Stay or Leave at Valley Forge George Washington and his men retreat from the British after they took Philadelphia, so General Washington and his men retreat about 18 miles northwest from Philadelphia and created a camp for the winter. Even though the estimates of all the soldiers was about 12,000 men, and it was said that at the end of the winter there were only 8,000 men was all not true. Not all of the death counts were accurate. About half of those numbers could have been men that left, or men that were stricken ill, but recovered and rejoined the army. The sickness count was about 40-50%, and the death count was only 10-12%.
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
Valley Forge is where George Washington came to a winter camp next to Pennsylvania and tried to help because of the harsh weather and poor amount of food, water, and clothing they were provided with. They thought they could make an army and be get strong to be powerful to be ready to fight the enemies. They call this Valley Forge. I would quit Valley Forge because research shows that about 50% of people died because of the harsh weather and the many illnesses that went around. In December to June 1,800 to 2,500 people died due to illness during the encampment.
Just 29 years after America defeated its mother country Great Britain, they were at war with them again. Washington issued a proclamation asking his countrymen to be impartial to Britain and France. Then John Adams agreed to the convention of 1800, which ended the alliance between the U.S. and France. After Adams, Jefferson created the Embargo of 1807 because France and Britain was violating the U.S.’s trading rights, seizing cargoes, and kidnapping sailors. The embargo failed to make Britain respect America’s trading rights, so when James Madison can into presidency in 1809 he had the same problem.
Not just that there wouldn’t be the hunger of the veterans . Concluding , the veterans of the Great War were really upset that the army would disrespect. In the march there were nine out of ten veterans , and about twenty percent that were disabled. This shows that there were people out there that would risk going knowing that the veterans were never the same before the war , and that sick people would go knowing the risk.
In Document A, it shows that on “ February 1, 1778 3,989 people were sick with an Illness.” That is 50% of the total soldiers at Valley Forge at the time. This shows that if more people were willing to stay, fight, and help with needed supplies, there would be more people able to fight,a greater and easier chance of winning, and staying a powerful
Now, let me ask you, after hearing this information, would you stay at Valley Forge? Would you fight for your freedom? I can’t speak for you, but I would stay at Valley Forge because not a bunch of people are actually dying, Washington is getting the help of the Committee of Congress, and I really do not want to be a summer soldier. Like I said Valley Forge really isn't the worst place ever in the world because a bunch of people were only getting sick. Not a bunch of people actually died.
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.
These were my top three reasons to why I wouldn’t stay in Valley Forge. The cooking the clothes and also the freezing my butt off during all of that happening I don’t understand how these people made it through the times that I couldn’t even make it through a day out at Valley Forge. I most likely wouldn’t have been able to stay there the whole time at Valley Forge. This will conclude my essay on Valley Forge would you have
Valley Forge: Would You Have Quit? December 1777-June 1778. Valley Forge-Washington’s winter camp. Washington and the Continental Army. Valley Forge was a difficult place to live at.
Being in the snow isn’t always fun. It is January 1, 1778 and I have been serving my term at Valley Forge. I have been very miserable which has made my experience here dreadful. I’ve finished my time as a soldier but I have the option to re-enlist or come back home.
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. A major reason for my choice of leaving was because of the illness and death rate. The immense outbreaks forced General Washington to make small camps for the sick who had the same illness. According to Document A, out of 8,000 total people, 3,989 people fell ill at Valley Forge.
George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe were the first five presidents of the United States and the people who led America to success during a time of great conflict. These presidents helped shape America into what it is today. Without their problems during their presidencies and then solving them, no one knows where America would be. For example, why did President Madison go to war, in 1812, unlike all of the previous and future presidents. Washington wanted to stay neutral during his presidency, so he completely avoided war with foreign countries.
Therefore, I choose to stay at Valley Forge, for there is a chance for me to not die of sickness because of the medical care, there is also patriotism, and people are willing to fight for our freedom. 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 the winter, Washington took his troops to Valley Forge, which was 18 miles from Philadelphia. At this time, Valley Forge was a difficult place to live for the Patriots. It was a struggle but if I were a Patriot in Valley Forge fighting for Washington’s Army, I wouldn’t quit. I won’t quit for three big reasons; yes I know there were a lot of sick soldiers but not as much as dying soldiers, another thing is the conditions were horrible, but there were many brave soldiers who stuck with it, and stayed with Washington, lastly I do not want to be a “summer soldier” because freedom is valuable so it is worth fighting for.
