what was valley forge and why was it important?

In 2011, 1.3 million people visited the park.[4][5]. American Revolution: Valley Forge - Ducksters While there was never a battle at Valley Forge, disease killed nearly 2,000 people during the encampment. Realizing that the army existed at only a portion of its authorized strength, Congress consolidated regiments and created a more streamlined force. Fact #1: Alexander Hamilton and Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee fought enemy troops at Valley Forge on September 18, 1777, prior to the winter encampment. However, the suffering troops were held together by loyalty to the Patriot cause and to General Washington, who stayed with his men. The general lobbied Congress to confer with him in person in order to resolve some of the supply and organizational difficulties that had plagued the army during the 1777 campaign. Though Revolutionary forces had secured a pivotal victory at Saratoga in September and October, Washington's army suffered defeats at Brandywine, Paoli, and . Von Steuben did not try to introduce the entire system of drill, evolutions, maneuvers, discipline, tactics, and Prussian formation into the American army: I should have been pelted had I attempted it, and should inevitably have failed. Why is it called Valley Forge? Washington's enslaved domestic staff included his manservant William Lee, as well as cooks Hannah Till and her husband Isaac. The army had a limited water supply for cooking, washing, and bathing. Having suffered a string of defeats that fall, including losing the capital of Philadelphia to the British, the Americans made camp for the winter outside of the city. Washington conferred with his officers to select the site that would be most advantageous to his army. France would enter the war on the side of the new nation. Washington and his campaign-weary army marched into camp on December 19, 1777. Contrary to popular myth, the Continental soldiers marching in to Valley Forge, were not downtrodden just exhausted and ill-supplied. He hoped this would keep them warm since there were not enough blankets for everyone. Promising to "share in the hardship" and "partake of every inconvenience," Washington moved with his closest aides into a two-story stone house near Valley Forge Creek.4 He spent much of his time writing to Congress, demanding more supplies for his men, while defending himself against charges of incompetence and dictatorial ambitions. John C. Fitzpatrick (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1934), 168.2. suffering and courage VALLEY FORGE is immovably fixed in the American mind as the symbol of the suffering and courage of the Continental soldier, even though the winter of 1777-78 was far from the worst of the Revolutionary War, and the army grew even hungrier and more ragged in later winter camps. 10 Must-See Attractions at Valley Forge National Historical Park The procedure provided lifetime immunity from a disease with a roughly 1533% mortality rate. more information on current conditions Read more about women at the Valley Forge encampment, Read more about Black people at the Valley Forge encampment, Read more about Native American allies at the Valley Forge encampment, National Park Service Handbook of the American Revolution. At the worst point in early March, the army listed 2,898 men as unfit for duty due to a lack of clothing. In the old days, writes archivist and author John Buchanan, the Continentals probably would have fled. But, as Wayne Bodle writes in The Valley Forge Winter: Civilians and Soldiers in War, after their six months of training in the mud and snow of Valley Forge, Washingtons troops became imbued with a deeper identification with and pride in their craft.. Continental Army enters winter camp at Valley Forge - HISTORY A. Von Steuben arrived in Valley Forge on February 23, 1778. "[44] Yet women on the whole proved invaluable, whether on the march or at an encampment like Valley Forge. Years later, Lafayette recalled that "the unfortunate soldiers were in want of everything; they had neither coats, hats, shirts, nor shoes; their feet and legs froze till they had become almost black, and it was often necessary to amputate them. Outbreaks of typhoid and dysentery spread through contaminated food and water. Local residents sometimes conversed in Welsh. Yet he and his staff better supplied the troops at a time when the weather and road conditions began to improve. We rightly regard Valley. After they abandoned Philadelphia, the British had little to show for all of their past years efforts. Valley Forge was an important place during the course of the American Revolution. The most serious food crisis occurred in February, when the men went without meat for several days at a stretch. He persuaded Congress to reform the supply system and end the crippling shortages, and attracted experienced officers to the cause, including former Prussian officer Baron von Steuben, who was assigned the task of training the troops. The women present at Valley Forge included approximately 400 enlisted mens wives who followed the army year-round and a few general officers wives who came on extended visits. [40] On May 27, Washington had ordered his soldiers remove the mud-and-straw chinking from huts "to render them as airy as possible."