Valley Forge Research Paper

If you were a soldier of the Continental Army during the winters at Valley Forge, would you have quit? The Continental Army was an army of militiamen that was created by the Continental Congress. The soldiers and generals in the army had little to no experience, and they lacked supplies such as quality clothing, proper shelters, and sufficient food. The Continental Army was led by George Washington, one of the best generals in U.S. history, who taught the soldiers almost everything they knew. On October 1777, British General Howe brought his army of 18,000 redcoats into the national capital of Philadelphia. Consequently, Washington decided to move his army to Valley Forge, an area just 18 miles from Philadelphia, to keep watch on them. It just

According to Winter Quarters written by Noel F. Busch (1974), the total soldiers at Valley Forge dropped from 12,000 in December 1777 to 8,000 in February 1778. This meant that 4,000 soldiers either already left or died in a time period of only 3 months. Moreover, there was an estimate of about 4,000 soldiers ill during the month of February 1778 and up to 2,500 deaths in June 1778. From these statistics, nearly 50% of the soldiers were sick, which was one out of two soldiers. Furthermore, the information shows that there was a 15% possibility of death, which was a lot of people considering the large population in the camp. Some could argue that there would still be an 85% chance of surviving, but you would be suffering if you were alive in camp. These probabilities are important because the chances of being ill or dying could heavily affect a soldier’s decision to stay or

The Diary of Dr. Albigence Waldo states that the camp had “Poor food - hard lodging - Cold Weather - fatigue - Nasty Cloaths - nasty Cookery...” (1777) According to this source, the camp had an awful living environment. The soldiers had to live with inadequate food, shelter, clothes, and kitchens. Additionally, they experienced cold weather and was always very tired. Bad conditions could easily explain why soldiers would want to leave Valley Forge. If a soldier can’t have decent living conditions, they wouldn’t want to stay or passionately fight for their