Okla-homey
12/19/2007, 06:59 AM
December 19, 1777 Continental Army enters winter camp at Valley Forge
http://img354.imageshack.us/img354/483/valleyforge6nb.jpg
Arrival at Valley Forge, Dec. 19, 1777
230 years ago today, with the onset of the bitter winter cold, the Continental Army under General George Washington, enters its winter camp at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, 22 miles from British-occupied Philadelphia. Washington chose a site on the west bank of the Schuylkill River that could be effectively defended in the event of a British attack.
http://aycu25.webshots.com/image/38864/2002837051304238965_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002837051304238965)
http://img354.imageshack.us/img354/2539/valleyprayeratvalleyforge450w0.jpg
One of the most enduring modern images of Washington at Valley Forge. Painting by Arnold Friberg.
Eighteenth century armies rairly campaigned in the winter, and instead sought a safe place to ride out the winter cold. Unfortunately for the Continental army, the relative warmth and comfort available to their enemy in Philadelphia or any other American city was denied them. Lucky for us they stuck it out.
http://img354.imageshack.us/img354/6220/valleyforgenationalhistoricalp.jpg
Washington's men built crude log huts to shelter themselves that winter. This is a reproduction at Valley Forge National Historic Site
http://aycu13.webshots.com/image/35892/2002883204521188579_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002883204521188579)
Interior. The racks to the left were used as bunks in the little 10x10 huts.
1777 had been a very discouraging year, Patriot forces under General Washington suffered major defeats against the British at the battles of Brandywine and Germantown; Philadelphia, the capital of the United States, fell into British hands.
http://aycu19.webshots.com/image/9498/2003765428251170411_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003765428251170411)
Toughing it out at Valley Forge
The particularly severe winter of 1777-1778 proved to be a great trial for the American army, and of the 11,000 soldiers encamped at Valley Forge, hundreds died from disease. However, the suffering troops were held together by loyalty to the Patriot cause and to General Washington, who stayed with his men -- although he and his immediate staff quartered in a borrowed house.
http://aycu40.webshots.com/image/8159/2003794761729091100_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003794761729091100)
Washington's headquarters at Valley Forge. The property is now administered by the NPS.
Food and other necessities were in short supply. Correspondence between General Washington and the Congress exists which features the commanding general's impassioned pleas for food, clothing and other vitals.
Unfortunately for the suffering army, these supplies were slow to arrive and scant in quantity. This was mainly due to the fact, until the US was governed by the Constitution 20 years later, Congress had no power to appropriate money. At this time in our history, the Army depended on voluntary donations from the several states. Despite their suffering, the men soldiered on.
http://img354.imageshack.us/img354/8122/valleywashingtonvalleyforge2yp.jpg
Poorly supplied by a Congress low on cash, the men struggled to survive.
As the winter stretched on, Prussian military advisor Frederick von Steuben kept the soldiers busy with drill and training in modern military tactics. The incessant drilling made Von Steuban's pupils better able to meet and defeat the previously better trained British and German regiments they would face in subsequent campaigns.
http://img354.imageshack.us/img354/5480/valleyvonsteuben6it.jpg
Friedrich Wilhelm Augustin, Baron von Steuben, a German officer, took part during the American Revolution. Born in Magdeburg, Prussia, on Sept. 17, 1730, and died on Nov. 28, 1794, Von Stuben helped instill discipline in the Continental Army through his drilling techniques. Despite his claims, the genial von Steuben was only a captain, not a former Prussian general; but he was a superb drillmaster.
