The LuLac Edition #5, 632, April 18th, 2026

 

THE MULTI NAMED RUSSIAN

WHO SHAPED

WASHINGTON’S ARMY

BARON VAN STEUBON

Friedrich Wilhelm August Heinrich Ferdinand Freiherr von Steuben is also referred to as Baron von Steuben,  a Prussian-born army officer who played a leading role in the American Revolutionary War by reforming the Continental Army into a disciplined and professional fighting force. His contributions marked a significant improvement in the performance of U.S. troops, and he is consequently regarded as one of the fathers of the United States Army.

Born into a military family, Steuben was exposed to war from an early age; at 14 years old, he observed his father directing Prussian engineers in the 1742 siege of Prague. At age 16 or 17, he enlisted in the Prussian Army, which was considered the most professional and disciplined in Europe.

Through the years he had many military successes and was highly regarded by friends and foes alike. In 1763, Steuben had been formally introduced to the future French Minister of War, Claude Louis, Comte de Saint-Germain, in Hamburg. They met again in Paris in 1777. The Count, fully realizing the potential of an officer with Prussian general staff training, introduced him to Americans Silas Dean and Benjamin Franklin. The Americans, however, were unable to offer Steuben a rank or pay in the American army. The Continental Congress had grown tired of foreign mercenaries coming to America and demanding a high rank and pay.

Promoting these men over qualified American officers caused discontent in the ranks. Steuben would have to go to North America strictly as a volunteer and present himself to Congress. Steuben left these first meetings in disgust and returned to Prussia. After unknown events, Steuben was discharged from his position as a captain and traveled to Paris. It is speculated that he was, or was accused of being, homosexual. It is unknown whether or not this occurred, and regardless, no charges were pursued.

Upon the Count's recommendation, Steuben was introduced to future president George Washington by means of a letter from Franklin as a "Lieutenant General in the King of Prussia's service",[24] an exaggeration of his actual credentials that appears to be based on a mistranslation of his service record.

Steuben, his Italian Greyhound Azor (which he took with him everywhere), his young aide-de-camp Louis de Pontière, his military secretary Pierre-Étienne du Ponceau, and two other companions reached Portsmouth, New Hampshire on December 1, 1777. There, they were almost arrested because Steuben and his entourage were wearing red clothing similar to those worn by British troops.[19] They were extravagantly entertained in Boston. On February 5, 1778, Steuben and his party arrived in York, Pennsylvania, where the Continental Congress had relocated after being ousted from Philadelphia by the British advance.

Arrangements were made for Steuben to be paid following the successful completion of the war according to his contributions. He arrived at Valley Forge on February 23, 1778, and reported for duty as a volunteer. One soldier's first impression of the Baron was "of the ancient fabled God of War ... he seemed to me a perfect personification of Mars. The trappings of his horse, the enormous holsters of his pistols, his large size, and his strikingly martial aspect, all seemed to favor the idea. He turned the volunteers into a great army."

On May 5, 1778, on General Washington's recommendation, Congress appointed Steuben inspector general of the army, with the rank and pay of major general. The internal administration had been neglected, and no books had been kept either as to supplies, clothing, or men. Steuben became aware of the "administrative incompetence, graft, war profiteering" that existed. He enforced the keeping of exact records and strict inspections. His inspections saved the army an estimated loss of 5000 to 8000 muskets.

Steuben used 120 men of the Commander in Chief's Guard, and used them to demonstrate military training to the rest of the troops.These men, whom Steuben called the "Model Company" in turn trained other personnel at regimental and brigade levels. Steuben's eccentric personality greatly enhanced his mystique. In full military dress uniform, he twice a day trained the soldiers who, at this point, were themselves greatly lacking in proper clothing.

The Steuben Statue in Valley Forge National Historical Park

As he could only speak and write a small amount of English, Steuben originally wrote the drills in French, the military language of Europe at the time. His secretary, Du Ponceau, then translated the drills from French into English, with the help of John Laurens and Alexander Hamilton, two of Washington's aides-de-camp. They did this every single night so the soldiers could practice the next day. Colonel Alexander Hamilton and General Nathanael Greene were of great help in assisting Steuben in drafting a training program for the Army. The Baron's willingness and ability to work with the men, as well as his use of profanity (in several languages), made him popular among the soldiers. It is here he met his close friend and future adopted heir, Captain Benjamin Walker. Within weeks, Walker was Steuben's aide-de-camp.

