Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States

by Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, Baron Von Steuben

When Frederich Wilhelm von Steuben, a colorful, charismatic, imposing, and gay military leader from Prussia, presented himself to the Continental Congress in 1778, he had one goal in mind: to whip the nascent United States militiamen into shape and turn them into an army fit to face the likes of Great Britain. Baron von Steuben's military career was almost as famed as his vibrant social life, and as he was lauded for the former, he was scorned for the latter. Von Steuben left his home country as rumors circulated about his sexuality. Abroad, von Steuben met with Benjamin Franklin, who invited von Steuben to volunteer his services for the American cause. Von Steuben set out to the American colonies, where he quickly became part of the inner circle of the Founding Fathers, and of George Washington in particular. Von Steuben brought with him the military skills that he had learned in the military of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, and he now used them to train an elite force at Valley Forge. Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States, also called the Blue Book, was the practical military-training manual that von Steuben wrote with the help of Alexander Hamilton. This manual helped win the American Revolution and provided a guide for the United States military until after the War of 1812. Incredibly, some portions of the original Blue Book are still used by the American Armed Forces today.

Genres: Historical

152 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2008

About the author

Prussian-born American Revolutionary military leader Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben trained the previously undisciplined troops of the Continental Army.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedri...

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought I could quickly crush this 1700s US Army book of standards (the blue book), but I did take the time to read it cover to cover. As it’s not written as a novel, but more in the form of a military regulation, it was not fast reading. Regardless, after 30 years of studying the military, I did find amazing connections to today’s armed forces with obvious focus on the Army. While most of the text is detailed information on what a Soldier or leader should do in various situations, I did find several nuggets that directly tie to modern doctrine. Found priorities of work listed which is still taught in the old FM 7-8 manual that all light infantry utilize as their base standard. Also found multiple times the requirement for leaders to care for their soldiers. Also, it was great to see that the importance of NCOs was emphasized even back in the 1700s when the US Army was just forming. The blue book was a great foundation upon which to build the Army.