Photo of the Day: National Memorial Arch, Valley Forge, PA

As the 1777-78 winter encampment of the Continental Army, Valley Forge has come to symbolize crises and what Thomas Paine called “the times that try men’s souls” in American history. I have visited the National Historic Park commemorating this legendary period in American life twice, most recently in October 2012.

I was so impressed by the site’s National Memorial Arch that I took the accompanying photo. The arch's style is firmly in the tradition of Roman architecture meant to honor emperors—with the inspiration for this one hailing Emperor Titus’ 70 A.D. capture of Jerusalem. 

But Paul Philippe Cret’s design was motivated by a republican rather than imperial instinct. It honored not a leader who conquered, but one who endured—George Washington—and the polyglot force that faithfully followed him despite privation and a hard winter. 

Dedication ceremonies for this arch were conducted on June 19, 1917. More than a bit symbolically, it was held two months after Woodrow Wilson had persuaded Congress to declare war on Germany and its allies—coming to the aid of, among other countries, France, a nation that had given hope to the Continentals with the news, late in the encampment, that it would ally with the U.S. against England.

Photo of the Day: Monument Park, Fort Lee, NJ

I took the image accompanying this post late last July. It shows Monument Park in Fort Lee, NJ. At its dedication in 1909, General John "Black Jack" Pershing—within a decade, leader of the U.S. forces in World War I—attended the ceremony. 

This 727-acre site at Palisade Avenue and Angioletti Place was, during the American Revolution, part of Fort Constitution, manned by soldiers of the Continental Army under George Washington. As Winston Churchill would say later of the Royal Air Force, “Never was so much owed by so many to so few”—in this case, a mere 2,600 American troops against the mightiest imperial power of the late 18^th century. 

It’s a busy neighborhood—and even more so with all the development going on in town now—but I hope visitors park their cars and take a few minutes to sit in this park and remember what we owe these embattled soldiers from so long ago.