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Pulaski's Quarters Pulaski’s Quarters Brookmead Farm Quarters of Brig. Gen. Count Casimir Pulaski (1745-1779), Valley Forge Encampment, Winter of 1777-78. 267 Walker Road, Wayne, PA (Tredyffrin Township). While staying at Brookmead Farm, Pulaski drew up plans for the Cavalry and presented them to General Washington for approval. This proposed nomination would mark the house and barn serving as Quarters to Brigadier General Count Casimir Pulaski during the Valley Forge Encampment during the winter of 1777-78. Although Pulaski possessed a letter of recommendation from Benjamin Franklin from 1777, he did not receive his command until after the Battle of Brandywine. He then served in command of four light-horse dragoon brigades and worked to organize the cavalry and elevate its importance to Continental military strategy. Those dragoons did not have a permanent encampment site at Valley Forge, but may have been assigned to pickets or other duties. While at Valley Forge, Pulaski (painting by Jan Styka at left) worked to create or reorganize regulations for the fledgling cavalry command. The house may also have, for a brief time, quartered Brig. Gen. Enoch Poor, before he found more permanent winter quarters next door at the “Little Place Farm”. The barn on the property served as stables for the cavalry horses and a drill area during inclement weather. The barn hosted some of the earliest cavalry drills of the U.S. Army. Pulaski interrupted his stay at Valley Forge to seek adequate forage in winter quarters near Trenton, NJ, but elements of the 1st Continental Dragoons remained behind. Pulaski returned to the Beaver house after assisting Brig. Gen. Anthony Wayne (stationed across the street) on foraging duty in South Jersey. Wayne had crossed the Delaware into New Jersey on or about February 19, 1778. Pulaski’s cavalry unit aided Wayne and they succeeded in bringing desperately needed beef cattle back into the Valley Forge camp to feed the starving Continentals. The oldest parts of the house date to 1712. At the time of the Valley Forge Encampment, the owner was either John Beaver, a German immigrant (who may have died just prior to the encampment) or his son, Devault Beaver. The property has been known locally as Brookmead Farm. The Beaver family produced some 95 descendants who lived in the house until 1862. Pulaski, born to a noble family in Warsaw, Poland on March 6, 1745, served as one of the leading military commanders of the Poles in the uprising of the Bar Confederation (1768-1772). He recruited the Pulaski Cavalry Legion in March of 1778, consisting of mostly German soldiers and was stationed in Baltimore. He died October 11, 1779 aboard the USS Wasp of wounds received during the Battle of Savannah, Georgia. Pulaski’s Quarters Brookmead Farm Birthplace of the U.S. Cavalry This house and barn served as Headquarters and training grounds for cavalry troops under the Command of Brig. Gen. Count Casimir Pulaski during the Valley Forge Encampment in the winter of 1777-78. Here, Pulaski drew up plans for an infantry and cavalry unit that later became the celebrated Pulaski Legion. Born in Warsaw, Poland in 1745, Pulaski died fighting for the American cause at the Battle of Savannah, Georgia in 1779. 4. Roadside type Bibliography Bodle, Wayne, The Valley Forge Winter: Civilians and Soldiers in War (University Park, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press: 2002). Bodle, Wayne and Thibaut, Jacqueline. Valley Forge Historical Research Report, Volumes I, II, III. (United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Valley Forge, PA 1980-1982). Gloucester County (NJ) Historical Society, Foraging for Valley Forge by General Wayne in Salem and Gloucester Counties, New Jersey, with Associated Happenings and Foraging in Salem County for the British Army in Philadelphia by Colonel Mahwood and Major Simcoe, 1778 (Woodbury, NJ, 1929). MacNeill, Henry T. & MacNeill, Aimee Junker, Valley Forge Landmarks, including General’s Quarters during the time of the Encampment, 1777-1778 (Stephen Moylan Press, Whitford, Chester County, PA, 1958). Pinkowski, Edward, Washington’s Officers Slept Here: Historic Homes of Valley Forge and Its Neighborhood (Sunshine Press, Philadelphia, PA 1953). Szymanski, Leszek. Casimir Pulaski: A Hero of the American Revolution (Hippocrene Books, NY 1994). Sachse, Julius. “Reminiscences of Old Chester County” Daily Village Record, West Chester, PA October 6, 1888. Sachse, Julius. “Masonic Lodges: The First One in Our County.” Daily Village Record, West Chester, PA June 8, 1887. Trussell, John B. B. Jr. Birthplace of an Army: A Study of the Valley Forge Encampment (Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission, Harrisburg, PA 1990). Woodman, Henry. The History of Valley Forge, with a biography of the author and the author’s father who was a soldier with Washington at Valley Forge during the winters of 1777 and 1778 (John U. Francis Sr., Oaks, PA 1922). The proposed location site for the marker would be on Walker Road on the property. Please see attached site map. The house stands on the north side of Walker Road, house number 267, in Tredyffrin Township, Chester County. The nearest major highways are Route 202 and Route 252. Wayne, PA is 4.9 miles and Paoli, PA is 5 miles away. The Devon Train Station (Paoli-Thorndale Line) is 2.7 miles distant. Pulaski Quarters ± ^_ Proposed Plaque Location Legend Pulaski Quarters Parcels Sources: Esri, HERE, DeLorme, USGS, Intermap, increment P Corp., NRCAN, Esri Japan, METI, Esri China (Hong Kong), Esri (Thailand), MapmyIndia, © OpenStreetMap contributors, and the GIS User Community 0 250 500 1,000 1,500 Feet Matthew L. Forester Chairman, Tredyffrin Township Historical Commission 274 Anthony Wayne Drive Wayne, PA 19087 484-683-5566 [email protected] State Senator Andrew E. Dinniman (19th District) State Representative: Warren Kampf (157th Legislative District) Frank Parisi Owner 267 Walker Road, Wayne, PA 19087 .
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