Born as Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin von Steuben on September 17th, 1730, in Magdeburg, Prussia, (then part of the Holy Roman Empire) he was the son of a Prussian Military Engineer Lieutenant.
He spent most of his early years in Russia, but reunited with his father at the age of 10 and returned to Germany.
He was schooled in Breslau by Jesuits and by the age of 17 was a Prussian officer in the military.
He was a member of an infantry unit and a staff officer in the Seven Years War, and later was promoted to the General Staff serving in Russia for a period of time.
His service was commendable enough that he was eventually given assignment with Frederick the Great's at his headquarters.
It was through these experiences while under the tutelage of Frederick the Great and the many great military minds of the Prussian Army, he gained knowledge that many professional military men across the world at the time could only dream of obtaining.
This knowledge would later be monumental in helping the Continental Army be morphed into a professional fighting force.
At the age of 33, in 1763, Steuben was discharged as a captain from the army, for reasons that are only speculative.
There was a wide range of speculations, including the popular myth that Von Steuben was a Homosexual. This was never proven, and among other things he was also accused of enjoying the company of young boys- also unproven. Nonetheless, he found himself out of a job.
The following year he received his "Baron" title when he became chamberlain at the Petty Court of Hohenzollern-Hechingen.
A chamberlain is defined as an officer who manages the household of a monarch or noble.
This did not last long, though, and his prince fell deeply in debt and he was out of work.
He then ventured to paris attempting to reverse his fortunes, but not before he had tried to gain employment in numerous European armies, all of which rejected his requests.
Steuben traveled to Paris in the summer of 1777, where he was endorsed for service by the French Minister of War (Count de St. Germain) who fully realized the potential of an officer with Prussian General Staff training.
Steuben was introduced to Washington by means of a letter from Franklin as a "Lieutenant General in the King of Prussia's service," a certain exaggeration of his actual credentials.
He was given travel funds and left Europe from Marseilles. On September 26th, 1777, he reached Portsmouth, New Hampshire and by December 1st, was entertained in Boston.
Congress was in York Pennsylvania, after being ousted from Philadelphia for the winter and on February 5, 1778, Steuben was with them.
They accepted his offer to volunteer, without pay for the time, and on the 23rd of February, Steuben was reporting for duty to General Washington at Valley Forge.
Steuben did not speak English, but his French was good enough that he could communicate with some of the officers.
With the help of Alexander Hamilton, then Washingtons aide-de-camp, and Nathanael Greene, a training program was drafted for the soldiers which found approval with the Commander-in-Chief in March.
So the question remains, how did Von Steuben, who spoke not a word of English, morph a ragged, shoeless unprofessional civilian force into a standing, professional army that fought the British to a standstill just a few months later?
The answer: A combination of his eccentric, strict no holds style, and masterful strategic military intelligence.
Steuben began with a "model company," a group of 100 chosen men and trained them...they in turn successively worked outward into each brigade.
Steuben's boisterous personality greatly enhanced his perception.
He trained the soldiers, who at this point were greatly lacking in proper clothing themselves, in full military dress uniform, swearing and yelling at them up and down in German and French.
When that was no longer successful, he recruited Captain Benjamin Walker, his French speaking aid to curse at them FOR HIM in English.
His style of teaching and his methods were truly the foundation of the American Style of Military training- and can still be seen in a descended, modernized version today, through the attitudes and methods of basic training in many branches of the military.
Another critical organization developed by Steuben was camp sanitation. He established a standards of sanitation and camp layouts that would still be standard a century and a half later, in the 1920s.
He established residency in New York where he became a very prominent figure. His business acumen was not very keen, and he found himself in difficult financial condition once more.
His financial problems were not ironed out until Alexander hamilton and other friends helped him gain a "friendly" mortgage on the property he was given in New York (about 16,000 acres).
He died a bachelor in 1794, leaving his property to his former aides, William North and Benjamin Walker.
