<P> Increasing military efficiency , morale , and discipline were as vital to the army 's well - being as its supply of food and arms . The army had been handicapped in battle because unit training was administered from a variety of field manuals , making coordinated battle movements awkward and difficult . The soldiers were trained , but not uniformly . The task of developing and carrying out an effective training program fell to Baron Friedrich von Steuben , a skilled Prussian drill master who had recently arrived from Europe . He tirelessly drilled the soldiers , improving their battle and formation techniques greatly ; more importantly , he gave them their morale back , which had been lost in the hopeless winter . </P>
who showed up as winter ended and helped train the continental army
Baron Friedrich von Steuben