Conditions In The Continental Army

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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 …show more content…

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

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