BGuthrie Photos: PA -- Valley Forge NHP

PA -- Valley Forge NHP:

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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. FORGE_031011_035.JPG: Log City Following their arrival December 19, 1777, the men immediately set to work building huts for shelter. General orders for [the] preceding day specified the size and design of the huts: 14x16 feet each, 6-1/2 feet high, a door next to the street, and fireplace in the rear. Despite the orders, hut size, location, and material varies -- as these reconstructions demonstrate. Men from different regions were familiar with different building techniques, and few were skilled craftsmen. A surgeon's mate wrote home, "have one Dull ax to build a Logg Hutt. When it will be done knows not." By mid-January, most soldiers were housed, twelve to a hut. "As an encouragement to industry and art, the General promises to reward the party in each regiment which finishes their hut in the quickest, and most workmanlike manner, with twelve dollars." -- General Orders, December 18, 1777
2. FORGE_031011_059.JPG: Obviously, this is a quote from the sign: The National Memorial Arch at Valley Force. George Washington, Valley Forge and Freemasonry represent patriotism, freedom and brotherly love to all Freemasons. Washington served as Master of his Masonic Lodge at the same time he was President of the United States. Through the preservation of this National Memorial Arch in 1996-1997, the Freemasons of Pennsylvania sought to honor the memory of George Washington, a national hero, patriot, and prominent Freemason, and to honor the brave men who endured the winter encampment at Valley Forge in 1777-1778. A National Treasure: The National Memorial Arch was authorized by Congress in 1910 as a tribute to George Washington and his army who endured the winter encampment at Valley Forge in 1777-1778. It was designed by Paul Phillipe Cret, a prominent Philadelphia architect, and dedicated on June 19, 1917. Although it had stood for nearly 80 years as a symbol of the triumph achieved by Washington, by the mid-1990's the Arch was in need of major structural repairs. It was cordoned off and closed to the public for safety reasons. During 1996-1997, the Freemasons of Pennsylvania contributed more than $1,500,000 necessary to preserve the Arch to its original grandeur.
3. FORGE_031011_082.JPG: Masons still do rituals and ceremonies at the arch
4. FORGE_031011_105.JPG: The statue is of Brigadier General Anthony Wayne. The statue faces toward his nearby home. Generals and Cattle Raids: The First and Second Pennsylvania Brigades, temporarily commanded by Brigadier General Anthony Wayne, encamped in this area. About 800 men served in each of the sixteen brigades at Valley Forge. An estimated 34,577 pounds of meat and 168 barrels of flour per day were needed to feed the army. Soldiers relied on their home states and on the Continental Congress to supply food, clothing, and equipment. Shortages varied widely between regiments. Any number of misfortunes -- spoilage, bad roads, or capture by British foragers -- could prevent supplies from reaching camp. When food ran so low that mutiny seemed imminent, General Wayne led an emergency foraging expedition into New Jersey. Their mission: to round up all the cattle they could find, and to destroy what they could not bring with them. The owners concealed their herds in pine woods, and there were skirmishes with British foraging parties, but General Wayne was so successful that he became known as "The Drover."
5. FORGE_031011_138.JPG: Commander-in-chief's Guard Washington's guard occupied the hunts near Headquarters. At the beginning of the encampment, fifty guards protected General Washington, his baggage and valuable papers. To be in the life guard, as the troops called it, one originally had to be a property-owning, native-born Virginian. It was assumed such men would be loyal to Washington. After Baron Friedrich von Steuben arrived in February 1778, one hundred additional men from various state regiments were detailed to the guard. Steuben personally trained them at marching, musket loading and charging with bayonet. Under his skilled instruction, the life guard became a model company for drilling the entire army.
6. FORGE_031011_146.JPG: Washington's Headquarters: For six months, this quiet path was a congested thoroughfare. Express riders from Congress, civilians requesting passes, guards posted around the house, couriers rushing out with new orders, foreign officers seeking employment, continually jammed this road during the encampment. At the center of the turmoil was the Commander-in-Chief. From Headquarters, George Washington issued General Orders to the brigades, dictated eloquent warnings to Congress, and directed military operations from Georgia to Maine.
7. FORGE_031011_151.JPG: This and the next several pictures are of the Staff Officers' Work Room
8. FORGE_031011_173.JPG: George Washington's Office
9. FORGE_031011_187.JPG: Aides' Room: Not only were the working arrangements crowded, but so were the sleeping arrangements. Every available space was put to use in accommodating aides and servants -- the hallway, the attic stairs, as well as this room would have held several officers. These officers spent some of their limited personal time writing home. During his stay here, John Laurens wrote to his father asking for specific necessities. In response, his father sent the requested wool, buttons, gloves, epaulets, combs, hair powder, and powder bag along with a new shirt.
10. FORGE_031011_194.JPG: Small Room: Elias Boudinot was probably referring to this room when he wrote of General Charles Lee's arrival at headquarters -- "A Room was assigned to him... and all his baggage was stowed in it." Due to the shortage of space, an aide may have used this room when there were no guests staying the night.
11. FORGE_031011_196.JPG: Washington's bedroom. Martha accompanied him on these encampments.
12. FORGE_031011_201.JPG: The ranger made a point of saying we should touch the handrail because George definitely touched it during his stay here.
13. FORGE_031011_205.JPG: George Washington's Office
14. FORGE_031011_231.JPG: Valley Forge Railroad Station: A 20th Century Structure: The Valley Forge Railroad Station, completed in 1913 to service visitors to Washington's Headquarters and the village of Valley Forge, was constructed of native sandstone and recalls the time when rail excursions were popular before the widespread use of private automobiles. The tracks of the Philadelphia, Germantown and Morristown Railroad, predecessor to Conrail, were first utilized in 1832 to meet the demands of industrialization.
15. FORGE_031011_242.JPG: The kitchen
16. FORGE_031011_268.JPG: The New Jersey Brigade monument
17. FORGE_031011_277.JPG: To Build a Redoubt: The earthworks today appear to be giant molehills. But it took complex engineering to construct them. A deep ditch was excavated in front, to slow an attacking enemy. The dirt was heaped into gabions --baskets of interwoven branches. Bundles of branches called fascines were piled around and inside the wall to protect the defenders, then the entire work was usually covered with sod to absorb cannon fire. Here at Redoubt 3, the inside walls were faced with stakes. Sod was scarce in the mud-churned encampment. Though partially reconstructed, Redoubt 3 is built on remnants of the original site. Please do not climb on the earthworks.
18. FORGE_031011_294.JPG: The statue is of General Friedrich von Steuben. Training for Victory: Like a drill sergeant, Inspector General Friedrich von Steuben trains eyeball to eyeball with a company of Continentals. This model company must serve as an example to the rest of Washington's army. The Grand Parade, here at the center of the encampment, is the only terrain expansive enough for drilling massed brigades. In simulated battle, Steuben sends troops back and forth across rough ground, preparing for the impending campaign against the British. Steuben stressed bayonet drill. Before this time, the Americans had never been trained in close fighting. Yet bayonet charges decided the outcome of most battles in the 18th century. The Grand Parade: Cannon smoke clouds the field below. A roar of muskets crisscrosses the Grand Parade as thousands of double-ranked troops perform a feu de joie ("fire of joy"). To celebrate the signing of the French Treaty of Alliance, General Washington reviews the troops of the entire encampment May 6, 1778. The Grand Parade becomes a showplace for the newly trained and disciplined Continental Army -- a tribute to Baron von Steuben's intensive drilling. The signing of the Treaties of Commerce and Alliance with France was a major step toward victory. For the first time, a major power officially recognized the independence of the United States, assuring a steady flow of foreign aid. France soon became Great Britain's open enemy.
19. FORGE_031011_300.JPG: Waterman's Monument: This 50 foot granite obelisk was erected in 1901 by the Daughters of the Revolution. It marks the site of the only identified grave at Valley Forge, that of Lieutenant John Waterman of Rhode Island, who died on April 23, 1778.
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Wikipedia Description: Valley Forge
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

