By Chicago Times Magazine – 

February 23, 2024

On February 23, 1778, former Prussian Officer Baron von Steuben arrived at General George Washington’s winter camp at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, to begin training the Continental Army to fight the mighty British Army.

Born in 1730 as Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, he would continue his family’s military tradition by serving 17 years in the Prussian Army rising to the rank of Captain and serving as Frederick the Great’s aide-de-camp.  However, in 1763, as the Prussian military reduced its ranks after the end of the Seven Years War, Steuben found himself a soldier without an army to serve.

In December 1777, Steuben arrived in America to volunteer his services to the Continental Army.  First introduced to George Washington through a formal letter from Benjamin Franklin, Steuben would first serve as Inspector General seeking to improve overall conditions for soldiers and reduce corruption in the Continental Army.

With his Prussian military training, Steuben was later selected to form and train an honor guard for General Washington. As a result of his efforts, Steuben was then tasked with training the remainder of the Continental Army and would develop what was known as the Steuben Drill which instilled discipline, cohesion, and battlefield efficiency into the previously lackluster Continental Army. 

Steuben also wrote the Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States, also known as the Blue Book, which outlined drill and maneuver tactics and would become the bedrock of American military training for decades to come.