Valley Forge Artillery Park

Valley Forge Artillery Park, Valley Forge National Historic Park, Pennsylvania

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Valley Forge Artillery Park

In the last post we looked at a Continental Army Artillery unit at Red Bank in New Jersey.  Today we are going to the Valley Forge Artillery Park at Valley Forge National Historic Park, twenty miles northwest of Philadelphia.  Valley Forge was the site of the 1777-78 winter encampment of the Continental Army which followed the unsuccessful attempt by Washington to retake Philadelphia.  Although this was a “winter” camp, the Continental Army actually stayed there for exactly six months, not leaving until the middle of June 1778.

During this period, a few cannon were spread around the area in defensive positions.  These redoubts, like the rest of the encampment were of a temporary nature being basically simple earthwork structures. However, the majority of the Artillery was stored in a central location.  This allowed for the speedy deployment of the guns to which ever part of the encampment it was needed.  The camp roads, though, were deep in mud and the horses starving. It may be fortunate that an attack never came.

Valley Forge Artillery Park, Valley Forge National Historic Park, Pennsylvania

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With the cannon placed in this central location, the head of the Artillery, Brigadier General Henry Knox was, though, able to make repairs to the guns and drill his men, who were encamped nearby, throughout the winter.  The official crew for each cannon consisted of 14 or 15 men necessitating precise teamwork.  As we saw in the last post, though, the guns were more often manned with less than this full compliment.

Summary

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Valley Forge Artillery Park

Description

The Valley Forge Artillery Park was used during the winter of 1777-78 to allow speedy deployment to wherever it was needed within the camp

Author

Mark Summerfield

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Mark Summerfield

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