Washington's Gay General: The Legends and Loves of Baron von Steuben

by Josh Trujillo, Levi Hastings (Illustrator)

A graphic novel biography of Baron von Steuben, the soldier, immigrant, and flamboyant homosexual who influenced the course of US history during the Revolutionary War despite being omitted from our textbooks.

 

Author Josh Trujillo and illustrator Levi Hastings tell the true story of one of the most important—but largely forgotten—military leaders of the American Revolution, Baron von Steuben, who brought much-needed knowledge to the inexperienced and ill-prepared Continental Army. As its first Inspector General, von Steuben created an organizational framework for the US military, which included writing the Blue Book guide that became the standard for training American soldiers for more than a century.

 

Von Steuben was also, by all accounts, a flamboyant homosexual in an era when the term didn’t even exist. Beginning with von Steuben’s career in the Prussian Army, Trujillo explores his recruitment by Benjamin Franklin, his work alongside General George Washington at Valley Forge, and his eventual decline into obscurity. In Washington’s Gay General, Trujillo and Hastings impart both the intricacies of queer history and the importance of telling stories that highlight queer experiences.

Genres: Graphic Novels, History, Nonfiction, LGBT, Biography, Comics, Queer

192 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 15, 2023

Reviews

[Philip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding graphic non-fiction about Baron von Steuben, a gay Prussian who came to America and helped win the Revolutionary War. The story's amazing because author Trujillo doesn't sugar coat von Steuben's life, or the lives of people like George Washington either. He also inserts himself into the story, comparing today with the late 1700's. Great way to learn history and realize how we can piece together queer stories from the past in a genuinely satisfying and honest way. I've often said adult graphic novels are a wonderful way to quickly digest a piece of history. We need more books like Washington's Gay General.

[Frankie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. It was interesting, but I was anticipating a novel and not a biography. I had a little bit of a hard time differentiating the characters bc of the art style. The interruptions of the narrative so the authors could disclaim that von Steuben did morally dubious things felt a little out of place, though I agree it was probably necessary to have them in there. Ultimately, the real power of the book is from the sense of time and place that comes from reading queer history

[Louis Muñoz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating this 3 stars, but it could have been a 4 or even 5 star book. I recommend this book, but it has some serious flaws. First, there are several factual mistakes in the book. For example, the author states that Baron von Steuben died at age 84, when it fact he was 64. Speaking of facts, there are many things we don't know about von Steuben's life and the people around him. Generally speaking, the author often lets us know that such-and-such a fact might not be the whole truth - that there might be more, or possibly LESS, than what is being presented - but it still felt sometimes that the book might be stretching things.

This brings me to the most important flaw of the book. There is a lot we don't know, and a lot of the historical record is missing. A lot of the history has been erased. What's a historian or author to do? Sift through what we do have, and make informed assertions and guesses based on the sources on hand. A better book would have provided those sources, so that the reader could then look for themselves and make their own conclusions, but there is not a scintilla of sources here, much less a bibliography. This would be bad enough in other books, but the author and the illustrator/collaborator are very earnest in retrieving lost history, in helping the LGBTQ+ community and other interested readers find the history that has been erased, so the lack of sources, the failure to provide them, either in this book and/or a dedicated web space, is especially egregious. Perhaps future editions will redress this and the other mistakes I've described.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

While everyone else was busy theorizing about Alexander Hamilton and John Laurens, Josh Trujillo and Levi Hastings were captivated by the story of Baron von Steuben, a Prussian military strategist--and kind of a con man, tbh--who played a pivotal role in the American Revolutionary War. Washington's Gay General: The Legends and Loves of Baron von Steuben is the expansion of Trujillo's much shorter comic at The Nib and is a much more thorough biography supplemented with author commentary, historical context and the inclusion of other figures of the time.

Baron von Steuben grew up poor in a highly military culture and as a highly ambitious and crafty man, he sought fame and fortune through military prowess and social climbing. He was also, in modern parlance, Super Gay.

