Actually, in terms of military importance, Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben may beat all the others. It was thanks to von Steuben that the Continental Army was transformed into a capable fighting force. He is the one that trained, disciplined, and reorganized the army. He is the one that provided a distraction for the troops during the darkest days of the Revolution (Valley Forge, winter of 1777-1778). Without him, who knows what the soldiers, seeing their friends die from starvation, the cold, and dysentary...
Can anyone else smell a 'mutiny'?