Valley Forge

Valley Forge was the site of the 1777-78 winter encampment of the Continental Army. The park commemorates the sacrifices and perseverance of the Revolutionary War generation and honors their abilityto pull together and overcome adversity during extraordinary times.

Here the Continental Army under Washington's leadership emerged as a cohesive and disciplined fighting force.

Ask someone to think of Valley Forge and they will nearly always envision an anonymous group of soldiers struggling against winter’s fury and clothed in nothing but rags. Actually, the encampment experience could be characterized as “suffering as usual,” for privation was the continental soldier’s constant companion.

The task of developing and carrying out an effective training program fell to Baron Friedrich von Steuben. This skilled Prussian drill master, recently arrived from Europe, tirelessly drilled the soldiers and improved skills and morale.

I took a self-guided 10-mile driving tour after attending a Ranger talk. This new Ranger walked a group of us up to cabins like those used by Continental Army troops. She was very knowledgable and told me about several good books on Valley Forge. Inside the cabins were other Rangers to tell us about the Camp experience.

On the 4th of July, 1976, Valley Forge National Historical Park became part of the National Park Service. The modern park features historical and recreated buildings, memorials and a visitor center.

So severe were conditions at times that Washington despaired "that unless some great and capital change suddenly takes place ... this Army must inevitably ... Starve, dissolve, or disperse, in order to obtain subsistence in the best manner they can."

This was the winter that Washington finally got the excellent news that the French were going to help the Americans against the British.

Following the Civil War, a patriotic organization worked to raise funds to purchase the Isaac Potts house, Washington's Headquarters, as an historic site. By the 1880's, the house was open to the public, followed by the establishment of Valley Forge State Park in 1893.

The small building, Pott's house, known as Washington’s Headquarters was the place where General George Washington and his staff lived and worked for the six months of the Valley Forge winter encampment. I entered the site on a hilltop with a beautiful view of the Schuylkill River and walked down into the historic landscape surrounding Headquarters. Rangers were waiting at the restored 1913 Reading Railroad Station and Headquarters to give history.

In 2010 a 2011 the necessary repairs were made to woodwork, doors, windows, and shutters at Headquarters. Plaster was repaired on the interior, outdated mechanical equipment was removed, and UV screening was replaced on the windows. The exterior and interior were painted with historic colors. Furnishings, artifacts, and exhibit items were thoroughly cleaned and then reinstalled.

You can see by the photos the professional job that was done.

My photo of Washington's Headquarters.