This graphic biography is engaging and nuanced, with dynamic illustrations, fascinating bits of history and a writing style that fits solidly in the "edutainment" category.

While the focus is on von Steuben, the creators highlight several other queer figures of the time, from royals to soldiers to seamstresses. They also try, somewhat awkwardly at times, to make sure readers don't forget that the entire American Experiment was only possible by the intentional, systematic, brutal destruction of Native bodies and culture and the enslavement of millions of Black people. We are reminded that Washington was an enslaver and that he dragged at least one of the people he enslaved around with him during the war.

"The atrocities of Washington and his allies were well-known and celebrated. He built his reputation on it! Washington was given the grim nickname of "Town Destroyer" for his success in suppressing Native peoples. This was the bloody New World von Steuben was heading into."

We also learn that though chattel slavery didn't exist in von Steuben's home country and he consistently felt like an outsider in the colonies, he quickly adopted the custom and enslaved at least one person.

And while the creators want to lift up this much-forgotten but influential queer man, they also discuss the problematic way he engaged with men and boys much younger than himself. At forty-seven, he was in a relationship with a seventeen year old and brought him to the colonies with him. That young man eventually moved on, married, and had children. We can only guess at the nature of their relationship, but it seems reasonable to conclude that both got something out of it and that von Steuben was aware that many or most of his lovers weren't especially in love with him. How do we reckon with the long history of gay men in relationships with much younger men and boys? The dynamics are different, but are those "Greek" customs necessarily any more problematic than say, Benjamin Franklin who was catting around through his 70's? Von Steuben seems a far cry from *shudder* Thomas Jefferson. Levels of fuckery, to be sure.

As with many other historical figures, the story of von Steuben's life is one of contradictions. How do we as readers and learners celebrate his successes as a Very Gay man and military leader in the 1700's while acknowledging the horrors he and his contemporaries perpetuated? Washington's Gay General is interesting in large part because it directly grapples with these questions and because the authors don't attempt to make von Steuben out as a hero. Yes, he wrote a military training manual that is still used to this day and played a decisive role in turning the war in favor of the colonies. He also lied constantly and sucked up to powerful figures in order to gain favor he hadn't earned. He was accused of sodomy and chased out of one country, but he also appears to have misused his power to surround himself with men who'd sleep with him. He enslaved at least one person. He also died poor and mostly alone.

Queer history is complicated. It's rarely recorded in church records and often intentionally hidden. Washington's Gay General is an interesting book on its own, but placed in context it becomes something really heartening. I hope we can keep the stories told within in mind as we face yet another wave of homophobic, transphobic and anti-free speech rhetoric in the country von Steuben fought so hard to create.

***

Washington's Gay General releases on August 15, 2023. I received a digital copy from the publisher for review.

[TJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this book was amazing! I was blown away by the story of a historic figure I never would have realized was queer because of the omission in our history books. Trujillo did a fantastic job keeping this story entertaining and interesting, something I struggle with when reading historic period pieces; Trujillo brings in pieces of his own experience to put in conversation with the Baron’s, and it works so well. This book is so important and well done; I think every high school and library should have it on hand. Baron had many aspects of his life that were controversial, as was the time period, but he also lived his life as openly queer as possible— and that’s fascinating to read about. 5/5 stars and I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys history or learning about queer figures.

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nifty biography of Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben that fully claims him as a gay icon even as it lays out all his faults as a person. He was certainly a colorful figure, a military lifer who survived the Seven Years' War and became a key figure of the American Revolution by whipping George Washington's troops into shape.

Thankfully, this is not a dry history, as the author inserts himself in the telling to share his personal feelings about von Steuben and the all-too-spotty history of LGBTQIA+ people in America's story that often necessitates writers having to rely on conjecture as they build a narrative from scraps.

