Valley Forge National Historic Park

1400 N Outer Line Dr, King of Prussia, PA 19406, USA

Pennsylvania

state

PA - Montgomery

county

PA - Philadelphia

city

MUSEUM

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Valley Forge National Historical Park is the site of the third winter encampment of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary Warfrom December 19, 1777 to June 19, 1778. The National Park Service preserves the site and interprets the history of the Valley Forge encampment. The park encompasses 3,500 acres. Valley Forge was established as the first state park of Pennsylvania in 1893. In 1976, Pennsylvania gave the park as a gift to the nation for the United States Bicentennial. Congress passed a law signed by President Gerald Ford on July 4, 1976, authorizing the addition of Valley Forge National Historical Park as the 283rd Unit of the National Park System.

SITE FEATURES

Gift Shop, Surviving Structures, Reconstructions, Programs, Tours, Exhibits

On this site...

In 1777, Valley Forge consisted of a small proto-industrial community located at the juncture of the Valley Creek and the Schuylkill River. In 1742, Quaker industrialists established the Mount Joy Iron Forge in Valley Forge. Capital improvements made by John Potts and his family over the following decade permitted the small community to expand its ironworks, establish mills, and construct new dwellings for the village's residents. Valley Forge was surrounded by rich farmland inhabited by Welsh Quaker farmers and German and Swedish settlers.

VILLAGE

EST. 1742

WINTER QUARTERS

DEC 19, 1777 - JUN 19, 1778

In the summer of 1777, the Continental Army's quartermaster general, Thomas Mifflin, decided to station a portion of the Continental Army's supplies in buildings around the forges because the region had a variety of structures and was a secluded location surrounded by two hills. On October 29, 1777, Washington first presented his generals with the question of where to quarter the Continental Army that winter. Pennsylvania state legislators and the Second Continental Congress expected the Continental Army to select an encampment site that could protect the countryside around the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia. Following Washington's defeat in the Battle of Brandywine and unable to defend Philadelphia, Washington led his 12,000-man army into winter quarters at Valley Forge, located approximately 18 miles northwest of the city. The encampment was primarily situated along the high, flat ground east of Mount Joy and south of the Schuylkill River.

The Valley Forge encampment became the Continental Army's first large-scale construction of living quarters. While no accurate account exists for the number of log huts built, experts estimate a range between 1,300 and 1,600 structures. At Valley Forge, the Continental Army struggled to manage a disastrous supply crisis while simultaneously retraining and reorganizing their units in an effort to mount successful counterattacks against the British. During the encampment at Valley Forge, an estimated 1,700 to 2,000 soldiers died from disease, possibly exacerbated by malnutrition.

Baron Friedrich von Steuben, a Prussian drill master who had recently arrived from Europe, instituted a rigorous training program for the troops. He drilled the soldiers, improving their battle and formation techniques. Under Steuben's leadership, the Continentals practiced volley fire, improved their maneuverability, standardized their march paces, exercised skirmishing operations, and drilled bayonet proficiency. These new efforts to train and discipline the army also improved morale among the soldiers.