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The Muster Roll Project

The Valley Forge Muster Roll, a project of the Valley Forge Park Alliance, is dedicated to those who were at winter quarters from December 19, 1777, to June 19, 1778.  The Continental Army used monthly muster rolls to track the army’s strength.  Each roll contains names, ranks, dates of enlistment, and other notes on soldiers’ assignments, activities, or conditions.

New entries are welcomed based on providing the following kinds of primary documentation.  You may also contact us to provide additional information about individuals that are currently listed on the Valley Forge Muster Roll.

Detail from General George Washington during the Philadelphia Campaign 1777 by Don Troiani

 

Suggested documentation

To be added to the Valley Forge Muster Roll, please provide the following primary documentation:

  • Payroll stub
  • Application for a Pension
  • Discharge papers
  • Original Muster Roll records

Please send documentation to musterroll@vfparkalliance.org  or mail to:

Valley Forge Park Alliance
Attention: Muster Roll
P.O. Box 117
Valley Forge, PA 19481

 

For additional information in authenticating your ancestry, please visit www.fold3.com.


Quote of the Month

 

Instructions to Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Hamilton,  21 September 1777

 

Instructions to Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Hamilton

                                                                                                                       [c.21 September 1777]

Sir,

The distressed situation of the army for want of blankets and many necessary articles of Cloathing, is truly deplorable; and must inevitably be destructive to it, unless a speedy remedy be applied. Without a better supply than they at present have, it will be impossible for the men to support the fatigues of the campaign in the further progress of the approaching inclement season. This you well know to be a melancholy truth. It is equally the dictate of common sense and the opinion of the Physicians of the army as well as, of every officer in it. No supply can be drawn from the public magazines—We have therefore no resource but from the private stock of individuals. I feel, and I lament, the absolute necessity of requiring the inhabitants to contribute to those wants which we have no other means of satisfying, and which if unremoved, would involve the ruin of the army, and perhaps the ruin of America. Painful as it is to me to order and as it will be to you to execute the measure, I am compelled to desire you immediately to proceed to Philadelphia, and there procure from the inhabitants, contributions of blankets and Cloathing and materials to answer the purposes of both; in proportion to the ability of each. This you will do with as much delicacy and discretion as the nature of the business demands; and I trust the necessity will justify the proceeding in the eyes of every person well affected to the American cause; and that all good citizens will chearfully afford their assistance to soldiers, whose sufferings they are bound to commisserate, and who are eminently exposed to danger and distress, in defense of every thing they ought to hold dear.

Given. (This is the beginning of the phrase used in most closings to General Washington’s instructions:  “Given under my hand.”)

 

Personalized Muster Roll Certificate and Mug

Commemorate your distinguished heritage with personalized products specific to your ancestor.

To Purchase: Click here to search the Muster Roll for your ancestor. Click MORE DETAILS. Scroll to the bottom of the page to view information that will appear on your personalized Muster Roll Certificate and/or Muster Roll Mug.

Please visit Shop to view and purchase other encampment-related products.

 

Support the Muster Roll

This project, a fully volunteer operation, needs your support so that all of the soldiers that encamped at Valley Forge will be remembered well into our shared future. We welcome your support to maintain the Muster Roll as a free service so that everyone can discover or add to the legacy of the brave Americans at Valley Forge.

Add your name to the Honorary Muster Roll when you make a tax-deductible contribution of $20 or more. Thank you for your generosity.

Yours in Service to our Shared Heritage,
The Valley Forge Park Alliance

Painting courtesy of Don Troiani