Josh Trujillo and Levi Hastings previously worked together on a short story about von Steuben, "The American Revolution’s Greatest Leader Was Openly Gay," that is still available to read on The Nib and has been reprinted in the graphic anthology Be Gay, Do Comics. Now it serves as a nice trailer of sorts for this full-blown graphic novel.

[Nyah Grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

I understand and applaud the thought behind this, but it was a miss. not very well-written and the graphic novel was an odd choice considering it was literally just exposition with pictures basically--like there was SO MUCH TEXT and just like little drawings that basically went alongside the text instead of text going along with pictures. some questionable things said in certain moments about slaves and pedophilia that kinda made it seem okay! meh.

[laurel [the suspected bibliophile] · Rating 3 out of 5]

While there's a lot to love, there was also a lot of just...meh in this biography of Baron von Steuben, famous revolutionary war general who whipped the sad American colonists into something resembling Prussian military shape.

What I enjoyed: the authors do a really good job of contextualizing the world von Steuben lived in, from his relative life of privilege to the ways life was different to the various things going on in the world (slavery, indentured servitude, class hierarchy, etc). I also liked the artwork, which was very dramatic and fit the themes really well.

What I didn't really enjoy: overall, this felt like a ninth-grade history project where the student is doing as much as possible to stretch out as little as possible to meet that 2,000 word count goal.

It also felt, and not in a good way, like the TikTok crime procedural parody Rainbow Justice, where the gay cops are gay. That's it. That's their entire personality. Sure crime is solved, but only after everyone in a five-mile radius knows they're gay.

Before anyone comes at me with accusations of homophobia, please note that I am queer. I really, really loved the depiction of von Steuben's throuple-situation and the exploration of what being queer meant in this rigidly enforced period of time (as with many things, it depended on who you were and where you lived). And knowing that von Steuben, the dude who wrote the military book on conduct and whatnot, is gay, puts several layers of irony and understanding on the military's long-standing (and recently overturned) ban on LGBs in the military (trans people have had a much more fraught road to being allowed to serve, which has taken a sharp turn toward bigoted-rejection in recent weeks).

However, the depictions just felt flat as hell to me, and I tired of the constant drum beat that von Steuben was gay. What else was he? It was kinda like reading a woman written by men, where her relationship is solely defined by the men in her life—von Steuben in this book is solely defined by the men in his life. And I hate to say this when the authors are gay, but this book in many ways felt like a caricature of gayness.

I'm glad this book exists, truly. I just wish that there was more...nuance depicted in von Steuben's life, beyond his homosexuality. There was certainly room for it.

[Fiona · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very disappointing. The artwork is half-assed; I don't know why there wasn't more variation in the palette (switching to b&w was used only once when there were multiple sequences where it would been appropriate and useful). The writing is dry, with an occasional joke that relies on gay stereotypes and the odd swear word that reads as misplaced. And the choice to force so many random queer characters into the story ruined what might have been an interesting narrative if more value had been placed on storytelling. This is supposedly a biography but the writers clearly wanted to write more broadly about lgbtq+ history so insist on blundering off in multiple directions instead of using the framework of vonStuben's life to get the point across.

[Peacegal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trujillo gives us a unique look at history; one we likely didn't learn in school. The two-tone illustrations are fun in their reminiscence of 1970s-era textbooks. The more modern autobiographical material on the book's creators may feel out-of-place to some readers, and a needed connection of von Steuben's very different times to our own to others.

[Matthew Noe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this but I have to knock a star for a lack of a bibliography or reference list.

[Jack Phoenix · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deftly weaving biography, autobiography, and American, all in as few colors necessary, this is a must-read for history lovers and must-buy for libraries.

[Estibaliz · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75

It was interesting, but also kind of schematic and too full of facts at the same time; too much of a non-fiction graphic novel, when some novelization might have made for a more thrilling reading, as Baron von Steuben is, for sure, a fascinating real-life character.

