{"id":279,"date":"2016-06-09T00:00:40","date_gmt":"2016-06-09T04:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/usparks\/?p=279"},"modified":"2016-07-13T12:07:46","modified_gmt":"2016-07-13T16:07:46","slug":"valley-forge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/usparks\/valley-forge\/","title":{"rendered":"Valley Forge National Historical Park: Where an army and nation united"},"content":{"rendered":"

G<\/span>eorge Washington selected Valley Forge for the exhausted Continental Army\u2019s third winter encampment during the Revolutionary War because of the site\u2019s proximity to Philadelphia and its grand natural features.<\/p>\n

Mount Joy, the Schuykill River and an open slope topped with earthworks defenses formed a protective triangle around broad fields and confounding hills where the wet, cold, hungry men could shelter and be trained as 1777 turned to 1778.<\/p>\n

Still, it is not grand vistas, but small things \u2014 a button, a book, a four-dollar note \u2014 in the collection at Valley Forge National Historical Park that best reflect the principal achievement of that notoriously hard season: From disparate parts, an army and nation, united.<\/p>\n

Take, for example, the button.<\/p>\n

Excavated at Valley Forge during a dig sponsored by the company that makes Log Cabin syrup, the cast pewter button from a Continental soldier\u2019s coat bears the entwined letters USA, with the S embracing the rim of the U and the leg of the A.<\/p>\n

\"Washington's <\/a>
Washington’s Headquarters at Valley Forge National Historical Park in Valley Forge Pa., Thursday, April 3, 2008. (AP Photo\/Matt Rourke) <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a>
A reconstructed hut where General Muhlenberg\u2019s brigade was quartered during the 1777 winter encampment at Valley Forge. (Credit: Kelley Wagers) <\/div> <\/div>
\"The <\/a>
The reconstructed Muhlenberg huts are similar to more than a thousand huts built by the Continental Army on the grounds of the Valley Forge encampment. (Laura Legere \/ Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"The <\/a>
The visitor\u2019s center at Valley Forge National Historical Park features firearms and other objects from its voluminous collection of Revolutionary War-era military items. (Laura Legere \/ Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div>
\"Valley <\/a>
Valley Forge headquarters in the summer. (National Park service, U.S. Department of the Interior) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"The <\/a>
The artillery park at Valley Forge is where most of the canons were kept during the winter encampment. (Laura Legere \/ Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

It was at Valley Forge that rebel soldiers began to get uniforms from the United States government instead of from their individual states, park archivist Dona McDermott explained. So a soldier who might once have looked at his fellow fighter\u2019s chest and seen the mark of New York or Pennsylvania would now see the same USA button on his coat and his comrade\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\n

Valley Forge National Historical Park<\/h2>\n

1400 N. Outer Line Drive
\nKing of Prussia, PA 19406<\/p>\n

1-610-783-1099<\/p>\n

Official Website<\/a><\/p>\n