Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard August von Steuben, born in Magdeburg, Prussia, in 1730, began his military career by enlisting in the Prussian army at age 16, was chosen by Frederick the Great for his general staff by 1760, and after being discharged in 1763 at the end of the European Seven Years’ War, held various appointments in Prussia’s principalities before volunteering his military talents to the Continental Army during the American Revolution. Perhaps best known in this country for transforming a motley assortment of untrained American colonists into an effective fighting force capable of defeating the powerful British army by 1783, he reported to General Washington at Valley Forge in the winter of 1777-1778 and found a demoralized army without supplies and near starvation. Under his direction, using a modified Prussian training exercise, Continental recruits became disciplined, professional soldiers who grew to appreciate his genuine concern for their welfare. Impressed with these accomplishments, Washington created the position of Army Inspector General and appointed Steuben to it with the rank of Major General. On October 19, 1781, after receiving his own field command, Steuben was one of three division commanders at Yorktown when British General Lord Cornwallis offered to surrender.