Valley Forge, PA I (1/6/2021)

Wednesday, January 6, 2021

A little sun, not too cold...

We headed north the same way we did on 11/29/2020, when oil had started leaking from the car. We were nine miles from home on a country road, and AAA took hours to arrive. With the pandemic, we could not ride with the tow truck driver, so we had to call a fellow GFE resident to pick us up. Fortunately, the problem was a faulty gasket from the last oil change, thus the replacement was done gratis by the same auto place.

Today, we made it past nine miles!

Winds dealt a blow to the Waynesborough sign

Waynesborough (1724, with additions), birthplace and
ancestral home of American Revolutionary War
Brigadier General "Mad" Anthony Wayne

Renovated Waynesborough Carriage House (KSS)

Wetherby-Hampton-Snyder-Wilson-Erdman Log House
(1714, with additions)

Great Valley Mill (1859, replacing mills dating back to c 1710),
a grist mill for grain flour; the mill of the time would
have supplied Washington's troops at Valley Forge

Lee & Bradford Quarters/David Havard House
on Chesterbrook Farm (c 1766)

During the encampment of General George Washington's army at Valley Forge from December 1777 through June 1778, many area homes were used as quarters for Washington's senior staff. The David Havard House served as quarters for Colonel William Bradford and Colonel Elias Boudinot, who were brothers-in-law. Bradford's older brother Thomas, a captain, arrived in January 1778, and their father, Colonel William Bradford Sr., joined them in April 1778. In May 1778, the Bradfords moved elsewhere, and General Charles Lee was housed here after being released by the British in an exchange of prisoners. In 1881 Alexander Cassatt, president of the Pennsylvania Railroad, purchased the property, turning the surrounding farmland into a 600-acre hunting preserve called Chesterbrook Farm, known for its racing stables. Currently the house is the clubhouse for the Picket Post Swim and Tennis Club, and sits in a residential development of Chesterbrook.

Furness Barn (1898, by Frank Furness) is painted a deep red,
the same color as the Pennsylvania railroad cars; now
Chesterbrook Academy, a preschool

Federal Barn (1792 and 1840) at Cressbrook Farm, a
Pennsylvania bank barn of fieldstone, is inscribed
with the name of the original builder, Jonathan Moor

Showing how the barns are built along a bank

Jones Log Barn (c 1730, in English Lake District style),
one of the oldest intact log barns in the Mid-Atlantic region,
was reconstructed 2015-2020 here at Cressbrook Farm

Duportail Quarters (1740, now a wedding/event venue);
General Louis Lebègue Duportail, from France, was
recruited by Benjamin Franklin to be the Chief Engineer of
the Continental Army; he designed the fortifications at Valley Forge

Remains of a cold cellar, perhaps, at Cressbrook Farm (KSS)

Bat House (KSS)

Wayne Quarters (c 1757) was the home of General Wayne's cousin,
Sarah Thomas Walker, and her husband, Joseph Walker 

Pulaski Quarters/John F Beaver House (c 1715) at Brookmead Farm;
Brigadier General Casimir Pulaski, from Poland but exiled in France,
was also recruited by Benjamin Franklin to become the
Chief of Cavalry of the Continental Army

Knox Quarters (c 1771, L half of white structure,
plus additions); Brigadier General Henry Knox
was Chief of Artillery of the Continental Army

This was the first of the houses now located on the property of the Valley Forge National Historical Park.

Sign of the times

Barn of the former Valley Forge Farm, location of Knox Quarters;
note the support pillars are wider at the base (KSS)

Chicken coop, perhaps, at the former Valley Forge Farm

Knox Covered Bridge (1865), a Steel stringer/
Burr Arch Covered Bridge over Valley Creek

Stirling Quarters (center section 1769, with additions) and
a small barn (c 1800?) to the R;
Major General William Alexander, Lord Stirling, was born
in New York, son of a Scottish Lord, who also presided
at the court-martial of General Wayne after the Battle of Paoli

Site of Maxwell Quarters/Philander Chase Knox Estate (c 1774,
remodeled 1893, 1901 purchased by US Attorney General
Philander Chase Knox/no relation to General Knox, 1913
remodeled in Colonial Revival style); Brigadier General
William Maxwell was in command of four New Jersey regiments

A short hike down to and across Valley Creek passed
this tree stump clinging to mossy rocks (KSS)

Lafayette Quarters/Samuel Havard House (1763, plus additions);
Major General Marie Jean Paul Yves Gilbert Motier de Lafayette
volunteered, with no pay and no command, to assist Washington 

Lafayette Quarters undergoing much needed renovation (KSS)

So, why not just incorporate the broken
utility pole in your repair job?

David Potts House (c 1757)

We are now in the Washington Headquarters section of Valley Forge National Historical Park.

Delaware Memorial (1914)

Valley Forge Station (1911, by the Reading Railroad)
was one of two entry points for visitors to the historical park

Valley Forge Station was restored in 2009 as a
museum and visitor information center

Washington Headquarters/Isaac Potts House (1768, in
German Quaker vernacular style) was sublet by General
Washington from renter Deborah Hewes, the aunt of Isaac Potts

It is reported: General Washington moved in with his military family; an estimated 15-25 officers, aides-de-camp, and servants ate, worked, and slept in this two-story home. This included the personal servants of the aides-de-camp, and Martha Washington, who joined her husband at Headquarters in February of 1778, bringing with her an additional domestic staff, resulting in very crowded quarters.

General George Washington statue (copy of
1785-1792 statue by Jean-Antoine Houdon
that stands in the Virginia State Capitol)

Washington is shown wearing his military uniform (rather than a Roman toga) with objects both civilian (the plow and cane) and military (the fasces, cape and uniform). Fasces is a bound bundle of wooden rods that symbolized a magistrate's power and jurisdiction. This bundle has 13 rods. Washington was often compared to the Roman general Cincinnatus, who upon being appointed by the Roman Senate to lead the fight against a threatened invasion, left his plow and wife to lead the Romans to victory. He then resigned and returned to his plow, as Washington resigned his commission and returned to his farm at Mount Vernon once the War for Independence was won. Washington again left his life of retirement at Mount Vernon to become the first President of the United States.

Valley Forge Station

Most of the visitors today were Branta canadensis/Canada Geese

Before Washington moved into the Isaac Potts House,
he lived in a tent until cabins were built for his troops; these are
reproductions of the Commander-in-Chief Guard huts

Time to head home before the sun sets.

Another time: Valley Forge II.