March-Out Commemoration 2024

Due to excessive heat forecasted for June 22, 2024, most March-Out activities will be held inside the Visitor Center at Valley Forge from 10 AM to 3 PM.

NPS Image / G. Purifoy

Join Us on Saturday, June 22, 2024!

What was it like to be a soldier getting ready to leave Valley Forge after six months of hardship, hard work, and training?

Visit Valley Forge National Historical Park between 10 AM and 3 PM on June 22, 2024 to learn this and more with a day of activities and programs commemorating the March-Out of the Continental Army—the day in June 1778 that the army finally left Valley Forge after a transformative six-month encampment.

Note: Due to excessive heat forecasted for Saturday, June 22, activities that were originally scheduled to take place at Artillery Park will be moved to the Visitor Center at Valley Forge. One black powder musket firing demonstration will take place at 11 AM at Muhlenberg's Brigade.

March-Out Activities at the Visitor Center

Originally planned along the Baptist Trace trail near Artillery Park, the nine activity stations will now be set up inside the Visitor Center at Valley Forge from 10 AM to 3 PM on Saturday, June 22, 2024.

NPS Image / G. Purifoy

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1. Information & Junior Ranger Check-In

Learn more about the day’s planned activities, pick up a Junior Ranger worksheet, and receive your special March-In junior ranger badge after exploring all of the activity stations.

2. Montgomery County History Pass

Sign up for the Montco History Pass, your passport to the historical homes, parks, and museums throughout Valley Forge and Montgomery County, PA, honoring the Revolutionary War and early Pennsylvania history. There are 15 historical sites included in the pass!

3. Ned Hector: Bombardier and Black Soldier AND
Black Powder Musket Firing Demonstrations (11 AM at Muhlenberg's Brigade)

Join living historian Noah Lewis (portraying Ned Hector, a Black soldier in the Continental Army) to learn about artillery, cannons, and drilling. Due to excessive heat, the black poder musket firing demostration originally scheduled for 2 PM has been canceled and the 11 AM demonstration is moved to Muhlenberg's Brigade.

4. Any Day Now

Join a ranger dressed in 18th century clothing to learn about the experiences of common soldiers as they prepared to leave the Valley Forge encampment in late spring of 1778.

5. Followers of the Army

Not everyone who camped at Valley Forge was a soldier in the Continental Army. Learn more about the hundreds of women and children at the encampment and how they supported the army.

6. Sickness and Disease at Valley Forge

Many civilians as well as army personnel battled disease during the encampment at Valley Forge. Even after the army marched away, sick soldiers remained under care in nearby hospitals.

7. The Valley Forge Muster Roll Project

The Valley Forge Muster Roll, a project of the Valley Forge Park Alliance, collects information about the soldiers who were camped at Valley Forge and maintains a searchable database online.

8. The March to Monmouth

Learn about the challenges faced by the American and British forces as they marched out of their winter encampments into New Jersey, and clashed nine days later at the Battle of Monmouth.

9. Colonel Spencer Lunchtime Program (12 PM to 1 PM)

Over the lunch hour, living historian Ken Gavin will present a first-person portrayal of Colonel Oliver Spencer in the Meeting Room at Valley Forge. Colonel Spencer was the commander of an Additional Continental Regiment made up of New Jersey troops.