I believe I would quit and not renew my enlistment in the Continental Army. My reasoning for this is that there were very bad conditions that the soldiers had to live in.
One of the conditions that the soldiers in the Continental Army had to suffer through was their shelter situation. The soldiers were sleeping and living in log “huts”. These huts were 16 feet by 14 feet with a door at one end, a stick and clay fireplace at the other, and no windows. Each hut housed 12 soldiers, yet there were no beds, just straw on the mud floor.
Another difficulty that George Washington and his soldiers had to endure was the weather. There are meteorological records that were kept by a local, Thomas Coombe, show that the average daily temperature in
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The army was malnourished, poorly clothed, and living in crowded and dark quarters, which is what caused most men to get sick. Some the diseases that stuck the men that winter was typhoid, typhus, smallpox, dysentery, and pneumonia. These diseases were responsible for the death of about 2500 soldiers by the end of the war, along with malnutrition and exposure to freezing temperatures and the snow. Washington repeatedly petitioned supplies and relief, but the Continental Congress was unable to provide it. The Continental Congress has little to no money and didn’t know how terrible the situation was, so in return, the soldiers continued to suffer. In January, five congressmen visited Valley Forge to examine the conditions of the Continental Army after many petitions. Washington informed them that he wanted the Continental Congress to take control of the army supply system, pay for the supplies, and replenish them when necessities were scarce. By the end of February, there were enough supplies in Valley Forge after the Continental Congress realized the importance and fully supported the monetarily funding the supply lines of the army, along with reorganizing the commissionary department, which controlled the gathering of the supplies for the
Almost half the men at Valley Forge were sick, and after a while even more men would get sick. Constantly being surrounded by sick men and living in bad condition, is not a good combination. It would make it extremely easy for someone to get sick, and with no help or means of cure, could lead to death. About 20% of the men at Valley Forge died while enlisted, and while the other had survived, they didn’t live easily. They still had to deal with sickness, bad conditions, and fighting in the war.
Spirits were high until the British kept arriving in large numbers. Washington had to split up his army numerous times to keep the New York defended. Spirits began to fall and disease set in once again. Washington had to plan to retreat, which is no easy task with an army of any size. However, the retreat was perfectly executed with a thick fog settling in as dawn came to conceal the soldiers.
August 1st, 1863 one of the worst prison camps for confederates in the civil war was created. Point Lookout was established right after the Battle of Gettysburg to take confederate soldiers. Point Lookout had caused many conflicts for prisoners in camp. Some conflicts that Point Lookout caused for soldiers was disease, hunger, and even death. Nearly 50,000 soldiers became prisoners and 4,000 died in the process.
In Document B, “George Washington was presenting Congressional Committee to soldier at Valley Forge.” He hoped that he could get more equipment, food, and needed supplies for the soldiers to survive and stay healthy. He was willing to do whatever it took to help the soldiers that weren't sick to stay healthy, and the ones that were sick to get better. He showed true leadership, and that is why I would have stayed in the war.
The Shirley Letters are a total of twenty three letters written by Louise Amelia Knapp Smith Clappe to her sister named Molly. Louise uses the name “Shirley” as her writing name for these letters. These letters included the life of a woman (Shirley) in the mid eighteen hundreds during the California gold rush. She talks about how wild the miner 's life was during the time she lived in mining camps. The twenty three letters offer great insight on how life was back then during the gold rush of these miners, especially from a woman 's perspective being in a male dominated environment.
Would anyone really want to go back to a place where there is barely any food, the living conditions are horrible, the risk of getting sick so great, and a high probability of dying even without the war beginning? This is the question that many faced during the terrible winters of 1777 and 1778. George Washington’s army was camped at Valley Forge, eighteen miles northwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where the British were camped in warm quarters and ate good and plentiful food. In contrast, American revolutionary soldiers had to battle disease, starvation, and the freezing cold even before they had to fight their enemy. If you were a revolutionary soldier facing these conditions, and your time to re-enlist came up, would you re-enlist or stay on, or would
Things have become so atrocious that George Washington had to ask the Congressional Committee for more money. I doubt they have any to give, for they are more focused on the bigger picture, rather than a few deteriorated soldiers (Doc B). Dr.Waldo wrote in his journal, “A general cry thro’ the camp this evening among the soldiers, “No meat! No meat!” -The distant vales echoed back the melancholy sound- “No meat!
The United States was created from the leading battles of the Continental Army in the American Revolution; Europe’s greatest nation of the time at war with its own people. The abuse of power by the king of Great Britain had angered the colonist to fight for their rights as citizens, this lead to the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution. As the troops of the American and British soldiers fought during the war what strengths and weaknesses influenced the win of the American soldiers? During the American Revolution, the American and British soldiers demonstrated clear strengths and weaknesses, which impacted the American troops’ victory.
On the twelfth month,, Washington marched his exhausted, beaten, starving and sick army to valley forge, a place about 20 miles northwest of Philadelphia, which was occupied by the british. From Valley Forge, Washington could look over General Howe's British army staying in Philadelphia. At Valley Forge, there were shortages of supplies. This was everything from food to clothing to medication. Washington's soldiers were sick from disease, hunger, and exposure.
That’s about a 4,000 soldier decrease. That's just the beginning on December 23, 1777 about 3,000 soldier were sick and in February 1, 1778 about 4,000 men were sick. Finally the deaths due to illness were horrific from December-June 1,800 to 2,500 died due to illness, according to Document
In the harsh, dreaded winter at Valley Forge, your enlistment has finally retired. But now there is a decision to be made. Will I stay and be loyal to the Continental Army. Or will I abandon and never look back at the Continental Army.
Through December 1777 to June 1778, George Washington led the Continental Army through winter camp. The Continental Army was an army of Patriot soldiers who fought against Britain. The Patriots hated Britain for their taxes and laws. So they went off to war. There was just one problem, they did not know how bad the conditions were going to be.
There were farms and small stores in the area, but there was not enough food to feed all of the soldiers and many became desperate and attempted to steal food from the farmers and food stores. Washington ended up writing to Congress, saying subsistence in the best manner they can ... “I am now convinced, beyond a doubt that unless some great and capital change suddenly takes place… this army must inevitably be reduced to one or other of these three things. Starve, dissolve, or disperse, in order to obtain …” After letting Congress know this, General Washington received a message saying a large British group of troops was nearby (Allen 27).
Fischer states that the remaining soldiers were made up of groups of state militias. As the Americans are becoming more and more discouraged, Thomas Paine writes another article called “The American Crisis”. Fischer claims that this article put the spirit back into many Americans and some went up in arms once again. As the cold winter months approached, Washington had a plan. On Christmas night, December 25, 1776; Washington would move his troops across the Delaware River.
The soldiers were inadequately trained and lacked ammunition, food, and other provisions. They sometimes even went without clothing and went barefoot in the winter. However, General Washington was able to give them direction and encourage them to persevere. The common soldier would prove important.