Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin von Steuben (17 September 1730 – 28 November 1794), known in popular culture as Baron von Steuben, was a Prussian Army officer who served as inspector general of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He is credited with teaching the Continental Army the essentials of military drill and discipline, helping to guide it to victory. He wrote the book that became the standard United States drill manual until the War of 1812, and essentially served as General George Washington's chief of staff in the final years of the war.
The Baron von Steuben was a Prussian captain who joined the Army of the Atlantean Assembly during the first winter of the Atlantean War of Independence. He pretended to be nobility, even though most observers figured out that he wasn't.[1] Nevertheless the "baron" caught on with the Atlanteans and soon they were drilled into a semi-professional regular military force on European lines.[2] The baron was well-known for cursing the trainees in his limited guttural English, then switching to German when he ran out of English swear words.
