very influential in deciding Con-
gress to offer him a major-generalship and thus to secure the services of
this gallant and able soldier instead of letting him return to France, as most
of his and Lafayette's companions did.
Other aspects of the letter are also rather interesting. It is addressed to
Dr. Frederic Phyle, a German physician practicing in Philadelphia, and is
dated December 26, 1775. De Kalb met Dr. Phyle in 1768 on his trip
undertaken for Choiseul and the two became friends. (Kapp states on page
160 of his biography that early in May 1778 de Kalb contracted a violent
fever which brought him to the verge of the grave and the latter stages
of the disease were passed in Philadelphia where a fellow-German, Dr.
Phyle, who subsequently became his intimate friend, nursed him back to
health. As Kapp evidently did not know of the letter of December 26, 1775,
he was not aware that de Kalb was attended by a friend of long standing.)
The letter reads as follows, partly in English and partly in German:
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I am in great distress about your and your family's health and welfare, not having
received any news from you since my letter to you of the first of January 1774;
whether it was lost by these troublesome times or some other reasons that hindered
me from getting an answer I cannot guess. Whatever may be the cause of it I should
gladly hear from you and be as gladly apprised of a good harmony restored be-
tween the Colonies and the Mother Country. I hardly can believe that the English
ministry will pursue the rash and unjust measures and push the colonies to violent
extremities to preserve their natural and constitutional liberties—Ich bin ein solcher
Freund von Ihrem Land, dass wenn der Krieg zwischen Engelland und ihren Pflanz-
städten in der neuen Welt fortdauern solte, so wolte ich mit Vergnügen meine noch
übrigen Jahre zum Dienst Ihrer Freiheit aufopfern und meine 32. jährige Erfahrung
in der Kriegskunst zu Ihrem besten und nach aller meiner Fähigkeit anwenden,
wenn ich glaubte, dass ich bey dem amerikanischen Kriegsheer könnte nützlich sein,
bey Ihrer Hauptversammlung dazu berufen würde. Sagen Sie mir als mein wahrer
und guter Freund, ob ich der Versammlung einen solchen Vorschlag kan machen
lassen. Was mich auch Theils dazu verleitet ist das grosse Verlangen, das ich habe,
Sie mein werther Freund, noch einmal und bald zu sehen. Geben Sie mir, wenn es
möglich ist, eine ausführliche Antwort.—if I did not write to you again before this
time, a long journey to Germany, which I just now ended, to see my sons in the
Palatinate hindered me from pleasing myself in that point, for I look on it as a
great pleasure to me to entertain myself with so dear a friend as yourself—if all
commerce, correspondence and communication with England is not interrupted you
may direct for me under the cover to Henry Keall, No. 121 Fenchurch Street, London.
I am forever
Dear Sir
Your most obedient humble
Servant de Kalb
Translation of German Part of Letter Made for the Benefit of Congress:
I am to such a degree a friend to your country that if the war between England
and her colonies in America should continue I could with pleasure devote the rest of
my days in the service of your liberty and to the utmost of my ability employ my
thirty-two years' experience acquired in the military art for your advantage if I
might suppose that I could be of service in the American Army and receive a call
from their Congress—pray tell me, my sincere friend, whether I may offer such
proposal to the Congress, and give me, if possible, a full answer to this point.
In the first place the letter shows de Kalb's warm sympathy for the
American cause that he had acquired during his American visit. The news
of Lexington and Concord of course aroused the old soldier's desire to be
in the thick of it. He craved recognition by promotion to a general's rank
and glory on the battlefield. The idea appealed to him of capping his dis-
tinguished military career by fighting with the plucky Americans for their
freedom. In this spirit later on, May 12, 1778, he swore his oath of allegiance
before George Washington.
DE KALBS OATH OF ALLEGIANCE
'S OATH OF ALLEGIANCE
I, John Baron de Kalb, Major General, do acknowledge the United States of
America to be Free, Independent and Sovereign States, and declare, that the people
thereof owe no allegiance or obedience to George the Third, King of Great Britain;
and I renounce, refuse and abjure any allegiance or obedience to him, and I do swear
that I will to the utmost of my power, support, maintain and defend the said United
States against the said King George the Third, his heirs and successors and his or
their abettors, assistants and adherents, and will serve the said United States in the
office of Major General, which I now hold, with fidelity, according to the best of
my skill and understanding.
John Baron de Kalb
Sworn before me, Camp at Valley
Forge, the 12th day of May, 1778
G. Washington
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Congress sent Silas Deane as its agent to France in 1776 to represent
American interests at the Court of Versailles. He engaged a dozen or so of
French officers who were eager to fight with the "insurgents" and promised
them various ranks according to their deserts. Of the group that came with
Lafayette and de Kalb, three were given by Silas Deane subject to confirma-
tion by Congress the grade of major-generals—Lafayette, de Kalb and de
Mauroy, while the others were appointed majors, captains and lieutenants.
