George Washington's tent

General George Washington used a campaign tent (or marquee) throughout the American Revolutionary War. It is now part in the collection of the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia.[1]

History

In warm weather, Washington often used the linen tent as his military headquarters, for meetings, and as sleeping quarters. His enslaved valet William Lee also slept there.[2]

From the May-June, 1777 encampment at Middlebrook, New Jersey:

“The Army is now drawn together at this place, at least that part of it, which have been Cantoned all Winter in this state. The whole of them now Encamped in Comfortable Tents on a Valley covered in front and rear by ridges which affords us security. His excellency our good Old General, has also spread his Tent, and lives amongst us."[3]

The tent's pieces were inherited by Martha Washington's grandson, George Washington Parke Custis. He passed them on to his daughter, Mary Anna Custis Lee, and her husband, General Robert E. Lee.[1] Their enslaved housekeeper, Selina Norris Gray, kept the tent fabric safe when Union Army soldiers ransacked Arlington House during the American Civil War.[2] The tent was among the Washington artifacts seized by the federal government, and the grounds of Arlington House were converted into Arlington National Cemetery. It was nearly 40 years later, in 1901, that the tent and Washington artifacts were returned to the Lees' son, George Washington Custis Lee.[1]

In 1909, the tent was purchased by Reverend Dr. W. Herbert Burk for the Valley Forge Museum of American History, predecessor to the Valley Forge Historical Society.[4] It was exhibited in a museum on the grounds of the 1777-1778 Valley Forge encampment.[5]

Now described as the first "Oval Office,"[1] the surviving pieces of the tent will be on exhibit when the new Museum of the American Revolution opens on April 19, 2017.[6]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "The History of Washington's Headquarters Tent". Museum of the American Revolution. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  2. 1 2 Kahn, Eve (25 August 2016). "George Washington Really Slept Here. So Did His Slave.". New York Times. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  3. ↑ Gen. George Weedon to John Page, 31 May 1777 from the National Archives.
  4. ↑ Nye, James (31 July 2012). "Washington's tent among stunning artifacts in first ever museum dedicated to American Revolution". Daily Mail. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
  5. ↑ "Museum of the American Revolution enters the home stretch".
  6. ↑ Crimmins, Peter (3 December 2013). "Museum stages dress rehearsal for Gen. George Washington's tent". WHYY-FM. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
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