It is, to say the least, interesting, when considering the men whom Washington surrounded himself with, to consider the cases of Major Pierre L'Enfant and General Friedrich Wilhelm Von Steuben - both of whom came to Washington's attention at Valley Forge.
Von Stueben appears in Portsmouth, New Hampshire (birthplace of Tobias Lear) in 1777 having served on the general staff of the Prussian army. He represents himself to Washington not only as royalty, but as one of Frederich the Great's generals (in reality having only attained the rank of Captain). Nonetheless, he single-handedly shaped a militia on the brink of both starvation and desertion into a disciplined force that rivalled that of the British. He also wrote the drill manual that would become that standard for U.S. armed forces through the War of 1812.
Pierre L'Enfant, who had studied Art at the Louvre before joining the Revolution, parlayed a modest talent for drawing into a career as both a military and civil engineer. While initially involved in less significant travails upon his arrival at Valley Forge - such as creating a portrait of Washington at the behest of Maj. Gen. LaFayette, L'Enfant would go on to draw the blueprint for the city of Washington, D.C. The saga of his schemes, scams, and unlikely successes is most excellently, if densely, told by Les Standiford (author of the brilliant Henry Flagler biography "Last Train To Paradise") in his monumental "Washington Burning".
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