National historical park in Chester Co, Pennsylvania, USA, 7 km/4 mi SE of Phoenixville, on the R Schuylkill; winter headquarters of George Washington, 17778; renowned for the endurance and loyalty shown by the troops during the severe winter.
For other uses, see Valley Forge (disambiguation).Valley Forge was the site of the camp of the American Continental Army over the winter of 1777–1778 in the American Revolutionary War. This was a time of great suffering for George Washington's Army, but it was also a time of retraining and rejuvenation.
History
The campaign that resulted in the Valley Forge encampment began in late August of 1777 when Sir William Howe, commander in chief of British forces in North America, landed his veteran army at the upper end of Chesapeake Bay. The American commander, George Washington, maneuvered the Continental Army into position to defend the city. Howe's skillful tactics, combined with errors made by Washington's army, led to a British victory at the Brandywine;
With the winter setting in, the prospects for further campaigning were greatly diminished, and Washington sought quarters for his men. 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.
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. Within days of the army's arrival, the Schuylkill River was covered with ice. 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. this Army must inevitably ...
Clothing, too, was wholly inadequate.
Undernourished and poorly clothed, living in crowded, damp quarters, the army was ravaged by sickness and disease. Women, relatives of enlisted men, alleviated some of the suffering by providing valuable services such as laundry and nursing that the army desperately needed.
Upgrading military efficiency, morale, and discipline were as vital to the army's well-being as was its source of supply. The army had been handicapped in battle because unit training was administered from a variety of field manuals, making coordinated battle movements awkward and difficult. Intensive daily training, coupled with von Steuben's forceful manner, instilled in the men renewed confidence in themselves and their ability to succeed.
Soon word of the British departure from Philadelphia brought a frenzied activity to the ranks of the Continental Army. On June 19, 1778, six months after its arrival, the army marched away from Valley Forge in pursuit of the British who were moving toward New York. The war would last for another five years, but for Washington, his men, and the nation to which they sought to give birth, a decisive victory had been won -- a victory not of weapons but of will.
Baron (Freiherr) Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben
Onetime member of the elite General Staff of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia. No longer in the Prussian Army, indeed without employment of any kind, von Steuben offered his military skills to the patriot cause. General Washington saw great promise in the Prussian and almost immediately assigned him the duties of Acting Inspector General with the task of developing and carrying out an effective training program.
Numerous obstacles threatened success. No standard American training manuals existed, and Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben himself spoke little English.
Von Steuben shocked many American officers by breaking tradition to work directly with the men.
When the Continental Army paraded on May 6, 1778, to celebrate the French alliance with America, von Steuben received the honor of organizing the day's activities. On that day the Grand Parade became a showplace for the united American army. The good drilling order and imposing appearance that the troops presented during the Alliance Day ceremonies demonstrated their remarkable progress in improving their abilities as a unified, fighting force capable of defeating the British Army. Washington, with von Steuben's aid, had made an army of the Continental troops.
Valley Forge Park
The site of the encampment became a Pennsylvania State Park in 1893 and, on the 4th of July, 1976, it became Valley Forge National Historical Park.
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