US HISTORY-"VALLEY FORGE, PA." ENCAMPMENT TOUR of the NATIONAL HISTORIC PARK

Welcome to a personal walking/bicycling encampment tour of " Valley Forge, Pa." National Historical Park Pennsylvania. This encampment tour is the official tour recommended by the National Park Service and they have issued a self-guiding tour route with map.

When visiting the park you my wish to take this encampment tour on your own or instead of driving yourself, for a fee, a bus tour is available. As an added convience a cell phone tour is also available.

Park Rangers are avaliable to help you understand the events of the winter encampment of 1777-1778, and explain the historical significance of each. The U. S. Department of the Interior also provides various activities such as tours and special programs. The Park Rangers are more than eager to answer any and all questions.

As winter approached, the Armies sought a place to set up camp for the cold and snowy season. The camps were fortified by the Army to guard against any surprise attacks by the enemy. Fortunately at "Valley Forge, Pa." no attacks or battles had taken place. Consequently the winter of 1777-1778 was known as the "Winter Encampment" of the Revolutionary War.

General George Washington chose Valley Forge as the site for his winter camp. On December 19, 1777, General Washington and 11,000 soldiers began setting up camp for the winter. The soldiers consisted of a racially mixed group as 5000 soldiers were of African descent. Native Americans also entered the encampment and in particular the Oneida Indian Nation, whose presence had a crucial impact at Valley Forge.

Women entered the winter encampment at Valley Forge and endured the harsh winter of 1777-1778 as they followed the Continental Army into camp. Hundreds of women were in camp to be with their enlisted husbands and sons. Wives of some of the General Officers were also in camp. The Army compensated some of the women who devoted full time to providing services such as Nursing, Sewing and Laundering.

On June 19, 1778, General George Washington broke camp with the most important outcome of the winter encampment, that was the maturation of his soldiers into a more professional fighting force. Prussian Army Officer Baron Friedrich Wilhelm Augustus von Steuben, who entered camp in February 1778 , to begin training the Contential Soldiers. General von Steuben's hands-on-training, helped the Army to become a very proficient marching machine with a new and vigorous sense of purpose in gaining freedom and independence from the British.

Encampment Tour Stop # 1 is the Visitor Center where exhibits introduce you to the encampment story at "Valley Forge, Pa.". Park staff will gladly help you plan your visit to the park. They are a friendly and happy group ready and able to serve you.

Ok, here we go as I mount my bicycle for a short ride to the Muhlenberg Brigade. I picked a bad day to be in the park as temperatures are in the 95 degree range and high humidity. Oh well, just got to ride a little faster to generate a cooling breeze. We are now at the site of the replicated huts which you will see in the picture at the conclusion of our facts. General Muhlenberg's brigade defended the outer line. The huts you see here are standard and some 2000 of these huts were built for the encampment.

John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg was born just a stones throw away from here in Trappe, Pa. Muhlenberg was ordained in 1768 as a Lutheran minister. In January 1776 he led 300 men from the country to form the nucleus of the Eighth Virginia Regiment. In early 1777 Muhlenberg's Eighth Virginia Regiment was sent north to join General George Washington's main army. Muhlenberg was made a Brigadier General of the Virginia Line and commanded that Brigade right here at Valley Forge. After the war, Muhlenberg went on to become a United States Senator from Pennsylvania.

The National Memorial Arch is the dominant feature at "Valley Forge, Pa." and was authorized by an act of congress. It was on June 25, 1910 that the congress of the United States passed an act to erect the National Memorial Arch in honor of the officers and private enlisted soldiers of the Continental Army.

The arch was erected with Federal Funds on the grounds of the then Valley Forge Pennsylvania State Park. The Valley Forge Pennsylvania State Park was Pennsylvania's first park established in 1893. It became a National Historic Park in 1976 when the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior took over the park.

Inscribed on the very top of the arch is General George Washington's widely quoted praise of the soldiery and written at Valley Forge on February 16, 1778. The inscription reads " Naked and Starving as they are we cannot enough admire the incomparable patience and fidelity of the soldiery"

The statue of Brigadier General Anthony Wayne is located in the area called Wayne's Woods. It was in this area that General Wayne commanded his troops during the encampment. The bronze equestrian statue of General Wayne points in the direction of his birthplace in nearby Paoli, Pennsylvania.

