Baron von Steuben Friedrich Wilhelm Augustus von Steuben [The name he was primarily known in America by] Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin von Steuben [The name he was baptized with] Friedrich Wilhelm August Heinrich Ferdinand [The name he changed to] Von Steuben was born in Magdeburg fortress where his father was an engineer lieutenant in the military in 1730. Most of his adolescent years were spent in Russia, but with his father at the age of 10, they returned to Germany. He was schooled in Breslau by Jesuits and by the age of 17...was a Prussian officer in the military....