Steuben introduced a system of progressive training, beginning with the school of the soldier, with and without arms, and going through the school of the regiment. This corrected the previous policy of simply assigning personnel to regiments. Each company commander was made responsible for the training of new men, but actual instruction was done by sergeants specifically selected for being the best obtainable.

Upon Steuben's initial inspection of the camp and soldiers, he remarked that “the American soldier, never having used this arm, had no faith in it, and never used it but to roast his beefsteak." Steuben's introduction of effective bayonet charges became crucial. In the Battle of Stony Point, Continental Army soldiers attacked with unloaded muskets and won the battle solely on Steuben's bayonet training.

The first results of Steuben's training were in evidence at the Battle of Barren Hill, May 20, 1778, and then again at the Battle of Monmouth in June 1778. Steuben, by then serving in Washington's headquarters, was the first to determine that the enemy was heading for Monmouth.

During the winter of 1778–1779, Steuben prepared Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States, commonly known as the "Blue Book". ts basis was the training plan he had devised at Valley Forge.  It was used by the United States Army until 1814,and affected U.S. drills and tactics until the Mexican–American War of 1846.

It is written in  history that the Continental Army would have crumbled without his help. He quartered in Virginia, since U.S. supplies and soldiers would be provided to the army from there. Steuben would help in the defense of Virginia with approximately 1,000 militia fighting a delaying action in the Battle of Blandford. During the spring of 1781, he aided Greene in the campaign in the South, culminating in the delivery of 450 Virginia Continentals to Lafayette in June.

He was forced to take sick leave, rejoining the army for the final campaign at Yorktown, where his role was as commander of one of the three divisions of Washington's troops. In 1783, General Von Steuben joined General Knox at Vail's Gate, near West Point, in the fall of 1782 and in early 1783 moved to the Verplanck homestead, at Mount Gulian, across the Hudson River from Washington's headquarters in Newburgh. Steuben gave assistance to Washington in demobilizing the army in 1783 as well as aiding in the defense plan of the new nation. In May 1783, Steuben presided over the founding of the Society of the Cincinnati. He was discharged from the military with honor on March 24, 1784.

Steuben became a naturalized U.S. citizen by act of the Pennsylvania legislature in March 1784 and later by the New York authorities in July 1786. With the war over, Steuben resigned from service and first settled with his longtime companion, William North, for whom he created a special room on Manhattan Island, where he became a prominent figure and elder in the German Reformed Church. From 1785 until his death in 1794, he served as president of the German Society of the City of New York, a charitable society founded in 1784 to assist German immigrants

On December 23, 1783, the state of New Jersey presented him with the use of an estate in Bergen County now known as Steuben House, which had been confiscated from Loyalist Jan Zabriskie in 1781. Located in the formerly strategic New Bridge Landing, the estate included a gristmill and about 40 acres (16 ha) of land. Legislators initially conditioned the grant, requiring Steuben to "hold, occupy and enjoy the said estate in person, and not by tenant."

Von Steuben died on November 28, 1794, at his estate in Oneida County, and was buried in a grove at what became the Steuben Memorial State Historic Site. The estate became part of the town of Steuben, New York, which was named for him.

Generally, Von Steuben Day takes place in September in many cities throughout the United States. It is often considered the German American event of the year. Participants march, dance, wear German costumes and play German music, and the event is attended by millions of people. The German-American Steuben Parade is held annually in September in New York City. It is one of the largest parades in the city and is traditionally followed by an Oktoberfest in Central Park as well as celebrations in Yorkville, Manhattan, a historically German section of New York City. The German-American Steuben Parade has been taking place since 1958.

Chicago hosts a von Steuben Day parade, which is featured in the U.S. film Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Philadelphia hosts a smaller Steuben Parade in the Northeast section of the city.

The Steuben Society was founded in 1919 as "an educational, fraternal, and patriotic organization of American citizens of German background". In the difficult post-World War I years the Society helped the German-American community to reorganize. It is now one of the largest organizations for Americans of German descent.