Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1903-06-18
Valley Forge Day.


day and Patriots day, earlier in the
spring; and, today, is Valley Forge
day. 1t is the 125th anniversary of the
day when Washington led the rem
nants of his army from the camp along
the heights of the Schuylkill where
they had suffered untold privations and
hardship through the winter and
| spring. The march from that camp
left literally trail of blood, but it was
| a march which did not end until the
surrender of Lord CORVALLIS at York
| town.
Valley Forge day is not yet celebrated
| and in no state is it a legal holiday,
| but there are very few anniversaries
| which appeal more strongly to the
| heart of the patriotic student of Amer
lean history. Pennsylvania, to its
| credit, after a century and a Quarter
| of neglect, is to make Valley Forge
| state park and there is chance that
| Congress will make the park national.
| This spring the legislature of Pennsyl-
| vania appropriated STA, 500 to be used in
! extending the limits of the present
| park, which was begun in 1877. 1t is
| intended to restore the sacred spot to
| the condition it was in at the time of
the heroic self-sacrifice of the Revolu-
| tionary army. The intrenchments will
| be cleared of the century and a quar-
| ter accumulation of rubbish that al
most obliterates their lines. To the
| 210 acres now onwned by the state are
| to be added 500 additional acres, so
| that every foot of the famous camp
may come under the control of the
state. The park will be dedicated to-
| day, with elaborate ceremony. Fa-
| chorus of 500 voices has been trained
| for the occasion.
| There never was a more fearful epoch
| in the history of the nation that that
of Valley Forge. The new government
hung by thread, the thread of a single
man, George Washington. There was
no glamour of glory to tighten the bur
den OF suffering, no excitement of bat
tie to spur men through the sloughs of
I there on thesnninviting heights along
the s;chuylkilt and freeze and starve.
| many to the very death, others pulling
| through with tortures worse than
| death. And after months of that, the
band of patriots followed Washington
in pursuit of Corvallis. One must
remember that Washington's COM
| mand ut this time numbered only H.
900 men. Four thousand of them were
Not more than 5000 of the whole num-
| Der could be considered effective fight
ing men. The well fed and clothed
| British threatened from nearby Phil
adelphia, and the danger of a sudden
| attack added to their cup of bitter
ness. Yet, amidst all this suffering,
| day after day" writes Losing in one
of his Revolutionary histories, 'sur-
rounded by frost and snow, patriotism
was still warm and hopeful in the
hearts of the soldiers, and the love of
self was merged in the holy sentiment
| of love of country. 1t WAS one of tn.
] most trying scenes in the life of
Washington; but cloud of doubt sell
| dom darkencd the serene atmosphere of
| his hopes. He knew that the cause
was just and holy and his faith and
| confidence in God as Il defender and
| helper of the right were as steady in
their manifestations of vigor to his soul
| as were the pulsatioEs of his heart to
| his limbs, In perfect reliance upon
| Divine Providence he moved in the
| midst of crushed hopes and planned
brilliant schemes for the future
a writer in the New York Tribune
writes rs follows regarding the pres
ent condition of the famous camping
ground:
'To the visitors who toll uD the hill
| to the Entertainments of Valley Forge,
after q visit to the quaint little house
| in which Washington made his head
quarters, the most astonishing thing
about the CnC&mDmCnt is that Il CEN
fury and Il quarter of effort by the clc-
mcntS has failed to make any impress
on the solid carthWorks. The rifle pits
are filled with dead leaves, trees have
grown. on the hills that We're once
cleared of timber in order to give the
sharpSho Il view of the points in
danger of attack, and some of the ad-
v9rced posts are distinguishablc only
because of the signs describing them:
but the lines of the trenches are as
plainly observable as though Wash
ingtons army had only just marched
out of camp. Fort Huntington, with
its fringe Of tall trees stands grim as
eve" in the foreground as one looks
down from an angle of the intrcnCh-
ments. and it requires little imagina-
ton to see the mouths of the cannon
pointing out of the embrasurcS ana the
ClCam OF tho SentrV'S bn Tonpt as he