History:

With the winter setting in, the prospects for campaigning were greatly diminished, and Washington sought quarters for his men. Though several locations were proposed, he selected Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, 22 miles northwest of Philadelphia. It proved to be an excellent choice. Named for an iron forge on Valley Creek, the area was close enough to the British to keep their raiding and foraging parties out of the interior of Pennsylvania, yet far enough away to halt the threat of British surprise attacks. The high ground of Mount Joy ( called Mount Misery by the soldiers) combined with the China River to the north, made the area easily defensible.

On December 19, 1777, when Washington's poorly fed, ill-equipped army, weary from long marches, struggled into Valley Forge, winds blew as the 12,000 Continentals prepared for winter's fury. Grounds for brigade encampments were selected, and defense lines were planned and begun. Within days of the army's arrival, the Schuylkill River was covered with ice. Snow was six inches deep. Though construction of more than 1,000 huts provided shelter, it did little to offset the critical shortages that continually plagued the army.

Soldiers received irregular supplies of meat and bread, some getting their only nourishment from "firecake," a tasteless mixture of flour and water. 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." Animals fared no better. Gen. Henry Knox, Washington's Chief of Artillery, wrote that hundreds of horses either starved to death or died of exhaustion.

Clothing, too, was wholly inadequate. Long marches had destroyed shoes. Blankets were scarce. Tattered garments were seldom replaced. At one point these shortages caused nearly 4,000 men to ...More...
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Same Subject: Click on this link to see coverage of items having the same subject: [American Revolution] [Park (National Park Service)]
2003 photos: Equipment this year: I decided my Epson digital camera wasn't quite enough for what I wanted. Since I already had Compact Flash chips for it, I had to find another camera which used CF chips. That brought me to buy the Fujifilm S602 Zoom in March 2003. A great digital camera, I used it exclusively for an entire year. Trips this year: Three-week trip this year out west, mostly in Utah. Number of photos taken this year: 68,000.
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