Last updated: April 5, 2024
Place
Redoubt 3
NPS Photo / Gregory Purifoy
Quick Facts
Location:
East Inner Line Drive in Valley Forge National Historical Park
Significance:
Site of an earthworks defensive fortification built by the Continental Army to defend the Valley Forge encampment.
Designation:
Stop 6 on the self-guided Encampment Tour
Amenities
4 listed
Cellular Signal, Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Parking - Auto, Wheelchair Accessible
Redoubt 3 is the site of a partially reconstructed earthworks fortification originally constructed by Continental troops during the encampment and designed to help defend the camp from potential attack from the south.
To build the structure, a deep ditch was excavated in front and the dirt was heaped into gabions - baskets of interwoven branches. Bundles of branches called fascines were then piled both outside and inside the wall of gabions, and the entire work was usually covered with sod in order to absorb cannon fire, though sod was scarce in the treeless, mud-churned encampment.
To build the structure, a deep ditch was excavated in front and the dirt was heaped into gabions - baskets of interwoven branches. Bundles of branches called fascines were then piled both outside and inside the wall of gabions, and the entire work was usually covered with sod in order to absorb cannon fire, though sod was scarce in the treeless, mud-churned encampment.