Quitting Valley Forge: Cause Of The Revolutionary War

The Battle of Valley Forge was the turning point of the Revolutionary War. Although no actual military battle was waged here, George Washington’s Continental Army faced some physical and mental battles of their own in this Pennsylvania town. It was here at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania where the Continental Army Soldiers of the Revolutionary War chose to go after being defeated in the Battle of Germantown in October 1777. During this winter, Washington’s troops came to this encampment to recuperate and train for future battles with the British. The winter of 1777-78 was terribly cold, bitter, and harsh. These conditions made things very difficult for General Washington’s military unit. The unit’s morale and physical strengths were severely tested throughout this challenging and historical time.

Valley Forge is where George Washington spent the winter with his colonial troops. It was a cold and painful winter, but the soldiers that survived in camp gained much needed training. This training was a valuable asset to the colonists. If I had been a soldier at Valley Forge I would have stayed there. For example in the Estimates of Illness and Deaths at Valley Forge(Doc A) it states that only 1,800 people died in the camp. This is only a ten percent of the population at the camp, which was 12,000. This means that you have a small chance of dying if you lived there. Another example is in The American Crisis(Doc D) it states that if you leave now you will increase the odds of us losing and increase chance of Britain winning. What this means

During the winter of 1777 - 1778 the Patriots were in Valley Forge. Tons of soldiers suffered from disease, starvation, and frostbite. Most of them even died. The conditions were horrible for the soldiers and they were dying out. So would I have quit? I probably would have quit at Valley Forge.

“Poor food, hard lodging, cold weather, fatigue, nasty clothes, nasty cookery, vomit… why are we sent here to starve and freeze?”-Dr. Albigence Waldo “What we know today was not known in late December 1777, victory seemed a long way off; in fact for many, it seemed unlikely.” Had I been a soldier at Valley Forge, would I of given up? If I had the choice, I would have stayed, because of loyalty to our leaders and country, to stay a powerful nation, and for the freedom of me and the people of America.

With all of these soul-shattering, life-changing conditions, it is less of a war and more of a test of strength for the soldiers, here at Valley Forge. Some men were going home and not returning. Other men just completely deserted. Even George Washington’s position was uncertain, the members of congress didn’t trust him. Life at Valley Forge was obviously horrible, and the ugly truth is that it wouldn’t get much better. Cold was one problem, smoke was another. Hopefully, the soldiers will have the courage to make it through this devastating time. Lack of food, living conditions, and horrid climate are some reasons of why a soldier would quit Valley Forge.

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 documents A and C prove that only 14% died of sickness. there were about 12,000 of us to start with, and only about 1,800- 2500 died from December to June. Therefore, that leaves just about 9,500 of us left. However, with all the people that abandoned the Continental Army leaves us with just about 8,000 of us. In document C which is a passage from a doctor’s diary. He was one of the army’s doctors. His name was Dr. Albigence Waldo. Therefore, that proves that there was medical care.

I did not re-enlist because of brutal conditions, sickness, and very little food. I could not re-enlist because those three factors were essential to surviving a harsh winter during a very hard war. “ The devil is in it,” ( Waldo 151). Valley Forge was a brutal, sick, and starving winter camp. Some soldiers told me at camp that George Washington did not care for his soldiers. Other soldiers did not agree with this claim. Towards the end of camp, I started to believe the claim that our General did not care for us. On the very last days of camp, I had finally made my decision on whether to re-enlist or not. I decided that I was not going to re-enlist. It was not worth re-enlisting if George Washington could not keep his own soldiers alive.

Winter of 1777, Valley Forge was a refuge for many soldiers like me. After retreating from Howe’s army, General Washington along with the half the Continental army had set up base for three months. The small camp with few necessities was 18 miles away from Pennsylvania. The camp was a snow covered area, with small wood lodges that were not ventilated, no meat, low food supply, tattered clothes and shoes, and injuries from walking. Consider being surrounded with all of theses atrocious circumstances, then ask yourself, would you stay at Valley Forge? My decision was not to stay because of the illness and death rate, the harsh weather and living conditions, and major lack of vital supplies.

The colonists fired the first shot of the revolutionary war. Multiple sources say that the colonists shot and then hid behind stone walls and that right as the British were approaching the colonists shot.

Would you leave Valley Forge, I wouldn't. People were sick, but still those who left were cowards. There are many reasons to stay, for example, the illness and death chart, it states that only 50% of people became ill. (document A) As an estimate, 3,989 out of 8,000 people were sick in 1778. Only 1,800 died, that is not very many to die of illness. Another reason to stay would be in the essay by Thomas Paine. It calls those who quit “The summer soldier and the sunshine warrior” , this was because they could not handle the winter, they could only last the summer. It also says “Tyranny, like hell,” this is because leaving is like giving up on your country. ( document D) In the diary

On “Feb. 1, 1778, 3989 people were sick so they are going to leave so more food for us.(Bush 154). If people leave, that mean that we get more food. We also have “huts” to live in.(background). We can be warm instead of freezing in the winter night. We also have chimneys and a fireplace in the huts.(background). We have even more warmth in the huts. We at least survived the winter, the hardest time of the year.(background). The winter is the harshest time of the year and we obviously survived through the winter. This is causing me to re-enlist because there are good conditions in the camp.There are some great conditions at the camp so that is why I am staying.

Sickness hangs heavy in the air with the stench of death. Soldiers walk by me in tattered clothes, some missing shoes and toes. As I lay on the ground of my hut, trying to sleep, that another poor soldier had to build, I shiver and huddle in a ball to try to keep my body heat toward me in an attempt to keep me somewhat warm. The Continental Army made their winter camp in a town called Valley Forge, located eighteen miles out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. During the winters of 1777 and 1778, there was freezing weather and a couple thousand of sick soldiers and dead soldiers (Busch, 147). Many soldiers are not re-enlisting or are deserting before their nine-month re-enlistment has ended. General Washington, desperate to keep an army together to fight the war against Britain has asked us soldiers look into our hearts and ask ourselves the following question: Will you quit? To quit would be to not re-enlist. I have decided to not re-enlist for three reasons which are high chances of illness, horrible lodging and weather, and sparse food and clothing.

The soldiers were cold because the ventilation in their huts was terrible. Dr. Albigence Waldo wrote in his diary, “The army...now begins to grow sickly from the continental fatigues they have suffered this Campaign.” (Waldo, 1777). The soldiers are getting ill because of the living conditions in camp. They are not fed well, it is cold, and they barely have enough clothing. This proves that the soldiers are living with poor conditions. If they do not want to die, they should leave. The soldiers resent the congress, so it would make sense if they left and weren’t in their

In less than half an hour of fighting, the regiment would be torn apart. The next morning, only 68 were there to answer the roll call. It was a blow that touched almost every community