When they reached Philadelphia and reported to Congress a very embar-
rassing situation arose. While Deane had acted in good faith Congress felt
that he had exceeded his authority and that it could not honor these com-
mitments. American officers who had been in the field for years resented
the promotion over their heads of foreigners unacquainted with America,
and who could not even speak English. Hence Congress resolved to
repudiate Deane's contracts, but to reimburse the French officers for their
expenses incurred as well as their return journey. Most of the officers who
had come with Lafayette and de Kalb accepted these conditions and
returned to France. An exception was made in the case of Lafayette, who
was commissioned Major General. De Kalb had at first been denied a
commission, but on September 15, 1777, Congress voted that the newly
created major-generalship should be awarded to de Kalb and that it should
be dated the same day as Lafayette's This was done, of course, because a
man of de Kalb's long military experience could not be asked to serve
under a lad of nineteen who had no battle experience whatever. While there
were various factors that caused Congress to change its mind relative to
de Kalb, the above letter which Dr. Phyle gave to Robert Morris and he to
John Hancock, no doubt was of great influence.
Friedrich Kapp remarks that in all of de Kalb's writings he had not
come across a single line in German. Our letter provides us with a specimen
of his use of his mother tongue. It gives a stilted impression as might be
expected since he had spent his adult years in French environment. He had
married a Frenchwoman and French was spoken in his home. His corres-
pondence with his fellow officers in German regiments was carried on in
French, as was also his exchange of letters with the Baron von Steuben
while both were in this country. The German he had spoken in previous
decades was largely confined to that of the military command.
Knowledge of languages was a very important asset to de Kalb in his
career, but due to the lack of information concerning his early years we do
not know where and how he acquired his French and English; his French
is excellent, while his English is fluent but at times not quite idiomatic as
shown in our letter by the "to entertain myself with so dear a friend"
(derived from "s'entretenir" or "sich unterhalten"). Because of his
knowledge of German, Prime Minister Choiseul selected him in 1768 to
investigate conditions in America; under the guise of a German colonel he
could work more effectively than as an officer of the hated French Army.
His knowledge of English enabled him to introduce Lafayette to Silas Deane
and to deal with Congress as the only one of the French officers who spoke
English. De
Kalb's linguistic ability was of course a factor in this appoint-
ment as major general in the Army of the United States.
It is even likely that de Kalb had studied Latin as is shown by a
passage in a letter to his wife of July 18, 1779, written in a happy mood
after the taking of Stony Point on the Hudson:
The staff officers of my division were my guests. We were all very hungry and
did full justice to the mutton and the beef which constituted the repast; large round
crackers served as plates, in the absence of all crockery. The scene forcibly reminded
me of the conquest of Italy by Aeneas and of the words of Ascanius when they had
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reached the future site of Rome. There too hunger compelled them to devour the
cakes upon which their food had been set before them, and recalled the oracle of the
harpies that they would not reach the end of their wanderings and toils, nor call
Italy theirs, until they should have eaten their plates with their meals. I have
unfortunately no Ascanius with me, but I desire most ardently that my fate may be
decided as was that of Aeneas, that the independence of America, like the conquest
of Italy may now be realized, and that after we too have eaten our own plates, the
close of our warfare and our toils may be likewise approaching.
Of course, de Kalb could have made this truly beautiful poetic allusion
on the basis of a translation of Vergil, but since he was throughout his life
working hard to improve himself, it seems likely that he, lacking formal
schooling, had studied diligently to acquire the fundaments of a gentleman's
education. It may be interesting to quote here in Dryden's translation the
charming scene in which Ascanius, Aeneas' young son, recognizes the harm-
less fulfillment of the oracle that had so ominously hung over the heads of
the daring band of Trojans:
Beneath a shady tree, the hero spread
His table on the turf, with cakes of bread;
And with his chiefs, on forest fruits he fed.
They sat (and not without the god's command)
Their homely fare despatched; the hungry band
Invade their trenchers next, and soon devour,
To mend the scanty meal, their cakes of flour.
Ascanius this observed, and smiling said:
" See, we devour the plates on which we fed."
Though de Kalb has been justly described as Gallicised, he did retain
an interest in his German background and heritage. He remained in touch
with his family in rural Bavaria, even though separated by time, space
and social position. There is a letter in which Madame de Kalb thanks
"mon très cher frère" for his sympthetic letter on the occasion of de Kalb's
death. He sent his two sons to a military school in Colmar which had been
established in 1773 by the German poet Gottfried Konrad Pfeffel. In early
manhood Pfeffel was stricken by blindness, but despite this handicap he
made a success of his school and also attained great popularity as the author
of poems extolling civic and military virtues. One that is included in many
schoolbooks is Die Tabakspfeife, the tale of a crippled veteran who though
poor placed loyalty above money.
When Congress had refused commissions to the French officers with the
exception of Lafayette, de Kalb set out with a group to return to France.
The long voyage across the Atlantic, the march on foot from Charleston to
Philadelphia, and numerous other hardships they had undergone had led
only to bitter disappointment, depriving him of all chance to obtain the
sought-for glory. Despite what must have been a very depressed mood,
de Kalb decided to pay a visit to the Moravian settlement in Bethlehem
to learn about this institution of German pietists, even though it meant
a long detour. In a letter to his wife he gave a detailed description of the
Moravian brethren.
It was here at Bethlehem that a messenger from Congress overtook him
with the news that Congress had decided, after all, to make him commander
of a division. Thus the young United States gained a valiant, experienced
general who sealed his devotion to our cause by a heroic death on the battle
field at Camden. Hene, on August 16, 1780, was fulfilled the hope de Kalb
expressed in his letter, that he might devote the rest of his remaining days
in the service of our liberty.
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