He hoped this would keep them warm since there were not enough blankets for everyone. Even worse, his quartermaster reported that he had just twenty-five barrels of flour and only a little salt pork to feed the entire army.
As Washington explained in a letter to Henry Laurens, the President of the Continental Congress, unless something was done quickly, "this Army might dissolve. Promising to "share in the hardship" and "partake of every inconvenience," Washington moved with his closest aides into a two-story stone house near Valley Forge Creek.
He complained of a "malignant faction," led by Horatio Gates , the hero of Saratoga , Thomas Mifflin, the nation's former Quartermaster General, and Thomas Conway, a French soldier of Irish descent, who had recently been named to the Board of War by Congress. Washington railed against the threesome, dubbed the "Conway Cabal" by later historians. Washington was able to shore up his support in Congress by his gracious reception of delegates who visited the camp in January and February.
They realized that Washington respected them as the leaders of the nation and had no intention of launching a coup. They in turn listened to his suggestions for improving recruitment, reorganizing state regiments, and keeping the best officers in the army. As he fought to maintain his position as the Commander-in-Chief, Washington received key support from several officers.
General Henry Knox wholeheartedly agreed with his choice of Valley Forge as the army's winter encampment and built fortifications on its hills to defend against British attacks.
Two younger generals— Nathanael Greene and Anthony Wayne —took on the humiliating task of scouring the countryside for horses, cattle, sheep, and hogs for the Continental Army at their commanding general's request.
Baron Friedrich von Steuben , a Prussian military officer, provided important training for the American troops. As the drillmaster of Valley Forge, he taught the soldiers how to use the bayonet, and most importantly, how to re-form lines quickly in the midst of battle. Washington also received help from his wife Martha who arrived from Mount Vernon in February. She took over the management of his household, helped with his correspondence, and cheered him by entertaining guests.
By the early spring conditions at Valley Forge greatly improved. Washington appointed General Greene as the new Quartermaster General and he set up an efficient operation for bringing supplies into the camp. The rainy weather continued to be a problem, but the mood of the camp brightened when news of the Franco-American alliance arrived in May. In addition to the huts, the men built miles of trenches, military roads and paths.
General Washington and his closest aides lived in a two-story stone house near Valley Forge Creek. Popular images of life at Valley Forge depict tremendous suffering from cold and starvation. A lack of organization, food and money shortages plagued the Continental Army throughout the first half of the seven-year-long revolution.
These problems exacerbated the harsh living conditions at Valley Forge, during the third year of the war. Some were even shoeless. Army records suggest that each soldier received a daily ration of one-half pound of beef during January , but food shortages during February left the men without meat for several days at a time.
Cold and starvation at Valley Forge were not even the most dangerous threats: diseases proved to be the biggest killer. Camp records indicate that two-thirds of the deaths happened during the warmer months of March, April and May when soldiers were less confined to their cabins and food and other supplies were more abundant. The most common illnesses included influenza , typhus, typhoid fever and dysentery—conditions most likely exacerbated by poor hygiene and sanitation at the camp.
Despite the harsh conditions, Valley Forge is sometimes called the birthplace of the American army because, by June of , the weary troops emerged with a rejuvenated spirit and confidence as a well-trained fighting force. At the time, the Prussian Army was widely regarded as one of the best in Europe, and von Steuben had a sharp military mind. Von Steuben arrived in Valley Forge on February 23, General George Washington, impressed by his acumen, soon appointed von Steuben temporary inspector general.
In his role, von Steuben set standards for camp layout, sanitation and conduct. For instance, he demanded that latrines be placed, facing downhill, on the opposite side of camp as the kitchens. Von Steuben, who spoke little English, ran the troops through a gamut of intense Prussian-style drills. He taught them to efficiently load, fire and reload weapons, charge with bayonets and march in compact columns of four instead of miles-long single file lines.
Valley Forge remains a touchstone - always ready to minister to a generation in crisis. The myth often obscures the actual history of the event, however. Hardship did occur at Valley Forge, but it was not a time of exceptional misery in the context of the situation.
Likewise, patriotism did not peak during the relatively short six-month period at Valley Forge. Widespread devotion to the cause was an early war phenomenon for the most part. Steadfast patriotism found a long-term home among only a few Americans, most notably the veterans who served for the duration. To fully appreciate the significance of what occurred at Valley Forge, the event must be placed in the context of the entire American Revolution.
Few Americans appreciate the scope of the war. Many do not realize that the war lasted for eight-and-a-half years, was international in scale, or that the American army campaigned in areas as far north as Canada, as far south as Georgia, and even west of the Allegheny Mountains.
The Valley Forge encampment occurred during the third year of the war. Early successes against a smaller British army had led some Revolutionary leaders to believe that the righteousness of their cause and a militia-type force composed of citizen soldiers would be enough to force the British from America.
