Valley Forge National Historical Park, encompassing 3,466-acres eighteen miles northwest of Philadelphia, preserves and reinterprets the site where the the main body of the Continental Army--between 10,000 and 12,000 troops--was encamped during from December 19, 1778 to June 19, 1778, the American Revolutionary War.
After the Battle of White Marsh (or Edge Hill), Washington chose Valley Forge as an encampment because it was between the Continental Congress in York, Supply Depots in Reading, and British forces in Philadelphia. Undernourished and poorly clothed through the harsh winter, Washington's troops were ravaged by disease, suffering as many as two thousand losses, with thousands more listed as unfit for futy. Despite the conditions, the winter at Valley Forge proved invaluable for the young army, which underwent its first uniform training regimen, under the guidance of Prussian drill master, Baron Friedrich von Steuben.
Valley Forge, named for the iron forge built along Valley Creek in the 1740's, was established as the first state park of Pennsylvania in 1893 by the Valley Forge Park Commission. In 1923, the VFPC was brought under the Department of Forests and Waters and later incorporated into the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission in 1971. In 1976, Pennsylvania gave the park as a gift to the nation for the the Bicentennial. The National Park System established the area as Valley Forge National Historical Park on July 4, 1976.
These replicated huts mark the site where General Peter Muhlenberg's Brigade anchored the outer line of defense.
Valley Forge National Historical Park National Register #66000657 (1966)
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