Day 7, 12/19/1777–George Washington and the Continental Army march out of the Gulph Mills Encampment and on to Valley Forge

Day 7, 12/19/1777–George Washington and the Continental Army march out of the Gulph Mills Encampment and on to Valley Forge

Gulph Mills Encampment, Day 6, Dec. 18, 1777 — George Washington’s Army celebrates the new nation’s first Thanksgiving at Rebel Hill and Gulph Mills and prepares to set up camp at Valley Forge; the French King officially recognizes the new United States

Day 5 of the Gulph Mills Encampment, 12/17/1777: George Washington issues inspirational orders announcing the move to Valley Forge and prepares for the nation’s first Thanksgiving celebration.

Day 5 of the Gulph Mills Encampment, 12/17/1777: George Washington issues inspirational orders announcing the move to Valley Forge and prepares for the nation’s first Thanksgiving celebration.

Letter from George Washington’s aide-de-camp, John Fitzgerald, to Major John Clark, Jr., 12/16/1777, on the location of winter quarters for the Continental Army. [Library of Congress, George …

Letter from George Washington's aide-de-camp, John Fitzgerald, to Major John Clark, Jr., 12/16/1777, on the location of winter quarters for the Continental Army. On this Day 4 of the Gulph Mills Encampment, tents finally arrived to shield the soldiers from the weather. Up to this point, they made lean-to's from branches, leaves, and mud to sleep and to stay in. The Continental Army soldiers also captured some British soldiers during one of the several encounters that the pickets had with British soldiers out foraging or spying on the Continental Army.

Strength Return showing soldiers at Gulph Mills, 12/15/1777; Brigadier General James Varnum’s Brigade Perhaps the greatest highlight of my research on my new award-winning book, Threshold to Valley Forge: The Six Days of the Gulph Mills Encampment, was the discovery of this document pictured above, which was the first original document that I found that actually showed soldiers at Gulph Mills. This document is the strength return from Brigadier General James Varnum, from Rhode Island, showing the number of his soldiers who actually were in Gulph Mills. I had never before seen a document where a Revolutionary War officer or soldier wrote the words--the Gulf, or Gulph Mills.

Orderly Book, Brigadier Gen. John Glover; 12/14/1777 from “the Gulph”; Library of Congress, Manuscript Room On December 14, 1777, the condition of the 11,000 members of the Continental Army at Gulp…

Orderly Book, Brigadier Gen. John Glover; 12/14/1777 from “the Gulph”; Library of Congress, Manuscript Room On December 14, 1777, the condition of the 11,000 members of the Continental Army at Gulph Mills and Rebel Hill was one of extreme hardship. The soldier's tents were not to arrive for two more days. There was little, if any food. Dr. Albigence Waldo, Surgeon General to the Continental Army and a member of a Connecticut Brigade wrote, "Prisoners and Deserters are continually coming in. The Army which has been surprisingly healthy hitherto, now begins to grow sickly from the continued fatigues they have suffered this Campaign.

Rebel Hill and Gulph Mills This blog post is in honor of the Gulph Mills Encampment–the six days in December that General George Washington and the Continental Army spent in my home, Rebel Hi…

Rebel Hill and Gulph Mills This blog post is in honor of the Gulph Mills Encampment--the six days in December that General George Washington and the Continental Army spent in my home, Rebel Hill in Gulph Mills, Pa., starting on this day in 1777.  I am commemorating that by posting a blog for each of the six days.  I first started writing about the Gulph Mills Encampment in my mini-e book, Six Days in December: General George Washington's and the Continental Army's Encampment on Rebel Hill, December 13 - 19, 1777…

Rebel Hill and Gulph Mills This blog post is in honor of the Gulph Mills Encampment--the six days in December that General George Washington and the Continental Army spent in my home, Rebel Hill in Gulph Mills, Pa., starting on this day in 1777.  I am commemorating that by posting a blog for each of the six days.  I first started writing about the Gulph Mills Encampment in my mini-e book, Six Days in December: General George Washington's and the Continental Army's Encampment on Rebel Hill, December 13 - 19, 1777…

The Gulph Mills Encampment Chronicles: Dec. 12, 1777, the Continental Army begins its delayed march in to Gulph Mills.

Battle of Matson’s Ford, December 11, 1777

Battle of Matson’s Ford, December 11, 1777

The Continental Army prepares to leave Whitemarsh to march into Gulph Mills, PA, 12/10/1777

The Continental Army prepares to leave Whitemarsh to march into Gulph Mills, PA, 12/10/1777

Podcast on the lead up to the Threshold to Valley Forge: The Six Days of the Gulph Mills Encampment

Podcast on the lead up to the Threshold to Valley Forge: The Six Days of the Gulph Mills Encampment

Join us at the historic Rededication Ceremony of the historic Gulph Mills Encampment Monument, 12/16, 10am! I will be giving brief remarks. Thanks to the PA Society of Sons of the Revolution for movin...

Imagine, if you will, back to 1892 – Grover Cleveland was elected U.S. President, Ellis Island first opened as an immigration station, the Sierra Club was founded by John Muir, and our fledgling Socie...

Join us at the historic Rededication Ceremony of the historic Gulph Mills Encampment Monument, 12/16, 10am! I will be giving brief remarks. Thanks to the PA Society of Sons of the Revolution for moving the monument back to the base of Rebel Hill and for supporting my book, Threshold to Valley Forge: The Six Days of The Gulph Mills Encampment.