By the time of Valley Forge, however, most Americans realized that the Revolution would be a long, drawn-out affair. In order to put the army on firmer footing, in the Continental Congress allowed George Washington to recruit soldiers for longer enlistments. The men of this establishment formed the bulk of the professional force that would fight the rest of the war.
British strategy for the third year of the American Revolution included a plan to capture the patriot capital at Philadelphia. The expeditionary force landed at the head of the Chesapeake Bay now Elkton, Maryland. On the march south, Washington paraded the American army through Philadelphia to impress the various factions among the citizenry with the prowess of the patriot force. Though commonly conceived of today as a rag tag bunch of inexperienced fighters, by the Continental Army was battle-tested and capable of standing up to the British.
One observer of the march through the city that summer prophetically stated that. In the two key battles of the Philadelphia campaign, Brandywine and Germantown, the Americans fought with skill and courage.
Though they lost both battles, as well as the capital at Philadelphia, the Continental Army emerged from these experiences with a confidence like that of an underdog sports team that had thrown a scare into the champion:. Yet work remained to be done. The army had difficulty executing complex large- scale maneuvers such as the orderly retreat.
As a result, retreats could turn into panicked flights. As the campaign wound down through the months of November and December, Washington maintained strong offensive pressure on the British in the city. With the British ensconced in Philadelphia, Washington and his general officers had to decide where to encamp for the winter. As he chose a site, Washington had to balance the congressional wish for a winter campaign to dislodge the British from the capital against the needs of his weary and poorly supplied army.
By December 12, Washington made his decision to encamp at Valley Forge. From this location 18 miles northwest of Philadelphia, Washington was close enough to maintain pressure on the enemy dwelling in the captured patriot capital, yet far enough to prevent a surprise attack on his own troops. From here the Continental Army could protect the outlying parts of the state, with its wary citizens and precious military stores, as well as the Continental Congress, which had fled to York, Pennsylvania.
Washington and his campaign-weary men marched into camp on December 19, The soldiers, while not well supplied, were not downtrodden. They exuded the confidence of men who knew that they had come close to beating the British in battle. They were cautiously optimistic about the future and resigned themselves to the task of establishing their winter camp.
It would be difficult to imagine a scenario in which the leader of a popular revolution stood by while his men froze and starved. The winter of was not the worst winter experienced during the war, but constant freezing and thawing, and intermittent snowfall and rain, coupled with shortages of provisions, clothing, and shoes, made living conditions extremely difficult.
Rather than wait for deliverance, the army procured supplies, built log cabins to stay in, constructed makeshift clothing and gear, and cooked subsistence meals of their own concoction. Provisions were available during the early months of the encampment.
For example, army records of the food shipped to camp in the month of January reveal that the men received an average daily ration of one-half pound of beef per man. The most serious food crisis occurred in February, when the men went without meat for several days at a stretch. Shortages of clothing did cause severe hardship for a number of men, but many soldiers had a full uniform. At the worst point in early March, the army listed 2, men as unfit for duty due to a lack of clothing. During this time, well-equipped units took the place of their poorly dressed comrades and patrolled, foraged, and defended the camp.
One of the most immediate remedies against the weather and a lack of clothing was the construction of log shelters by the men. Valley Forge was the first winter encampment where many thousands of men had to build their own huts. The officers formed the men into construction squads and instructed them to build cabins according to a foot by foot model.
In addition to the huts, the men constructed miles of trenches, five earthen forts redoubts , and a state-of-the-art bridge based on a Roman design over the Schuylkill River. Once the bridge spanning the river was complete, the army made full use of the land north of the river as a vital supply link.
The farms located on the north side provided forage for the Continental Army, the location of a camp market where farmers from this vicinity could sell their produce to the army, and the center for commissary operations. The bridge connection also made the camp more secure as patrols could range the country to the north and east to check British movements and intentions in that quarter.
Even though camp markets and the establishment of a center for commissary operations brought food and supplies into camp, the establishment of the winter camp so close to the British caused the men additional hardship. Instead of being able to focus on building the camp and obtaining much needed rest, the troops had to expend energy on security operations. The men spent extra-long hours on duty patrolling, standing guard, and manning dangerous outposts near the city and the enemy.
Perhaps the most notable suffering that occurred at Valley Forge came from a factor that has not been frequently mentioned in textbooks: disease was the true scourge of the camp. Men from far flung geographical areas were exposed to sicknesses from which they had little immunity.
During the encampment, nearly 2, men died of disease. Dedicated surgeons, nurses, a smallpox inoculation program, and camp sanitation regulations limited the death tolls. The army kept monthly status reports that tracked the number of soldiers who had died or were too sick to perform their duties.
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