The National Memorial Arch
At Valley Forge, a monumental stone arch honors George Washington and the Continental Army during the winter encampment of 1777–1778. Its scale gives a lasting public presence to an experience remembered for hardship, endurance, and the work of sustaining an army through the struggle for independence.
Washington’s troops arrived at Valley Forge on December 19, 1777, after a campaign that had left British forces occupying Philadelphia. The encampment became a place to regroup, build winter quarters, and prepare for the fighting ahead.
The soldiers faced shortages of food, clothing, and equipment. Illness added to their difficulties. Their survival depended on the efforts of soldiers, officers, civilians, and supply workers to obtain provisions and maintain the camp.
Completed in 1917, the National Memorial Arch commemorates the army’s arrival and service at Valley Forge. It stands along the route associated with the troops’ entrance into the encampment, placing the memorial within the landscape of the event it honors.
An inscription preserves Washington’s tribute to his men: “Naked and starving as they are, we cannot enough admire the incomparable patience and fidelity of the soldiery.” His words direct attention toward the soldiers whose persistence made the army’s continued existence possible.
The arch was built long after the Revolution, reflecting a later generation’s determination to commemorate that service. Its subject is an army that endured a difficult season and continued its work. At Valley Forge, that endurance became an essential part of how Americans remembered the achievement of independence.
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