Cub Scout Pack
2002 Boy Scout Pilgrimage at Valley Forge
2002 Valley Forge Pilgrimage Patch The 91st Annual Boy Scout Pilgrimage was held on Saturday, February 16, 2002. The entire range of the Valley Forge National Historical Park was open that day for Scouts and leaders to enjoy. Registration for those attending the Pilgrimage was open at 8:00 AM at the Visitor Center parking lot, Route 23 and North Gulph Road. The opening ceremony began promptly at 9:30 AM at the Amphitheater. Following the opening ceremony, the Scouts and Scouters experienced and observed how the Continental Army dealt with the shortages of necessities that existed within the winter encampment at Valley Forge in 1777 - 1778. This year's program dealt with the role of Christopher Ludwig, Baker General. Prior to the American Revolution, Christopher Ludwig (an immigrant from the German States) was a commercial baker in Philadelphia. During the war he served as Washington's baker-general. (His official papers are held by the Historical Society of PA.) He was charged with recruiting other bakers to work the army's ovens. There were really two types - bake houses that were stationary and were used to produce products like hard bread that could be stored in barrels until needed by the soldiers, and the portable ovens that traveled with the army so that soft leavened bread could be baked and served where the soldiers were. He also had to provide the flour for the operation. This meant that he was on the road much of the time dealing with millers, and farmers to buy flour for the army. While he traveled, he observed, and even spied for Washington's Army. He once volunteered to show all the German (Hessian) prisoners of war the glories of American cities and farms so they would join our side and not return to the British when they were freed. He had a true American spirit. After the war he worked hard and acquired considerable wealth which he invested in property in Philadelphia and Germantown (He had a large farm there). The wealth from these endeavors was channeled into a fund managed by the Lutheran Church to educate orphan boys in and around Philadelphia (shades of Stephen Girard). This fund functioned well into the 20th Century. After the closing ceremony, the Scouts were urged to travel through the park, on their own, and to visit Washington's Headquarters, the Visitor Center, the Washington Memorial Chapel, The World of Scouting Museum, and/or take advantage of the Valley Forge Historical Trail. The Pilgrimage registration fee, for each participant, included a patch that is unique to Scouting's longest running annual event in any local council in the Boy Scouts of America. The first Pilgrimage was in 1911! |
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