If you live or work in King of Prussia/Upper Merion you’ve definitely heard of Valley Forge National Park. It’s that big park that has all those monuments in it, near the casino? Well, it’s a beautiful place, and if you’ve never been there I strongly suggest going. Well here is some info about the park, before it was a park.

Way, way back, a good six years before our independence from Britain was won. Good ole’ GW (George Washington) brought 11,000 troops to set up camp for the winter and spring of 1777-78 in Valley Forge. This was after American troops were beaten in Brandywine, Paoli, Germantown, and Philadelphia was British occupied (which at this time Philly was the national capital); so really they had nowhere else to go. In typical Pennsylvania fashion, the winter weather was horrible so the Continental Army had to deal with some pretty tough conditions. Because of the snowy conditions, the Continental Army was not properly stocked with things like shoes, clothes, and food. But what came out of that whole mess was the first truly American success story emerged.

11,000 troops went into that camp and one army emerged; It’s like Remember the Titans, only before football was invented. Thanks to our forever friends, the French, Marquis de Lafayette (and Baron von Steuben) was able to help GW whip his troops into shape and lift their morale. Not to mention the French started sending supplies, which is always a good thing.

During the encampment the soldiers build little log houses, looking at them I am not quite sure how 12 men fit in there, but they did. The huts were arranged to look and feel like a town with the huts facing towards a “street” and the officers huts behind the enlisted men’s huts. As you can imagine personal hygiene was not a priority, and as a result, disease spread like wildfire. Things started to turn around when GW cracked down on latrine behavior, meaning the soldiers had to go in one. Also, a baker named Christopher Ludwig came to help with the food situation and finally the soldiers began eating enough food.

I was surprised to learn that there was some anti-Washington sentiment that went around the encampment. Apparently, this guy named Thomas Conway. He put out there that some people (politicians) were not happy with Washington’s performance. Conway and Charles Lee and Charles Gates thought that they had better credentials than GW and thought that they would be better commanders. Well, there was a letter written and an aide to Gates spilled the beans on the contents and the info got back to GW. As we all know Washington came out of the little spat on top, and ready to rumble.

By the time the summer of 1778 hits the Brits realized that holding Philadelphia was not a good strategy. So they decide on June 18th they are hitting the road back to New York. Georgie catches wind and decides to hit them while they retreat. On June 9th the continental army leaves Valley Forge, and on June 28th they clash with the Brits at Monmouth Courthouse.