Training for Victory
Like a drill sergeant, Inspector General Friedrich von Steuben trains eyeball to eyeball with a company of Continentals. This model company must serve as an example to the rest of Washington’s army.
The Grand Parade, here at the center if the encampment, is the only terrain expansive enough for drilling massed brigades. In simulated battle, Steuben sends troops back and forth across rough ground, preparing for the impending campaign against the British.
“Fix…bayonets”
Steuben stressed bayonet drill. Before this time, the Americans had never been trained in close fighting. Yet bayonet charges decided the outcome of most battles in the 18th century.
Marker is at the intersection of Valley Forge Road (Pennsylvania Route 23) and Inner Line Drive, on the right when traveling east on Valley Forge Road.
Courtesy hmdb.org