All in all, it won't stay in my memory for long as a work of art, but I indeed learned some good facts about queer history, and just history at large.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting history of a mostly forgotten Revolutionary War hero, Washington's Gay General covers the raucous life of Baron von Steuben. Yes, he's (almost certainly) a gay man who lived large, but he's also a key component of early America. Josh Trujillo covers both these topics very well, always being sure to include the momentous fact of Steuben's homosexuality alongside his accomplishments. Along the way, we meet numerous other (most likely) gay historical figures, a reminder that gay people have always existed.

Washington's Gay General is somewhat more interesting as a straightforward history book than as a pride read, but it definitely meets the desires of both markets. The artwork is clean and simple, the plot fast-paced and engaging. Certainly one of those books that makes you run to Wikipedia for a deeper dive.

[Jamie Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Queer people need to know their history.

BUT!
This history in particular is kinda… simplistic. Too much ra ra go America? The authors do acknowledge that Von Steuben is complicit in genocide and slavery. But… I kinda feel like we could talk about explicitly WHY that’s a bad thing. I feel queerness has the potential and historical precedent of subserving normative narratives, such as the “man saving country” narrative. As it stands, it seemed like Von Steuben was pretty pro-war. There were other queer figures who took more subversive stances against it.

For what the book was, it was fine. The author’s personal story didn’t add much for me. I liked that the author connected Von Steuben to household founding fathers, like Ben Franklin or Alexander Hamilton.

Most distractingly, there was HELLA speculation. I’ve read the letters between John Lawrence and Alexander Hamilton. I…don’t know that they’re homoerotic. But also don’t NOT know. It’s just speculation. That, in conjunction with gay stereotypes and generalizations, deterred me from really enjoying this book. “He did what any self-respecting gay would do- he through a fit.” Like what?

Idk. Visuals were great. I appreciate the effort they put into researching, and it was helpful to know where the information came from. But… historical speculation is a big pitfall with this one. I’m kinda disappointed. The story was fine, but the story was a little artificial.

[Kevin Warman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Queer history is human history. Thank you Trujillo and Hastings for helping tell part of von Steuben's story. I want to read more about him and other queer people in history. I imagine this will inspire other readers as well.


I found this to be an engaging and enjoyable book. I recommend it.

[Caleb · Rating 3 out of 5]

By all means, I think you should read this book. But, it has its problems.

The art of this graphic novel is beautiful: approachable and informative. The von Steuben parts of the novel are interesting: shedding light on a person I'd never heard of before picking up the book. The incessant need for the author to place themselves in the novel and provide pages of personal narrative on queer existence is decidedly less effective. The forced woke history lessons along the way further detract from what was ostensibly supposed to be a book about "Washington's Gay General."

This books tries to achieve too much in its short 200 pages. An early editors note needed to be: More on von Steuben, less on other topics.

Overall, good but meandering. Three stars.

[Kristina · Rating 2 out of 5]

2. I was expecting a graphic novel biography, and it is much of the time, but the authors keep going off topic. This makes the story feel disordered and sometimes directionless. The off topic bits feel like interruptions. Maybe they should have done a book featuring several vignettes from historical queer people instead or made it about their journey finding historical connections. That seems to be the direction they were wanting to go.

The illustrations are fabulous, though, but the writing is all “tell” and no “show.”

[Rhea · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really good reading experience! The author tied in his own experiences as a gay man, how stories of queer people have been lost to time, silence, and purposeful destruction to the life story of General Von Steuben. Sometimes transitions felt clumsy to the point that I was convinced I had missed a page (I had not), but one thing I really liked is that the author did not suggest hero worship of Von Steuben just because he was queer. In fact, the author specifically calls out the character flaws of the general and warns against hero worship of this founding father or anything of them. Educational, informative, and worth a read!

[Ed Erwin]

Very interesting little biography of von Steuben, a Prussian soldier who helped train and lead the US Revolutionary army, despite not speaking English. And all the while quite openly sharing his quarters with a succession of young men. There is a statue of him on the capitol mall which even includes the names of two of his lovers from one of his "throuples".