Headquarters for the Continental Army stationed at Valley Forge was in the Isaac Potts House. George Washington was able to occupy this house during the winter encampment and set up his commanding headquarters on the lower floor. This house has been restored and is now part of the Valley Forge National Historic Park.

The public is invited to tour the interior of the building which has been restored with period furniture. The room where General Washington conducted his command is also furnished. General Washington's wife Martha lived here with him during the later months of the encampment. This small field stone constructed house was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1972. Pictures of the house and part of the interior will follow.

This stop on the encampment tour was to be a walk-in to the site of Redoubt #4 however because of the rough terrain the National Park Service decided to eliminate this stop from the tour. I will explain what a redoubt, (pronounced ri-dout) is at our next stop which will be Redoubt #3.

Here we are at Redoubt # 3 (pronounced ri-dout) which is one of four (4) redoubts constructed at Valley Forge during the Revolutionary War. Redoubts were a series of fortifications built by the Continental Soldiers and connected to other redoubts by trenches. Vestiges of these trenches and mounds of dirt are still visible today. These redoubts (forts) were usually small roughly constructed fortifications and at Valley Forge were made out of earthworks, rather than stones or bricks.

One of the most popular stops on the encampment tour, especially by the children, who just love to climb all over these cannons. If you are touring Valley Forge with children, plan to extend your time here. Perhaps this is where you might just want to have a picnic lunch, while the children play and relax.

Brigadier General Henry Knox was the Commander In Chief of the cannons here at Artillary Park. General Knox was the Chief Artillery Officer of the Continental Army.

Brigadier General Henry Knox later became the first United States Secretary of War from March 8, 1785 to December 31, 1794 under President Washington.

Brigadier General James Mitchel Varnum, an American Lawyer, lived in this early eighteenth century farmhouse during the winter encampment. This small field stone house is situated on the edge of the Grand Parade at Valley Forge, a perfect view of the Grand Parade Grounds where General Von Steuben trained the soldiers of the Continental Army.

General Varnum advocated and insisted upon allowing African Americans to enlist in the Continental Army. As a result of his insistence, the 1st Rhode Island Regiment, an all-black unit was formed.

"Valley Forge, Pa" ---GRAND PARADE--is not an encampment tour stop however, the statue of General Von Steuben is nearby Varnum's Quarters that we just visited. It was in this field that General Von Steuben a former Prussian army officer trained the Continental Army with hands-on training to become a mature and professional fighiting force. It was this army that went on to win the Revolutionary War thus paving the way for the Declaration of Independence.

This twentieth century church, Washington Memorial Chapel, commemorates George Washington's service to his country. The Washington Memorial Chapel is home to a congregation of the Episcopal Church, diocese of Pennsylvania.

The chapel is also home to the Washington Memorial National Patriots Bell Tower Carillon and the Justice Bell. The Justice Bell is a full sized replica of the Liberty Bell and was used in the women's suffrage movement between (1915--1920).

The tower and carillon are living memorials dedicated to the memory of General George Washington. The carillon of 58 tuned bronze bells ranks as one of the world's largest and most beautiful. The very first musical composition ever played on the carillon was the United States of America's National Anthem.

The Washington Memorial Chapel and the attached Bell Tower Carillon are located on private real estate and are not a part of the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior at "Valley Forge, Pa."

This encampment tour stop #10 concludes the Official Tour established by the National Park Service, at "Valley Forge,Pa." National Historic Park.

In the very near future, perhaps only weeks away from August 2010, The National Park Service will add a new encampment tour stop, that being the Historic Valley Forge Train Station. As a bonus stop for you , I have added that stop on this encampment tour, so you will be one of the first to see this additional tour stop at Valley Forge.

Rehabilitation of the Washington Headquarters area is to be completed in a matter of weeks from August 2010. The Historic Valley Forge Reading Railroad Train station is adjacent to Washington Headquarters.

This train station sets atop a man made mound of dirt located very near to the Schuykill River, the same river which General Howe of the British Army would have had to cross to get to General Washington's encampment.

The train station building at "Valley Forge, Pa." has been adapted and rehabilitated to provide a National Park Service reception and staging facility for visitors to Washington's Headquarters and related structures in the Valley Forge National Historic Park. The train station will also house an information center, a museum and provide visitors with guided tours.