[40]. After the engagement at Brandywine on September 11, 1777, Hessian General Wilhelm von Knyphausen led a British contingent on a strike toward Valley Forge. Within what is now the park, 18 landowners established fairly prosperous farms on the choice agricultural soils. Open 365 days a year, Mount Vernon is located just 15 miles south of Washington DC. [20] Despite commanders' attempts at standardization, the huts varied in terms of size, materials, and construction techniques. What happened at Valley Forge? - The Historic Present The concepts of basic training, the professionalization of the officer corps, and the rise of the armys distinctive branches, such as the corps of engineers, all got their start here. On September 18, 1777, General Wilhelm von Knyphausen led British soldiers on a raid of Valley Forge, where American troops had built a handful of storage facilities. Therefore, during the first few days of constructing their huts, the Continentals primarily ate firecakes, a tasteless mixture of flour and water cooked upon heated rocks. Considering these questions, an encampment at Valley Forge had notable advantages. [47] The smallest of the states, Rhode Island had difficulty meeting recruitment quotas for white men, spurring Brigadier General James Mitchell Varnum to suggest the enlistment of slaves for his 1st Rhode Island Regiment. While Washington knew most of his men were fit for duty, he calculated that at least a third of them had no shoes. The number of soldiers present ranged from 12,000 in December to nearly 20,000 in late spring as the army massed for the campaign season. The army hereafter would be more cohesive, healthier, and highly efficient. Omissions? Farmers quickly recovered, and within the decade the huts were largely gone, fields replanted, and woodlots re-sprouted. We don't accept government funding and rely upon private contributions to help preserve George Washington's home and legacy. In the summer of 1778, Washington could claim that the war effort was going well. One of the most immediate remedies against the weather and a lack of clothing was the construction of log shelters by the men. Although most soldiers came from a Protestant background, Catholic and Jewish personnel also were among those in camp. Valley Forge is the location of the 1777-1778 winter encampment of the Continental Army under General George Washington during the American Revolutionary War. Whether or not these disaffected persons were Quakers or from some other religious affiliation, resolute patriots referred to them all as Quakers, and persecuted some for not aiding the Continental Army. Most of the land had previously been cleared for agriculture, leaving a level plateau in an open, rolling landscape. Valley Forge had the highest mortality rate of any Continental Army encampment, and even most military engagements of the war. As they marched through south and central New Jersey on their way to New York City, the British destroyed property and confiscated supplies and food, inspiring growing enmity among the area's civilians. The relish for the trade of soldiering that von Steuben inspired in the men also enabled the army, despite continuing hardships and spiraling citizen apathy, to stick single-mindedly to their task until they secured independence in 1783. About 30% of Continental soldiers at Valley Forge did not speak English as their first language. Rather, snowfall occurred infrequently, above-freezing temperatures were regular, and ice was uncommon. Valley Forge was where the American Continental Army made camp during the winter of 1777-1778. The army's camp sat high on a plateau at the top of a series of hills that protected it. The ordered ranks, martial appearance, revived spirit, and fighting skill of the American soldiers spoke of a great transformation having occurred amidst the . You say to your soldier [in Europe], Do this and he doeth it; but [at Valley Forge] I am obliged to say, This is the reason why you ought to do that, and then he does it. Many do not realize that the war lasted for eight-and-a-half years, was international in scale, or that the American army campaigned in areas as far north as Canada, as far south as Georgia, and even west of the Allegheny Mountains. On arrival in December 1777, a Continental soldier would have seen an open, rolling landscape divided into many small crop fields and pastures by fences and hedgerows; woodlands and charcoal hearths on the mountains; and the smattering of structures in the Village of Valley Forge, including the ruins of the forges themselves - burned during a raid by the British three months earlier. PA The Continental Armys transformative experiences at Valley Forge reshaped it into a more unified force capable of defeating the British and winning American independence during the remaining five years of the war.
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