From the Wolf,” Visher, from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security:

“Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben’s Rain Statue at Lafayette Park was cleaned and waxed by the National Park Service. The 10-foot bronze statue, set on a 15-foot granite pedestal, was unveiled in 1910 in a ceremony attended by President William Howard Taft, and depicts von Steuben inspecting American troops in Valley Forge in 1778 during the American Revolution.

Von Steuben, drawing on his experience as an officer in the Prussian Army and a former assistant to Frederick the Great, brought discipline, organization, and professionalism to the Continental Army of the United States. His training manual, known as the ‘Blue Book,’ published in 1779, became the first standardized training regulations of the U.S. Army. He later participated in the battles of the Southern campaign of the war and, during the Siege of Yorktown, commanded one of George Washington’s divisions.”