Prussian officer Frederick William Augustus Henry von Steuben (1730-1794), known as "Baron von Steuben," developed a simplified system of drill and discipline during the Valley Forge encampment of 1777-1778 that helped to forge the Continental Army into an effective fighting force. First published in 1779, Von Steuben's "Regulations" remained the standard for the United States army and state militia forces through the War of 1812. The English-born Eleazar Oswald, who issued this edition in Philadelphia in 1786, had served in the Continental Army through the Revolutionary War before returning to the print trade. Committed to the republican ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence, Oswald greeted the French Revolution with enthusiasm, serving in the French Revolutionary Army in 1792-1793 and embarking on a secret mission to study the feasibility of invading Ireland.