"Forging An Army In The Valley"
When forty-seven year old General Friedrich von Steuben first came to George Washington's camp at Valley Forge in February, he is said to have been horrified. Von Steuben noted that the men were "literally naked in the fullest extent of the word!" Their camp had hardly any supplies and men shivered in their thin clothes. He commented that no European army would have survived the same conditions. There was no discipline — as "volunteers" soldiers came and went as they pleased and they left battles when they felt like it.
The Baron immediately started training the American army. He first taught a "model company" of one hundred men how to use the bayonet and gun. Without proper training, the men used the bayonet only as a cooking skewer. They now learned to used it in battle. Von Steuben drilled the men in the discipline of loading and firing. He had analyzed this process and recognized an essential truth regarding battle with muzzle loading rifles: "victory in many battles went to the side who could fire and reload their guns the fastest". Instead of the routine of firing and reloading in eight counts and fifteen motions which the men were used to, he taught them a new rhythm of nine counts and eleven motions:
FIRE! — one count
Half-Cock Firelock! — one count
Handle Cartridge! — one count
Prime! — one count
Shut Pan! — one count
Charge with Cartridge! — one count
Draw Rammer! — one count
Ram Down Cartridge! — one count
Return Rammer! — one count
This routine was easier and speeded up the soldiers' rate of fire. General von Steuben also improved tactical formations. Americans had a practice of walking in long strung-out lines "Indian-style". To take advantage of this increased rate of fire, however, von Steuben taught the men to march in line of battle and fire in volleys. The general drilled the men daily forcing them to become disciplined. Once his "model company" was familiar with the routine, he sent them out to 
teach the drill to others. Although English was not the General's natural language, he found effective ways to communicate (see inset at right) his requirements and the rag-tag American army progressively improved.
Drill was not the only change he enforced. Von Steuben's next step was to have the camp cleaned up and ordered that it stay that way. There had been no arrangement of the tents or bathrooms. The General made sure tents were set in straight lines and bathrooms were established on the opposite side of the camp. Eventually General von Steuben wrote down all of his ideas and procedures in a manual which he published. This manual, the "Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States", or "Blue Book" was used as an official training guide for the United States Army after von Steuben was later appointed the Army's Inspector General.
After the war von Seuben helped demobilize the American army. He also helped to form the defense plan for the United States. In March, 1784, he was made an American citizen by the Pennsylvania legislature.
