The image of George Washington praying at Valley Forge is iconic in America. I recently completed the Valley Forge Historic Trail Hike and found that nothing about this famous incident was even mentioned on the 10 mile trek through the site.
I also have recollections (perhaps in error) that Washington had some semi-public conflicts with religious leaders of his day. If that is the case then it seems to bring into question the popular notion of Washington as a pious figure or at least the idea that his piety was conventional.
So my question is do historians think that the existing evidence supports the idea that the famous prayer actually occurred? Does the evidence support that idea that Washington was the sort of man who would seek divine guidance through prayer? I understand that it is highly unlikely that we will have direct evidence of the event, so I am interested in what can best be known with the evidence we have.
The image of George Washington praying at Valley Forge is iconic in America
Is it? I completely disagree. The famous painting you are referring to is Arnold Friberg's The Prayer at Valley Forge was actually painted in 1975 and its closer to being a thing of pop-culture than actual American heritage. Being two entire centuries removed from when Washington actually was at Valley Forge completely shows that the image is an artist's rendition of what he supposed Washington was doing -- however, no evidence suggests that he actively prayed (inside or out) during this period. We have over 30,000 pages of his writings from his life, including letters, journal entries, and public writing and almost none discuss Christianity, Jesus, or provide any inclination of a serious Christian faith.
In fact several people who knew him best remarked that they doubted that Washington was a Christian at all, and likely held deistic beliefs, although that has been a subject of debate between historians. What is clear, is that Washington's personal faith in religion would not have been a recognizable one by today's Christians, since he seemed to be inclined to believing that his God was rather impersonal. [Ron Chernow: Washington: A life Penguine Books. 2010. pp 131]. Here's how Ron Chernow introduced the topic of Washington's faith in his highly respected biography of the general:
Many mysteries have surrounded george washington's religious beliefs. A pair of notable acquaintances raised questions about his faith. Thomas Jefferson once remarked cynically that Washington, "has divines [ministers] constantly about him because he thinks it right to keep up appearances but is an unbeliever." Jefferson contended that when Washington stepped down as president, a group of clergy-men presented him wit haha list of requests to bolster public faith in Christianity; they noted he had refrained from public endorsements of the tenants of christianity and beseeched him to declare openly his beliefs. According to Jefferson, "the old fox was too conning" for the preachers and replied to all their points except the one about his personal faith... Bishop William White of Pennsylvania, Washington's pastor during his presidency in Philadelphia, also stated, "I do not believe that any degree of recollection will being to mind any fact which would prove General Washington to have been a believer in Christian revelation." [Chernow:pp 131]
That said, this painting is obviously an attempt to make the general seem more Christian than he actually was. This should not come as a surprise because people, since Washington died, have tried to make him out to be more religious than he actually was. George Washington's own museum today, which hosts one of the most respected digital encyclopedias of early America even refutes this image, saying:
Images of bloody footprints in the snow, soldiers huddled around lonely campfires, and Washington on his knees, praying that his army might survive often come to mind when people hear the words "Valley Forge." But truer images of the place would show General Washington using the time between December 1777 and June 1778 to train his men and to fight to maintain his position as the head of the Continental Army.
This is to say, we don't know for a fact either way if General Washington prayed outside at any point during this period, but there are no accounts from himself or his soldiers that he did so.
Please let me know if you have any follow ups!
