ThoughtCo uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience. He inquired about serving in the British, French, and Austrian armies, but no positions materialized. Attached to Washington's headquarters, von Steuben continued to work to improve the army. His mission was to observe the American soldiers, equipment, skills, and living conditions. Baron Friedrich Wilhelm Baron von Steuben (1730 – 1794) “A fraud — not really a baron, and holding no high military rank, von Steuben was a skilled drill master who taught the American army what it needed to win the war. In those intervening years, von Steuben served as Grand Marshall, a lofty title for administrative director of the court, of the Prince of Hollenzollern-Hechingen. He was 64. He was famous as the Prussian born American military officer. Donations to the Trust are tax deductible to the full extent allowable under the law. Initially assigned to the infantry, von Steuben sustained a wound at the Battle of Prague in 1757. The same prince bestowed the title “baron” to von Steuben in 1771. His title of freiherr, or baron, came with his subsequent post as chamberlain (or palace manager) to the petty court of Hohenzollern-Hechingen in Swabia, or the southwestern Holy Roman Em… In February, 1778, Baron Friedrich von Steuben arrived at Valley Forge, where Washington appointed him unofficial Inspector General of the camp shortly thereafter. In the winter of 1778-1779, he wrote Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States which outlined training courses as well as general administrative procedures. Baron von Steuben’s tomb. He was born Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin von Steuben on 17 September 1730. 3 – He was probably gay. Again meeting with the Americans, he received letters of introduction from Franklin and Deane on the understanding that he would be a volunteer without rank and pay. He was the only officer to travel with the incognito prince to France in hopes of borrowing some money. First of all, he enlisted in the Prussian army as a lance-corporal in 1746 and became ranked as a captain. The son of Lieutenant Wilhelm von Steuben, a military engineer, and Elizabeth von Jagvodin, he spent some of his early years in Russia after his father was assigned to assist Czarina Anna. Von Steuben was a second lieutenant in 1756 when The Seven Years War began, and he served throughout the conflict with distinction. The Prussian Baron von Steuben, being a newcomer to theRevolutionary cause in America, was in a position to seemany of the deficiencies in military discipline and theircauses. He served with distinction and was quickly promoted from infantry to Frederick the Greats General Staff. About Him How has he helped? These 100 men were in turn sent out to other units to repeat the process and so on until the entire army was trained. Baron von Steuben, the German-born general of the Revolutionary War, died in 1794, of an unknown illness. Invoking European military etiquette, he ensured that his men had the honor of remaining in the lines until the final surrender was received. In 1763, at age 33 and with the rank of captain, he was discharged for unknown reasons. Elevated to captain by 1761, von Steuben continued to see extensive service in the Prussian campaigns of the Seven Years' War (1756-1763). Baron Friedrich Wilhelm Augustus von Steuben was born on September 17, 1730, in the fortress town of Magdeburg in Prussia but spent most of the first decade of his life in Russia with his father. Returning to Prussia in 1740, he received his education at the Lower Silesian towns of Neisse and Breslau (Wroclaw) before serving as a volunteer with his father for a year (1744) during the War of the Austrian Succession. Recovering he rejoined Washington's army on September 13 as it moved against Cornwallis at Yorktown. He led a checkered and undistinguished life as a mid level Prussian Army officer and probably came to America in part to escape debt. Lafayette went to America in1777 and became one of the leaders of the French Expeditionary Force, which fought alongside the American colonists. Without any luck of finding another job, von Steuben decided to accept and set out to the British colonies. Buried locally, his grave is now the site of Steuben Memorial State Historic Site. — Baron von Steuben to Baron de Gaudy, 1787-88 . Unfortunately, Deane and Franklin could not promise von Steuben rank or pay. Von Steuben was discharged from the Prussian army at the rank of captain on April 29, 1763, shortly after the Treaties of Paris and Hubertusburg ended the war. Accepting his services, Congress directed him to join General George Washington's Continental Army at Valley Forge. The history of the raid and Von Steuben’s role are actually considered a minor sideshow of the war. For the next four years, he split his time between New York City and a cabin near Utica, NY which he built on land given to him for his wartime service. q Baron Friedrich Wilhelm Augustus von Steuben had been recommended to Benjamin Franklin by the French Minister of War as someone who would be helpful in developing the American army. Early life. Establishing discipline would be Steuben’s primary hurdle, a task for which he was well suited. In 1777, he traveled to France, where he heard talk of glories and riches to be won in a revolution across the Atlantic Ocean. Soon after, he was discharged from the military because of speculations that Baron von Steuben was gay. What is "Baron" von Steuben's contribution to the modern American military drill? Von Steuben joined the Prussian Army at age 17, serving as a second lieutenant during the Seven Years' War. By using ThoughtCo, you accept our, American Revolution: Winter at Valley Forge, American Revolution: Commodore John Paul Jones, American Revolution: Major General Henry Knox, American Civil War: Major General George H. Thomas, American Revolution: Major General Charles Lee, American Revolution: Major General Benjamin Lincoln, American Revolution: New York, Philadelphia, & Saratoga, Poland's Count Casimir Pulaski and His Role in the American Revolution, General George Washington's Military Profile, An Introduction to the American Revolutionary War, American Revolution: Major General Anthony Wayne, American Revolution: Major General Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee, The Most Important Inventions of the Industrial Revolution, M.S., Information and Library Science, Drexel University, B.A., History and Political Science, Pennsylvania State University. He was present in the final campaign at Yorktown resulted in the American victory of the American Revolution. 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