There Steuben was unable to find suitable employment. Steuben left these first meetings in disgust and returned to the German kingdoms. Steuben would have to go to America and present himself to Congress strictly as a volunteer. As a result, Congress ordered the ambassadors to stop this practice. These men would be promoted in rank over deserving American officers, causing discontent in the army. The Continental Congress had grown tired of foreign mercenaries coming to America and demanding a high rank and pay, based on promises made to them by the American ambassadors. However, the two ambassadors were unable to promise Steuben a rank or pay in the American army. Germain, Steuben was introduced to the American ambassadors to France, Silas Deane and Benjamin Franklin. In 1777, he traveled to France, where he heard talk of glories and riches to be won in a revolution across the Atlantic Ocean. He inquired about serving in the British, French, and Austrian armies, but no positions materialized. In 1771, he received the title of Baron, from the Prince of Hollenzollern-Hechingen.įrom 1775 onward, Baron von Steuben began looking for work in some kind of military capacity. During this period, he received the Star of the Order of Fidelity on May 26, 1769, from the Duchess of Wurttemburg, a niece of Frederick the Great, whom Steuben had greatly impressed.
As Grand Marshall, Steuben served as the administrative director for the Prince and his court. This casual acquaintance was renewed in France while Steuben was serving as Grand Marshall to the Prince of Hollenzollern-Hechingen. Germain later became the French Minister of War during the American Revolution. The road to America began in 1763, when Steuben met Louis de St. This prepared Steuben for his work with the American army, where it became his task to bring uniformity and order to the drills and maneuvers of the Continental Army. Steuben had also received training with a special detached corps and as a general staff officer when the two concepts were virtually unknown to the rest of the world. He had learned the methods of war in what many considered to be the greatest and most advanced army in the world at the time. Shortly following the peace treaty, he was discharged from the Prussian army on April 29, 1763.īy 1763, Steuben had gained all of his military experience which would be so valuable in his service to the American cause. Then he joined the King's personal class on the art of war, where young officers were trained in the complicated art of leadership. In 1762, he was released, promoted to captain, and he eventually became an aide-de-camp to Frederick the Great. Later in 1761, he was taken prisoner when Major General von Knoblock surrendered at Treptow on the Russian front. On June 26, 1761, he was transferred to general headquarters, where he served as a staff officer in the position of a deputy quartermaster. Steuben was promoted to first lieutenant in 1759, and he was wounded at the Battle of Kunersdorf that summer. In 1758, he served as General Johann von Mayer's adjutant and principle staff officer in a special detached corps. He was wounded at the Battle of Prague, where the Prussian army was victorious, despite facing twice as many Austrian troops.
At this time, Steuben was a second lieutenant. In May 1756, the Seven Years War began in Europe, and Prussia and Britain were pitted against France, Austria, and Russia. Following in his father's footsteps, Steuben joined the Prussian Army in 1747, when he was 17 years old. (1730-1794)įriedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin von Steuben was born on Septemin the fortress town of Magdeburg in the Kingdom of Prussia. Major General Friedrich Wilhelm Augustus, Baron von Steuben.
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