Pennsylvania - Day 5 - Valley Forge

French Creek State Park, PA
Thursday, 5 April 2018

This morning's weather report told me two things: that I'd better go see what I can get to in the next 2 days because snow's coming, and that I need to remake my plans for touring PA.

Regarding the first, I saw from the map that I was close to Valley Forge National Historical Park, which I've planned to visit, and I knew I was close to Reading because I bypassed it on the way here, and the tour books I've picked up told me it's a place worth visiting.  So today I went to Valley Forge, tomorrow to Reading.

The impression I've retained all these years since Mrs. McDonald's 8th grade history class is that the significance of Valley Forge is the terrible winter and how the Continental Army survived to go on to win the Revolution.  And it was a bad winter but that isn't the point in my newly-taught mind.  In the time Washington's army was camped here, former Prussian officer Baron von Steuben spent the time training the men.  The 12,000 men (and 400 women and children) came into the winter as separate militias from the different colonies.  They all had different backgrounds and training and ideas about how things should be done.  An army they weren't.  Von Steuben changed all that.  He taught them military skills and tactics and how to fight as an army.  They began December 1777 as militias and left in May 1778 as an army.  And that may be a key reason the Revolution was won.  

Of course there were many others - France and Spain and Holland coming in with troops and navies and money to help out.  But the training helped the men see that they were fighting for a country, as much as for their homes and colonies, and that idea made a difference.

And though the winter was indeed bad, it wasn't the worst they encountered.  The problem at Valley Forge was that Washington decided to keep everybody together, to make the army easier to defend from the British, who had taken over Philadelphia which was only a day's march away.  But with so many people living in such close quarters, disease was a huge problem.  Washington insisted on smallpox vaccinations (did you know they were available back then?), but 2,000 people still died, mostly from typhus and diphtheria.  That's more than 10% - serious casualties for no fighting.  And that war dragged on for 5 more years.

reconstructed army huts

reconstructed redoubt

There's not a lot of the original camp left because after the army left, the local townspeople took apart the buildings to use the wood and plowed under the fortifications to plant crops.  

Tomorrow I'll go see the historic neighborhoods in Reading.

When I started on the road this morning I was happy to hear WHYY.  I'm so used to listening to specific NPR programs that originated there, I forgot it's an actual station and it's in Philadelphia, which I'm now close enough to that it's my local NPR station.  It was nice.

I learned by taking the scenic route again that this area is sort of horse country.  Down the road from here are several horse farms, an equine auction place, and a home for aged equines (according to their sign).  I didn't expect it.

Gracie on her bed

Dexter

Several people have asked me about my pet arrangements.  The cats stay in their crate when we're on the road, and stay anywhere they want (besides my bed) when we're not.  The dogs move around, mostly staying on one bed or another - one under the table and the others between the front seats.  I tried to do a better job of laying out these photos but ran out of patience before I could make this stupid program put things where I want them.   You can figure it out, I'm sure.

the cats taken from the driver's seat

closer view - I tried to edit out Jasper's eye problem