Western Outer Defenses

G) Poor's Brigade

    On the left of the picture is the view looking left down the line from the approximate encampment area of Poor's brigade.  It and some other units had participated in the successful Saratoga campaign, then marched south to reinforce Washington's army.  You can see the tour road wind back to the rear.  Not visible, the National Memorial Arch commemorating the army's entrance into Valley Forge stands in the woods on the left of the picture where the Gulph Road crosses the ridge.  The ridge beyond is the area previously shown in the previous section, "Eastern Outer Defenses".

    On the right of the picture you can see the reconstructions of Poor's huts.  You can also see the hill beyond where Wayne's division encamped.  It is the steepest and most easily defended section of the outer line.

H) Wayne's Division

This is the view from the center of Wayne's sector.  In the woods behind the camera are the remains of a lunette and depressions marking cabin locations, but the area is closed to the public.  In all likelihood they survived because the land was unsuitable for farming and was allowed to grow up. 

I) View to the South and West

    This is the view looking off the right flank of Wayne's encampment.  Mount Joy, which was a prominent part of the inner defenses, is visible on the right side of the picture.  The setting sun roughly marks the gap in which Valley Creek flows down past Washington's Headquarters to the Schuylkill.  Mount Misery rises beyond the gap.

    You can see the North and South Valley Hills come together in the distance in the center of the picture.  Wayne's hill was actually on the eastern end of the North Valley Hills.  The Valley continues nearly to Lancaster, and is called the Great Valley or Chester Valley.  It contained some of Pennsylvania's best farmland, and the Valley Forge encampment was well placed to protect it and the nearby iron furnaces.  The South Valley Hills shown here had been scene to the Battle of the Clouds and the Paoli "Massacre".   

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