Ex-FBI Agent Turned True Crime Novelist Investigates Valley Forge’s Little-Known Monuments
by Melissa Jacobs
Can you name the monuments in Valley Forge National Historical Park? If you’ve ever been in the park, you probably know the National Memorial Arch, Gen. Anthony Wayne, and General Baron von Steuben’s monuments, and possibly the Patriots of African Descent.
If you are a Valley Forge aficionado, you may know the Washington statue tucked behind Washington’s Headquarters, and some of the brigade monuments. But do you know about Nathanael Greene, John Waterman … or the Chicken Thief? Those stories and many, many more are included in John W. Whiteside III’s new book, Valley Forge Monuments: Soldiers, History, Lore.
Organized into six sections as a walking tour that starts from Valley Forge Visitor’s Center, Valley Forge Monuments chronicles the stories behind the statuary and markers that tell the story of the encampment at Valley Forge. “I placed them in groups of monuments – even though they aren’t found together – such as statues, grand monuments, state monuments, and brigade monuments,” Whiteside explained. “There are wonderful stories about each of the monuments and I made an effort to touch on those stories in each chapter of the book.”
Whiteside decided to write the book when he realized that Valley Forge Park doesn’t have a current, up-to-date monument map. The Valley Forge National Historical Park Monument Map was last published in May 2013. Whiteside spent two years researching the monuments, inspired by his volunteer work with Valley Forge Park Alliance and its Valley Forge Muster Roll, a digital archive of the people who served with Gen. Washington during the Valley Forge encampment of 1777-1778. Whiteside has another special connection to Washington’s army: his fifth and sixth great grandfathers were in the New Jersey militia.
Walking in their footsteps, Whiteside provides a much-needed guide book for Valley Forge Park. He is donating a portion of the book’s proceeds to Valley Forge Park Alliance, and he writes for the Muster Roll and leads monument walks for VFPA. For his service, the Valley Forge Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution honored Whiteside with the DAR Community Service Award in June 2026.
“My interest in the Revolutionary War started at an early age,” Whiteside said. “After joining the Boy Scouts in 1959, my troop attended several camporees at Valley Forge, which were my first trips there. Since that time, and after learning that I am a descendant of a number of militia who served during the Revolutionary War, my interest in Valley Forge exploded.”
Valley Forge Monuments is Whiteside’s fourth book. The other three are true-crime stories based on cases that he investigated during his 30-year career as a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigations.
Cypress Shade details Whiteside’s experiences in the Mississippi Delta, where he worked as an FBI agent from 1972-1975. “It documents crimes from police corruption to murder to civil rights issues,” Whiteside said. Missing In Matagami is about the search for a 23-year old singer named Laurie Baier who disappeared in 1977. Fool’s Mate is about a Soviet espionage case that Whiteside investigated from 1992-1997 while posted in a Newtown Square satellite office of the FBI. “It is an exciting spy case that shows the extent the FBI will go to prosecute someone who has betrayed their country,” Whiteside said.
Valley Forge Monuments is a departure from Whiteside’s other books, but it put his investigative skills to good use. He found great, somewhat hidden monuments, like the John Armstrong monument on the River Trail near the back of Washington Memorial Chapel. “One must hike through woods and poison ivy to see it, and then take a secondary trail,” Whiteside explained. “Almost directly across the river is the Sullivan’s Bridge monument, which can only be seen by walking that trail.”
Whiteside hopes that Valley Forge Monuments will be of use to people who visit the park every day, and to the tourists expected in 2027. “The park did a nice job celebrating the 250th birthday of the United States,” he said. “I hope that the park puts on an even bigger show next year as we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the encampment.”
For more information, visit johnwhitesidebooks.com.
Melissa Jacobs serves on the board of directors of Valley Forge Park Alliance.
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