General Friedrich Wilhelm Von Steuben, who is up on his pedestal in the Monmouth Battlefield Park (Freehold/Manalapan). September, 2014 ©  Photograph by Paul Goldfinger @Blogfinger.  Click to see the General more clearly.

Major General Friedrich Von Steuben (1730-1794), of the Continental Army, was from Prussia. But he came to America to help George Washington train an army that could beat the British.  He succeeded in doing  so, and his contribution was recognized by the Americans long after the war.

Gen. Von Steuben was the one who figured out that the British were heading to Monmouth.   During the war he was Washington’s Chief of Staff.  After the war he stayed here as an American, and he was given land and other forms of gratitude.     ——Paul Goldfinger

In honor of Gen. Von Steuben, here is some Bach: “Orchestral Suite #3 in D Major”  by the German Bach Soloists.  From the movie “Heartbrakers”