We spent all day at Valley Forge National Park, 20 miles
northwest of Philadelphia. It’s a beautiful place which was developed
years ago as a commemorative park rather than as an attempt to make it look
like it did in 1777/1778. It’s a good thing because the land was ruined
by the time the troops left. It was so bad the farmers couldn’t plant the
fields again until the following year. Every tree and bush for miles
around was cut and either used for building the huts or for firewood. All
the original huts which housed soldiers and officers were broken down and used
for firewood by the local residents within a year of the troops moving out of
the camp.
The park service has been rebuilding huts as money is raised
so visitors can get a feel for how they looked. The camp was laid out by
engineers in orderly rows and the men were instructed in the building of their
huts. Each squad of 12 enlisted men had to build its own shelter.
The huts were the same size (12’ x 16’) whether they housed 12 enlisted men, 6
junior officers, 3 field officers or one general. With 1500 to 1700 huts
and up to 20,000 people, the camp became the 4th or 5th
largest city in the country.
Interior of a hut housing 12 enlisted men. Cramped
quarters but much better than a tent in freezing winter weather. There
were four racks with three beds each. Not enough room between the beds to
sit down so they must have sat on whatever they could find.
A reconstructed bake oven. Bakers worked 24 hours a
day to produce enough bread to feed the thousands of troops. They went
through 168 barrels of flour a day. Bake ovens are constructed of flat
pieces of steel fitted together like a box and buried in a mound for
insulation. Once they’re heated the coals are removed and vents are
closed. Several batches of bread can be baked before the oven has to be
heated again.
The statue of George Washington which his family said was
the most realistic depiction ever made of him. The artist, a French
sculptor, stayed with George and Martha Washington for two weeks at Mount
Vernon, taking measurements and making a plaster “life mask” which he used in
doing the statue. No wonder it’s the most realistic representation.
Valley Forge was the winter camp for the Continental Army
during the third winter of the war, chosen because of its terrain and proximity
to Philadelphia which was the capital until it was captured by the British with
the Continental Congress forced to flee to York, PA. Valley Forge was on
a high plateau with a great view towards where the British troops were
housed. Fortifications were built and manned but no attack ever came.
It wasn’t the coldest or the most difficult of all the winter camps
the troops had to endure but it was extremely challenging. The states
were supposed to supply their own men with food, clothing and weapons but many
failed to do so adequately. Most of the men were ill-fed and pitifully
clothed. Washington berated the Continental Congress over the situation
and eventually things turned around. Once Nathanael Greene was appointed
as Quartermaster General he reorganized everything and supplies started coming
in. (The previous Quartermaster took a cut of everything and didn’t want
the job anyway so the results were disastrous.)
No battles were fought at Valley Forge but about 2000 men
died there, all as a result of diseases like typhus, typhoid, dysentery,
influenza and pneumonia. Washington was adamant about keeping the camp
clean, moving really sick men to hospitals outside the camp, and having
everyone vaccinated for smallpox. He did everything he could to prevent
disease from spreading, instituting rules about personal cleanliness, burning
old straw bedding and kitchen waste, and having the men drink spruce beer and
vinegar-water to keep from getting scurvy.
Valley Forge became a turning point in the Revolution when
the disorganized and poorly trained troops who went into camp in December 1777
moved out as a well-trained, organized and confident professional army in June
1778. This was thanks to Baron Friedrich von Steuben, a former Prussian
army officer who volunteered with the Continental Army. Washington was an
astute judge of people and he made very good use of Steuben’s talents.
Steuben accomplished the massive task of training the army by first training a
model company made up of Washington’s personal guard, then having those
soldiers train the rest. It was a pyramid style of training.
Baron von Steuben.
Washington’s headquarters. He rented the house from
its owner Isaac Potts, a wealthy local businessman. It has been restored
to the way it looked when Washington was there. A great deal of
historical research has gone into the effort. The house was likely to
have always been a rental property which helped it remain much as it was in
1778. Renters don’t make changes the way owners do. The park
service did have to remove a second story addition over the kitchen (on the
left) and re-open the dogtrot which had been enclosed. (That’s the open walkway
between the kitchen and the main house.)
The parlor which was used as an office by the General and
his aides.
A bedroom shared by several aides. It looks as if they
were there just a few minutes ago.
National Memorial Arch, erected by the Freemasons of
Pennsylvania to honor George Washington who was a prominent Freemason.
It’s very impressive, an appropriate monument to a larger-than-life statesman.
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