Imagine: It’s winter 1778 at Valley Forge. (Valley Forge was the military camp 18 miles northwest of Philadelphia, where the American Continental Army spent the winter of 1777–78 during the American Revolutionary War) you walk into the camp and the men huddle around different campfires trying to get warm. Tonight on the menu is more meat, while the men are handed their portions they’re crying in agony to eat something else. You’ve been talking to the men and they tell you stories about the meals their wives made and how their children would have grown by now. But somewhere in both the happy and sad stories there is a certain cheerfulness peering out behind the clouds. When the fires died out men went to their huts that housed 12 men. The fire in the hut caused the men to be emerged in smoke because of extremely poor ventilation. There skin is absorbing the smoke causing men to get sick and cough. In the morning the fires have died out and now you can smell what some people call the stench of death. One …show more content…
People get sick and die at the camp and I appreciate my life so there is a good chance that I can be one of the people that die. At Valley Forge there was multiple reasons for the army's numbers dropping. For example, people who deserted, when men’s contracts come to an end, and death. According to Document A written by varying people, including Noel F. Busch and researchers at the William Clements Library of the University of Michigan I have reasonable estimated to how the Continental Army numbers plummeted. At the camp Valley Forge there was about 12,000 soldiers in December 1777 and then in February 1778 only 8,000 were left. 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
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.
Imagine if your a slave about the age of seventeen and fighting in a war against a gigantic army. What if you were outside in the cold with no food or meat with everybody thinking your not a free slave. What if people were taken from you because of a diseases. “Forge” by, “Lauria Halse Anderson,” is during the Revolutionary War in Valley Forge it was 1775 through 1783 and this is also the time where slavery was around. In the book Forge pg 13-14 curzon the main character hides behind a log and sees a young boy the same age as he is.
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%.
Staying at Valley Forge It is February 1st, 1778 and nearly 30 percent of Washington’s troops are ill and cannot report for duty (Document A). The Revolutionary War has been hard on the Continiental Army and after this year is over, many soldiers plan on leaving. But unlike them, I chose to stay. Tyranny, like hell is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph (Document D).
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
In Document C it says the soldiers had little to no food at all, they would chant, “No Meat, No Meat” (Document C)! It also says, “My skin and eyes were almost spoiled with continual smoke” (Document C). This proves just how harsh conditions and air quality these soldiers had to endure through which I definitely couldn’t. The final reason I would quit from Valley Forge because of the jealousy and overworking of the soldiers and animals. In the picture on Document B it shows a dead horse, a man going insane, and another man being helped from the ground after he fell over..
Valley Forge was a winter camp 18 miles away from Philadelphia, where George Washington took his troops during 1777 and 1778. The British army is comfortable in Philadelphia, while Valley Forge has harsh conditions with the cold weather and the lack of supplies. I will not reenlist when my 9-month enlistment is over. I will not reenlist for these reasons, diseases, lack supplies, and cold weather and smoky air.
Hidden somewhere within the blurred lines of fiction and reality, lies a great war story trapped in the mind of a veteran. On a day to day basis, most are not willing to murder someone, but in the Vietnam War, America’s youth population was forced to after being pulled in by the draft. Author Tim O’Brien expertly blends the lines between fiction, reality, and their effects on psychological viewpoints in the series of short stories embedded within his novel, The Things They Carried. He forces the reader to rethink the purpose of storytelling and breaks down not only what it means to be human, but how mortality and experience influence the way we see our world. In general, he attempts to question why we choose to tell the stories in the way
I have a very large of dying from the sicknesses getting passed around. I overheard General George Washington say that around 3,989 soldiers have gotten sick by February (Busch 147). And that 2,500 deaths have come from sickness (Busch 147). Frostbite and Smallpox have played a big part here at Valley Forge. Frostbite has gotten many people’s limb taken off.
Life at Valley Forge Brave, have no fear of someone or something. American soldiers represent bravery. The huts of the soldiers were very long and wide. The fireplace was in acceptable condition. No beds in the huts just straw and mud.
Damage. When something is damaged it can never be the same again. If you rip paper in half you can tape it back together, but it can never be the same again. Soldiers were damaged by the war. This is seen in the book The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien.
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.
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. On December 19, 1777, General George Washington, the Commander of the U.S. Continental Army led the troops to Valley Forge in Pennsylvania for a few different reasons.
The Battle of Saratoga in September and October of 1777 is the turning point of the Revolutionary War because the French joined with allies, British troops surrendered their arms, and the Patriots had crucial victories. It was a victory for the Patriots in the American Revolution and is the most decisive battles in history. The Battle began as a plan by the British to control New York and isolate New England from the Southern colonies and put an end to the Revolution. Which ended as an opportunity for the Patriots.
The True Weight of War “The Things They Carried,” by Tim O’Brien, brings to light the psychological impact of what soldiers go through during times of war. We learn that the effects of traumatic events weigh heavier on the minds of men than all of the provisions and equipment they shouldered. Wartime truly tests the human body and and mind, to the point where some men return home completely destroyed. Some soldiers have been driven to the point of mentally altering reality in order to survive day to day. An indefinite number of men became numb to the deaths of their comrades, and yet secretly desired to die and bring a conclusion to their misery.