Advance Redoubt

At Valley Forge, soldiers constructed earthen fortifications called redoubts, a French term meaning a place of retreat, and connected them by miles of entrenchments designed to strengthen the natural advantages of the terrain. These fortifications formed part of the carefully planned defensive system for the encampment. One of five redoubts, this position was placed to overlook the approach from Philadelphia, then occupied by the British, and to protect the far eastern end of the outer line of defense from attack. French General Louis Lebegue Duportail designed and mapped Valley Forge’s defensive system, which included redoubts on high points and miles of earthworks.

Chesterbrook, Pennsylvania · United States