The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-01-25

quarters stood. The building has now
been demolished. A few feet from
there is the bubbling spring from
which the troops obtained their water.
A step below, on the farther side of
the stream. is the site of the old forge,
built in l757, from which the spot takes
its name. Near this spot, extending in
a Zigzag line north and south for
quarter of a mile, are remains of the
old entertainments thrown up by the
troops. They are still easily distin-
guished by the irregular and scattered
heaps of stones and the uneven eleva
ton of the greensward.
To the right of the old entertainments
are the foundation stones and decayed
timbers of Fort Washington, which
once served as the eastern bulWark of
the camp About a quarter of a mile
from this spot may be seen the head
quarters used by Knox, while on the
other side of Valley Creek is the site
of Lafayette's headquarters, where the
original buildings still stand, little
changed by the years.
TWO FAMOUS MOUNTS.
The new park would include nearly
all the spots that have been made IA
nous by history. Mount Joy and Mount
Misery, two of the most interesting ele-
vations on the place, would certainly
be included, for these little hills meant
much to the ragged troops who fought
death by disease and starvation SO
pravely during the crucial winter of
1777 and 1878.
It was just after the disastrous bat
ties of the Brandywine and Germantown
that they went into camp and six
months of terrible suffering followed.
In a recent address DR.. Paxton called
it the Rebellion of the Stomach"
Never" he said, has an army gone
through such privations. It was man
kinds great struggle for liberty and
the grounds on which they fought this
terrible fight tell the story in mute
but powerful way"
To describe the horrors of that win
ter in detail would be almost unneces-
sary.. Every child who has read the
history of the country knows of the
dreary huts in which the Continental
soldiers suffered. Ragged and half
starved, and without shoes, blankets or
proper clothing, they slept through the
winter on the bare earth. In the day
! time they left footprints of blood on
the frozen ground. Then came disease
| to add its terrorS to those of famine
| and cold. the fevers that burned the
body and the chills that racked the
! bones, and then, as if this was not
| enough to try any ordinary spirit of
patriotism, the smallpox that all feared
and no one understood. Under such
| circumstances it is not strange that
| Gen. Varnum should have written to
Gen. Greene, in January, 177S: I'm all
human probability the army must dis
solve
est. If it had not been for the per-
sonality Of Washington, the discordant
elements in the army would have con-
quered and the fight for liberty would
have ended. AS it was, however, the
troops remained to suffer as a means OF
| preparation for the glorious victories
that followed this hard experience.
Upon one elevation, within short
| walk of the headquarters, rested
| Wayne's command, the Philadelphia
| troops. Alongside of these lay SCOTS
| Eirginians, Poor's New Workers and
G1over's Massachusetts minutemen. Al
| the end of the line, thanked by a re-
doubt that commanded the Schuylkill
was Muhlenberg. From Wayne's head
quarters to Woodford and from Valley
! Creek to this redoubt on the SchuylSill
with memories and associations that
are sacred to all true Americans than
any similar field in the country.
Under such circumstances it is not
strange that there should be men and
| women ready to go to any expense and
trouble to make this field public park
F, The strange thing is that it has not
been done before Now that the move
ment has been started, however, it is
not probable that anything viii stop it
The women of the country saved Mt
| Vernon; the women restored 1ndepen-
| dence Hall, so who shall say that they
| will not succeed in securing Valley
| Forge to make it lasting monument
| to the heroism of the men who wreste6
the American colonies from the domin-
ion of the British king?
Already the officials of the Quaker
City Chapter of the Daughters of the
American Revolution have been notified
that they have the hearty support Of
| their sister chapters, and other State:
whose men formed part of the Cont
mental army stand ready to make ap
propriations to erect monuments t.
their troops as soon as the ground hai
! been acquired.