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). Washington’s men prepared to march, but because of the worsening winter weather conditions and the fact they had no boots or shoes and very little clothing, they thought it would be too dangerous to march (Allen
Because of the unsanitary camps and hospitals, diseases started spreading making soldiers sick. In hospitals, doctors and surgeons only went to school for two years. Sometimes they prescribed the wrong medicines or performed unnecessary surgery. One soldier wrote,” If a fellow has to go to the hospital you might as well say good-bye.” Ray describes that the government did not make a good decision by placing the injured people in prisons. Soldiers in the prisons did not get enough rations of a food. Each day or week they only got a handful or spoonful. So this means that the government didn’t take good care of their
One reason a soldier would quit Valley Forge is the lack of food. The lack of food is a dreadful hardship the soldiers have to deal with. This hardship brings about not just hunger but many other factors. When you are hungry from the lack of food, you are weak and because you are weak you cannot fight well or deal with simple problems well. This effects basicly the whole war in a way. If the soldiers can’t fight, they will fail. In document a it tells about the all the deaths and the illnesses at Valley Forge. Hunger causes death and illness. Also, in document c it talks about poor food, nasty cookery, and fatigue. The lack of food is
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! No meat!” This tells how us soldiers have been starving for quite a while now, and most of us are done dealing with the hardships. As Waldo also questioned, “Why are we sent here to starve and freeze? I can no longer endure it (Doc C). I am willing to admit that I am a summer soldier, as Thomas Paine wrote (Doc D). I’ve already risked my life for this country; now it is someone else’s turn.
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
There was a man named Dr. Waldo, he was a surgeon for the Patriots. He says these things in document C; “I am sick”, “Poor food”, “Cold weather”, “Vomit half my time”, and “soldier has bare feet”. These things would want to make you and me quit, right? Yes, it would but even with those terrible things, he and many others still didn’t quit. So if he can stick with it, then so can me and you! Also, the soldiers were miserable but, they had “Spirit of Alacrity” which is cheerful willingness (Doc. C). Of course there were tough time, it’s winter! The soldiers had to suffer with not a lot of supplies but the soldiers knew that soon enough, it was all going to be over. After winter come spring and summer where there are good conditions. So if I stay positive just like the others, then I know not to quit and continue fighting for
The first reason I have for staying is that just 15% of all people at Valley Forge actually died, that is not enough to make to quit. The first piece of evidence I have, comes from Document A. On February 1st, 1778 3,989 out of 8,000 soldiers were sick. Clearly these numbers show that just under 50% were sick, which is a lot of people. So, there was a high amount of illness spreading throughout the camp, but not all of those people who were sick, actually died. My second piece of evidence also comes from Document A. It says that 1,800 out of 12,000 soldiers died. This evidence explains that even though half are sick, which is a lot, only 15% are dying. That means that I have a low chance of dying at Valley Forge.
The author said , “ Death estimate due to illnesses during Encampment December-Junae is about 1,800 to 2,500” (Document A). They are asking people to leave from valley forge because they know a lot of people could get sick and they could die from that one illness. To many people are dying from illness. Many people have that one illness and they want people to leave because you could get that illness from the person you 're with. The author stated,” Many people fight to get over that illness but can 't and just suffer and die”(Document A). mostly all the People at valley forge dye of illness. Its illness or death. Many people that have friends or family at valley forge beg them to leave valley forge because they want
George Washington had a winter camp built 18 miles northwest from Philadelphia in a place called Valley Forge. T’was the year 1777. I would stay at valley forge and I will tell you why. In the document “The American Crisis” Thomas Paine explains how it tests our commitment and makes fun of the quitters calling them “summer soldiers”. He used analogies to say his point. It encouraged me to stay in the war.(Doc D) A painting by William Henry Powell demonstrates the professional Committee members who guide us. The soldiers also look ecstatic which brightens the mood while we fight. According to a death report, I have a good chance of getting sick but i will most likely survive. 2000 out of 8000 died so that means i would have a chance to live.