I think it would be great to have a TV mini-series about early US history that includes such details that are left out of the usual stories. There are lots of strange stories that deserve to be better known.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

This graphic biography of Baron von Steuben, one of Washington's generals, was recommended to me by another librarian, and looks at his life through the lens of him being gay. As always with history, because the labels we have today were not available, it can't be assumed 100% that he was gay, but it's clear from the evidence that it isn't a wild accusation. The fact that the men von Steuben lived with for years wrote about him so lovingly did mean something, and the authors include all the other reasons why they make this educated guess about his sexuality. Also included are very brief mentions of other historical figures who could have been queer, and bits of more modern history. Overall it was an interesting read about a figure I had never heard of.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved getting to see history through a different lense. The author brings up a lot of good points of how queer lives, are still continuously filled with issues, but that they are just as important and should be celebrated. It was sad to see how one of the men responsible for building the nation continued to struggle, while keeping on the appearances of royalty. I liked the story, with the ties to current events, and other figures in history.

[Kaytee Cobb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was good. The parts that related this historical figure to current queer status and placed him within the historical context were excellent. So little is known that a lot felt like conjecture.

[Shawna (endemictoearth) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A revealing look at one of America's founding fathers, as well as how queer people have been recorded, or rather, largely ignored throughout history. Very enjoyable and thoughtful read!

[Spiryt Mc · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an incredibly written and insightful look into the history of queer people in the 1700s

[Cassidy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved this graphic novel. The authors do a fantastic job of blending the queer history of the 1700s with the queer experiences of today to recount the life of an important historical figure. It truly is a special thing when we get such well documented queer stories, and the authors are able to tell this one with nuance and heart.

[Karie Schulenburg · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was great! Happy Pride everyone 🏳️‍🌈🌈🏳️‍🌈🌈

[Sandie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting aspect of the Revolutionary War. Also, a view of what it was like to be gay in the 1700's. I wish it had been edited better, but the overall story line was very good and impactful.

[MG · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very entertaining, educational read. I learned a lot about a historical figure I'd only heard of in passing and had fun doing it.

The illustrations and text were engaging and easy to follow. A good read for anyone who likes history and/or graphic novels.

I received a copy of this book through a Goodreads giveaway listed by Abrams Books. All comments are my own.

[Pumpkin+Bear · Rating 5 out of 5]

Baron Von Steuben and the issue of his queerness has been one of my Special Interests for a while. This biography is accessible, interesting, and brings up one of my related Special Interests, the impossibility of understanding sexuality, particularly queerness, in any historical context, along with the importance of trying to bring forth, discuss, and interpret historical queerness anyway.

One of the many complicating aspects of writing a biography outing von Steuben is that historical expressions/perceptions of homosocial relationships aren’t our contemporary expressions/perceptions. It’s a great example of the fact that gender, sexuality, and really even sex identity are cultural constructs. And because a certain cultural concept of heteronormativity was prescribed and assumed in all of the cultural contexts that Von Steuben experienced, nobody thought it necessary to put into writing (that has survived, at least) exactly what the rules were for maintaining that heteronormativity, nor what rules could possibly be bent/broken and still maintain one’s heteronormativity. And because of the prescriptive nature of heteronormativity, people certainly weren’t writing down what rules they transgressed and exactly what that looked like and the extent of the transgression in terms of their contemporary society! So while I think it’s pretty clear that Baron Von Steuben would have met our current contemporary society’s definition of gayness, there’s no evidence that he, himself, ever put it into words in such a way that we know for a fact that’s how he saw himself. And although it’s FAR more likely than not that his personal assistants/adopted sons Walker, North, and Mulligan, in particular, had some sort of sexual/romantic relationships with him, and in some cases some of them with each other, as well, Walker and North, for one, went on to have completely heteronormative marriages, and we have no idea how their male-male relationships impacted their self-concepts, nor how these relationships would have been viewed within whatever unwritten rules of sexuality that we also know nothing about.

