Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben: Aide-de-camp to Frederick the Great in Washington’s Army

Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben played a key role in the professionalization of George Washington’s Continental Army, managing to pass on to the Americans his experience gained in the Seven Years’ War and the War of the Austrian Succession. At the same time, there are no studies dedicated to Steuben in American studies in Russia. It seems that this gap needs to be filled, especially since some episodes of Steuben’s biography are connected with Russia. In addition, the article sets the task of critically verifying Steuben’s self-representations – a task that somehow confronts all his biographers. The source base of the study is mainly represented by epistolary materials from the era of the War of Independence. The materials of the Congress, the press, and Steuben's own surviving works himself were also used. All these sources document the American stage of Steuben’s career well, but leave aside the Russian and German stages. The Prussian military documentation of the eighteenth century allows one to judge the poorly-studied aspects of his biography. The study of the sources leads to the conclusion that Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben was part of that peculiar culture of the eighteenth century, which made that century an era of brilliant adventurers. He had the talent, imagination, and charm that allowed him to recreate his own past and convince Americans of the truthfulness of his stories. Yet, at the same time, he represented a piece of the Prussian military machine created by Frederick the Great, which allowed him to make a career in the American army. At the same time, it should be noted that his contacts with the American civil authorities were not always as successful.