Dr. Albigence Waldo, a Connecticut surgeon wrote, “... no, begin to grow sickly from the continued fatigues… yet they still show a spirit of Alacrity and Contentment of the young soldiers.” (1777). This quote is from a journal from Dr. Albigence Waldo, who portrays the daily life in Valley Forge. He construes the hardship each soldier faced and how challenging it was. He furthermore, wrote, “I am sick- discontented- and out of humor. Poor food- hard, hard lodging- Cold winter- fatigue- Nasty Colaths- nasty Cookery- Vomit half my time smoked out my scenes- the Devil’s- I can’t Endure it- Why are we sent here to starve and freeze… There comes a Soldier, his bare feet are seen through’ his worn out Shoes, his legs nearly naked from the tattered remains of an only pair of stockings..,” (1777). This is compelling because even though the doctor had an unfavorable involvement at Valley Forge he still continued to live there and wrote about how some soldiers stayed content and cheerful, he explained the bad condition in Valley Forge. He wrote about the sickness and how he vomits all the time. This shows the doctor's bravery to live in the poor condition of the camp. Even the soldiers who could have quit, still stayed because they had a cause to fight for. Their spirit was the reason why they were still in the army. Some of the soldiers left, but the soldiers that stayed and
The freezing soldiers lay around on the cold hard ground; some are wrapped in their tattered rags while others are vomiting, having fatigue and starving from lack of food. Despite these grim conditions, however, their ambitions towards freedom disguised their miserable life in camp. The winter of 1777 at Valley Forge was tough for Washington and his men. They lived in extremely poor weather conditions with a deficient amount of resources to stay alive. Diseases were also spreading, and the army was in desperate need of money if they even wanted to dream of defeating Britain. After many requests for help to the congress did they finally see events start to turn around, and even though the colonies would not have defeated experienced British
In 1777, winter takes over and causes many illnesses, but many brave soldiers stay at Valley Forge and train for the war. Valley Forge is a winter camp that was used in the American Revolution, about 18 miles northwest of Philadelphia. Valley Forge was smaller than a village and had small log huts that were 16’ by 14’. I would stay at Valley Forge. There are three different reasons that I have for staying. My first reason for staying would be a painting where George Washington is presenting the Congressional Congress to the soldiers at Valley Forge. (Doc. B) In this painting, George Washington seems to be giving an inspirational speech to the soldiers. George probably brought the Congressional Congees there to bring up the soldiers
I want to quit Valley Forge. Valley Forge is near Philadelphia and was a campsite for Washington’s Continental Army. They fought off the cold, harsh winter, poor food, hard lodging, fatigue, nasty cloaths, and nasty cookery waiting it out. I would want to quit Valley Forge because of all the illnesses and deaths that were there. (document A) In Document A, there was about 3,000 people sick throughout the encampment and 1,800 - 2,500 people dead. At first, there was about 12,000 people at the beginning of Valley Forge, 49% of those people were sick and half of those people ended up dead. An engraving of a painting by William Powell is one of Valley Forge. (document B) In the engraving, it looks as if no one is really
If I was a soldier at Valley Forge I would leave for the harsh winters. Valley Forge is a winter camp set up by General Washington for his continental Army. This camp had harsh winters and many people died of Illnesses. The estimate of illnesses written by researchers in 1974 (document a), it shows how many people die from sickness. 50% of the people die there and that is equal to a 50 50 chance of dying. The death that happen because of illnesses is almost equal to the amount of deaths caused by combat. The dairy by Mr. Powell shows the ruff times in Valley Forge. It states that there is a lot of smoke around camp ,and it is difficult to breath. It also says the meat is very poor and I love meat. The essay written
What horrible things did the continental army have to suffer in their six- month encampment? They experienced hunger, diseases, and death. Since it was cold some couldn 't bathe causing them to have bad hygiene. Also at the time smallpox and pneumonia was being spread. Since there weren 't many medical supplies, some couldn 't be treated. The soldiers also slept in small canvas that was weak and didn 't, provide any protection from the snow. This resulted in them having diarrhea, dysentery, and fevers. With so many sicknesses going around about 2,000 out of 12,000 people died. George Washington tried to encourage the farmers to sell some of their food to the soldiers because they were short on supplies. He even gave out flyers of lists of