Valley Forge National Historical Park, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania
In the winter of 1777-1778, George Washington, the commanding general of the Continental Army, knew that he needed to turn his ragtag band of volunteers into a fighting force if he was going to have any chance of winning true independence from the British. Washington settled on building a camp in the countryside close to the national capital of Philadelphia.
Many myths and misconceptions have been shared about Valley Forge over the years. The main issue was that the morale of the troops was high; they were simply tired and lacking supplies. Another lie is that it was a cold winter. Technically, the winter was relatively mild, but the constant freezing and thawing of temperatures made living conditions rather challenging. To combat the weather, the troops constructed over 2,000 log cabins, which gave Valley Forge the appearance of a city. With a population of over 12,000 soldiers, Valley Forge was effectively the fourth-largest city in the colonies. A final lie was that the winter claimed the lives of most of the soldiers. Actually, 2/3 of the soldiers who perished did so during the spring of diseases that were common in the late eighteenth century, influenza, typhoid, typhus, and dysentery.
The cabins at Valley Forge National Historical Park today have been rebuilt using original, period-accurate plans from those the Continental Army used in the camp. The first ones that we saw in the park were the nine reconstructed in the location of Muhlenberg’s Brigade. Walking through the cabins, I understood the hardships of the Continental Army, as well as how the cabins helped the soldiers overwinter at Valley Forge. Overall, I gained a greater appreciation for the troops who helped the United States win its independence.