AND our current concept of power dynamics and the taboo of power differentials within a relationship are very correct, but also very contemporary to us, so there’s no way to evaluate the morality of Von Steuben’s strongly implied relationships with subordinates within his own contemporary culture. He absolutely had some relationships that we’d all consider criminal today… but were they then? We know there must have been some concept of some way to misuse the power dynamic between authorities and their subordinates and between older and younger people, because that gossip was used to discredit Von Steuben back in Prussia… but did Von Steuben’s behavior really meet that definition of misuse, or was the gossip about his relationships with teen boys back in Europe simply lies to discredit him? And later in America, when he did the same types of things and it was apparently fine… was it really fine, or did nobody simply care to protest? What were these younger assistants’ feelings about these relationships, and how did they experience them within their own contemporary views of work and emotional life? How would these experiences compare to, say, the experience of an underage wife to a higher-class husband, or really any wife to any husband, considering that women had no legal, property, or monetary rights, and sexual assault wasn’t an act considered possible between a husband and his wife, since the husband always had the “right” to sex with his wife? I haaaate strings of rhetorical questions in essays, and yet here I am, because we have no way of knowing what the reality really was, and it’s so frustrating that we don’t have time travel yet!

All that is to say that’s why tl;dr I’m distraught that this graphic novel biography doesn’t have a bibliography or even endnotes/footnotes. I want the sources that give the first-person statements that led the authors to their conclusions, and not even so I can try to argue with them, but so I can enjoy them, build context, and delve more deeply. Like, Baron Von Steuben held a dinner party using his own funds for the entirety of the Valley Forge encampment, including the poorest, lowest-class soldiers, and the only cost of admission was that everyone had to be in their undies or naked? Please tell me where I can drink that tea straight from the source, please! The book notes that “John Mulligan’s written recollections and cataloging of von Steuben’s papers inform the first full biography written about the baron in the 1800s, after his death.” So… what is the title of that book?!? What would be some other authoritative but more current biographies to read? Or articles, even? Something peer-reviewed, perhaps? Hell, I’ll even take a PhD thesis! Since the book does bring up the problem of defining historical sexuality, I’d also expect to see some references or a bibliography or a recommended reading list for this. I did find a Valley Forge program (“The General Von Steuben Statue: Interpreting LGBTQ+ Histories of the Revolution”) in which Dr. Thomas Foster of Howard University drops a number of relevant book titles--Overflowing of Friendship, Bosom Friends, Charity and Sylvia, Sex and the Founding Fathers, and Black on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans Identity among others--so I’ve got a few to look up, but I’d rather have gotten relevant resources in an Appendix in this book.

Tangentially, but in light of that NPS program that thoughtfully discussed Von Steuben and the relevance of interpreting LGBTQ+ histories, I was super disappointed when I went to Valley Forge earlier this year and did not see a single display, note, exhibition label, sign, icon, or ANYTHING that referred to Von Steuben’s sexuality. Obviously, I get that the problematic nature of how sexuality was perceived in the 1700s makes it problematic to define Von Steuben’s sexuality one way or another, but we all know that if you don’t bring up the possibility that a historical figure was queer, you’re basically giving everyone the impression that they definitely weren’t. And it’s not even just that they didn’t have signage, but I didn’t see any books on any kind of LGBTQ+ histories in the gift shop. I’ll even let you omit Washington’s Gay General from the shelf, since it has no bibliography, but there was nothing! I was so sad for all the queer young people dragged to Valley Forge as yet another boring stop on their boring family vacation who would have been SO excited to see some representation. Hell, I’m a 48-year-old bisexual woman in a heterosexual relationship, and *I* would have been excited to see some representation! I would have bought the snot out of a T-shirt with Baron Von Steuben’s face on it and the slogan “America’s Founding Daddy” and I would have put it on and worn it out of the store.