An Essential Position on the Front Line

An Essential Position on the Front Line. . You are standing on the front line of the Continental Army's Valley Forge encampment. General Peter Muhlenberg's Virginia brigade, one of 15 brigades at Valley Forge, held this ground. His troops protected this position by building and then guarding a system of closely spaced huts, defensive entrenchments, and redoubts, such as the earthen fortification up the path in front of you., These defensive works were called the Outer Line of Defense. The defenses seemed strong to the British, and they never attacked. But the Continental soldiers must have wondered, each night as they wearily crawled into their bunks, if the next day might bring an attack and if the defenses would hold., Peter Muhlenberg: The Fighting Parson , Peter Muhlenberg grew up nearby in a prominent Pennsylvania German family. After schooling and brief military service in Germany, he moved to Virginia's frontier to serve as a minister to a community of German-Americans. As war threatened, George Washington asked him to recruit and command a regiment. A natural leader, Muhlenberg enlisted 300 men in a day., Because most military units were raised from within a community, their troops shared experiences, outlooks, and even language. Although service in the Continental Army took these Virginians far from home, they shared a common heritage that might have eased the strain of eight years of war., Like many Revolutionary War officers, Muhlenberg later joined the young American experiment in democracy, serving in the first United States Congress and later as a senator from Pennsylvania., Captions: The system of earthworks augmented the natural topography of the area. High ground in a triangular shape surrounds a broad valley that was used as a training ground called the Grand Parade. The Outer Line of earthworks ran along the slight ridge on which you are standing. The ridge to the north of the valley overlooks the Schuylkill River: a defensive feature. The Inner Line of defense was built midway up Mount Joy, visible in the distance to your left. Thousands of closely spaced huts would have created an obstacle to an attack by the British., Attributed to John Trumbull, Private Collection