When Washington's army marched out of Valley Forge on June 19, 1778, the men were better disciplined and stronger in spirit than when they had entered proving the old adage, "What does not kill me, makes me stronger." Nine days later, they won a victory against the British under Lord Cornwallis at the Battle of Monmouth in New Jersey.
http://img354.imageshack.us/img354/1936/valleyarch20memorial20at20vall.jpg
Memorial Arch at Valley Forge
http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/839/insane7zo0xx.jpg
http://img354.imageshack.us/img354/483/valleyforge6nb.jpg
Arrival at Valley Forge, Dec. 19, 1777
230 years ago today, with the onset of the bitter winter cold, the Continental Army under General George Washington, enters its winter camp at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, 22 miles from British-occupied Philadelphia. Washington chose a site on the west bank of the Schuylkill River that could be effectively defended in the event of a British attack.
http://aycu25.webshots.com/image/38864/2002837051304238965_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002837051304238965)
http://img354.imageshack.us/img354/2539/valleyprayeratvalleyforge450w0.jpg
One of the most enduring modern images of Washington at Valley Forge. Painting by Arnold Friberg.
Eighteenth century armies rairly campaigned in the winter, and instead sought a safe place to ride out the winter cold. Unfortunately for the Continental army, the relative warmth and comfort available to their enemy in Philadelphia or any other American city was denied them. Lucky for us they stuck it out.
http://img354.imageshack.us/img354/6220/valleyforgenationalhistoricalp.jpg
Washington's men built crude log huts to shelter themselves that winter. This is a reproduction at Valley Forge National Historic Site
http://aycu13.webshots.com/image/35892/2002883204521188579_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002883204521188579)
Interior. The racks to the left were used as bunks in the little 10x10 huts.
1777 had been a very discouraging year, Patriot forces under General Washington suffered major defeats against the British at the battles of Brandywine and Germantown; Philadelphia, the capital of the United States, fell into British hands.
http://aycu19.webshots.com/image/9498/2003765428251170411_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003765428251170411)
Toughing it out at Valley Forge
The particularly severe winter of 1777-1778 proved to be a great trial for the American army, and of the 11,000 soldiers encamped at Valley Forge, hundreds died from disease. However, the suffering troops were held together by loyalty to the Patriot cause and to General Washington, who stayed with his men -- although he and his immediate staff quartered in a borrowed house.
http://aycu40.webshots.com/image/8159/2003794761729091100_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003794761729091100)
Washington's headquarters at Valley Forge. The property is now administered by the NPS.
Food and other necessities were in short supply. Correspondence between General Washington and the Congress exists which features the commanding general's impassioned pleas for food, clothing and other vitals.
Unfortunately for the suffering army, these supplies were slow to arrive and scant in quantity. This was mainly due to the fact, until the US was governed by the Constitution 20 years later, Congress had no power to appropriate money. At this time in our history, the Army depended on voluntary donations from the several states. Despite their suffering, the men soldiered on.
http://img354.imageshack.us/img354/8122/valleywashingtonvalleyforge2yp.jpg
Poorly supplied by a Congress low on cash, the men struggled to survive.
As the winter stretched on, Prussian military advisor Frederick von Steuben kept the soldiers busy with drill and training in modern military tactics. The incessant drilling made Von Steuban's pupils better able to meet and defeat the previously better trained British and German regiments they would face in subsequent campaigns.
http://img354.imageshack.us/img354/5480/valleyvonsteuben6it.jpg
Friedrich Wilhelm Augustin, Baron von Steuben, a German officer, took part during the American Revolution. Born in Magdeburg, Prussia, on Sept. 17, 1730, and died on Nov. 28, 1794, Von Stuben helped instill discipline in the Continental Army through his drilling techniques. Despite his claims, the genial von Steuben was only a captain, not a former Prussian general; but he was a superb drillmaster.
When Washington's army marched out of Valley Forge on June 19, 1778, the men were better disciplined and stronger in spirit than when they had entered proving the old adage, "What does not kill me, makes me stronger." Nine days later, they won a victory against the British under Lord Cornwallis at the Battle of Monmouth in New Jersey.
http://img354.imageshack.us/img354/1936/valleyarch20memorial20at20vall.jpg
Memorial Arch at Valley Forge
http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/839/insane7zo0xx.jpg