VALLEY FORGE

VALLEY FORGE, Continental army encampment during the winter and spring of 1777–1778, is situated on the west bank of the Schuylkill River, in Chester County, Pa., about twenty-five miles northwest of Philadelphia.

After the American defeats at Brandywine, Paoli, and Germantown and after the British had occupied Philadelphia (then the national capital), Gen. George Washington led 11,000 regular troops to Valley Forge to take up winter quarters. The site provided convenient access to key roads, nearby military supplies, local farmlands, and a nearby health resort that could serve as a hospital for troops. Some officers also thought that the sloping hills, flanked by the Schuylkill and supported in the rear by the high, winding, wooded gorge of Valley Creek, could be made impregnable against attack. As a further safeguard, picket parties were detached to watch the movement of the British.

The encampment at Valley Forge was plagued by bad weather and poor conditions. An unexpectedly early winter, with heavy snows and abnormally freezing weather during Christmas week, prevented the delivery of regular supplies. A January thaw brought mud so deep on the roads that hundreds of army wagons had to be abandoned. Even when transport was available, the Continental Congress's neglect of the army and the commisary officers' failure to forward food, clothing, and supplies by the most available routes added to the troops' sufferings. At one point Washington reported that he had almost 3,000 men who were unfit for duty because they were barefoot "and otherwise naked." On several occasions, he expressed his fears that only extraordinary efforts could prevent the army from disbanding. Many soldiers deserted; the civilian governor of Philadelphia, Joseph Galloway, stated that more than 2,000 deserters had asked for his help. Camp fever—probably typhus—and smallpox were epidemic during the army's stay at Valley Forge, and medical supplies were lacking. About 2,500 men died and were buried in unmarked graves.

Despite the difficulties, however, the encampment at Valley Forge proved an important turning point for the Continental Army. Marquis de Lafayette, a French aristocrat who embraced the American cause, suggested new practices in training and command that helped boost the troops' morale. At the same time, Baron Friedrich von Steuben introduced efficient drilling techniques that improved military discipline. The formal Franco-American alliance, news of which reached Valley Forge in May 1778, resulted in improved equipment and supplies for the soldiers. All told, efforts like these helped reduce desertions and solidify a core military force in the Continental Army.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bill, Alfred Hoyt. Valley Forge: The Making of an Army. New York: Harper, 1952.

Boyle, Joseph Lee. Writings from the Valley Forge Encampment of the Continental Army. Bowie, Md.: Heritage Books, 2000.

Middlekauff, Robert. The Glorious Cause: the American Revolution, 1763–1789. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982.

Harry EmersonWildes/s. b.

See alsoArmy, United States ; France, Relations with ; Revolution, American andvol. 9:Life at Valley Forge, 1777–1778 .

Valley Forge. Having failed to prevent the British general William Howe from occupying Philadelphia during the autumn of 1777, George Washington made the tactical decision that the main Continental Army should winter on high ground at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, a small community of farms, dwellings, and workshops (including an iron forge) about eighteen miles northwest of the city. From a position too distant to invite British attack, where local resources would provide food and shelter, the soldiers could be drilled and detachments could interfere with British foraging parties.

From December 1777 until June 1778, the army camped on approximately two thousand acres bounded by the Schuykill River, Valley Creek, and a natural ridge. Approximately twelve thousand men lived in huts, and an outer and inner line of defensive earthworks were built. Although no battles were fought at Valley Forge, bitter cold and shortages of provisions plagued the army, while poor sanitation contributed to significant losses of men to disease.

Valley Forge has been described as a turning point in the Revolutionary War, since its privations helped Washington convince Congress that victory depended on an improved supply system. Acting as inspector general, Friedrich von Steuben drafted a training manual and initiated a system of standardized military training so that the army could be further honed as a fighting force.

In the nineteenth century, Valley Forge came to symbolize the suffering, perseverance, and sacrifice that won American independence. In 1893, the Valley Forge Park Commission was established to create Pennsylvania's first state park at Valley Forge. President Gerald Ford signed legislation on 4 July 1976 making Valley Forge a national historic park.
See also National Park System.

Bibliography

John B.B. Trussell , Birthplace of an Army: A Study of the Valley Forge Encampment, 1983.
Lorett Trese , Valley Forge: Making and Remaking a National Symbol, 1995.

Lorett Treese

Valley Forge (1934), a play by Maxwell Anderson. [Guild Theatre, 58 perf.] George Washington ( Philip Merivale) has grown short‐tempered watching his men starve and die in the cruel winter at Valley Forge and receiving no real aid from a narrow‐minded, greedy Congress. When his old sweetheart, Mary Philipse ( Margalo Gillmore), braves the storms to visit him, he agrees to a meeting with British General Howe ( Reginald Mason) to arrange for a surrender. But when Howe arrives, Washington recognizes that the bravery of his own men demands he fight to the finish. Supposedly written after several critics had complained that Anderson was more interested in English Elizabethan history than in his own, the play won generally laudatory notices, but the Theatre Guild production could not find a public. Its imaginary meeting of Washington and Howe paralleled a similarly fictitious meeting of Mary and Elizabeth in Anderson's Mary of Scotland.

Valley Forge on the Schuylkill River, SE Pa., NW of Philadelphia. There, during the American Revolution, the main camp of the Continental Army was established (Dec., 1777–June, 1778) under the command of Gen. George Washington. The winter was severe, food and clothing was inadequate, and illness and suffering pervaded the camp. The number of ragged and half-starved troops dwindled through desertion; the remaining men, about 11,000, talked of mutiny but were held together by their loyalty to Washington and to the patriotic cause. Two distinguished foreigners, French General Lafayette and Prussian General Steuben, shared the misery of the troops; Steuben drilled and organized the men, transforming the loose-jointed army into an integrated force. The site is included in Valley Forge National Historical Park (see National Parks and Monuments , table).

Valley Forge an area in Chester County, Pennsylvania, where Gen. George Washington, during the winter of 1777–78, established the headquarters of the Continental army in the Revolutionary War. Although the suffering of troops during that winter is part of American folklore, other winter ordeals were probably worse; Valley Forge is well known because Washington stressed his army's suffering in order to gain political support. However, the army's discipline and efficiency improved during the winter, which marked a turning point in the war, and the encampment became a symbol of endurance in adversity. Valley Forge became a Pennsylvania state park in 1893 and a U.S. national park on July 4, 1976.

Valley Forge (1777–78) An American Revolutionary winter camp 32 km (20 miles) north-west of Philadelphia that was occupied by George WASHINGTON's army after it had been defeated at BRANDYWINE and GERMANTOWN and the British had occupied Philadelphia. A bitter winter and lack of supplies came close to destroying the Continental Army of 11,000 men. The Valley Forge winter was the low point in the American Revolutionary struggle; it hardened the survivors and became a symbol of endurance.

Valley Forge Site of the winter camp of the army of George Washington in 1777–78, 34km (21mi) nw of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The men were short of food, proper housing and clothes, and about 2,500 out of 11,000 died. Their ordeal became symbolic of the heroism of the colonial troops in the American Revolution.