12/19/2024
The Continental Army Marches into Valley Forge
On December 19, 1777, when Washington's poorly fed, ill-equipped army, weary from long marches, staggered into Valley Forge, winds blew as the 12,000 Continentals prepared for winter's fury. Only about one in three of them had shoes, and many of their feet had left bloody footprints from the marching. Grounds for brigade encampments were selected, and defense lines were planned and begun.
The first properly constructed hut appeared in three days. One other hut, which required 80 logs, and whose timber had to be collected from miles away, went up in one week with the use of only one axe. These huts provided sufficient protection from the moderately cold, but mainly wet and damp conditions of a typical Pennsylvania winter of 1777–1778. By the beginning of February, construction of 2,000 huts were completed. They provided shelter, but did little to offset the critical shortages that continually plagued the army.
During the springtime, as the climate grew considerably warmer, Washington ordered the cutting of two windows into each hut. Mud was also chipped between the logs to improve ventilation.
Soldiers received inadequate supplies of meat and bread, some getting their only nourishment from "firecake," a tasteless mixture of flour and water. Occasionally, there would be "pepper hot soup," a black pepper-flavored tripe broth. However, due to the talents of Baker General Christopher Ludwig, the men at Valley Forge more often than not received freshly baked bread, about one pound daily. So severe were conditions at times that Washington despaired "that unless some great and capital change suddenly takes place...this Army must inevitably...starve, dissolve, or disperse, in order to obtain subsistence in the best manner they can."
Snow was limited, and small in amounts. The layer of snow was often too thin to be collected and melted into drinking water. Alternating freezing and melting of snow and ice made it impossible to keep dry and allowed for disease to fester.
Animals fared no better. General Henry Knox, Washington's Chief of Artillery, wrote that hundreds of horses either starved to death or died of exhaustion. By the end of the winter, about 700 horses had died.
Washington appointed Nathanael Greene as Quartermaster General to take charge of the supplies, who found caches of food and clothing and hauled them there for the troops and horses.
Clothing, too, was wholly inadequate. Many wounded soldiers from previous battles died from exposure. Long marches had destroyed shoes. Blankets were scarce. Tattered garments were seldom replaced. At one point these shortages caused nearly 4,000 men to be listed as unfit for duty.
Undernourished and poorly clothed, living in crowded, damp quarters, the army was ravaged by sickness and disease. Typhoid, typhus, smallpox, dysentery, and pneumonia were among the numerous diseases that thrived in the camp during that winter. These diseases, along with malnutrition and exposure to the freezing temperatures and snow, contributed to the 2,500 soldiers that died by the end of the winter.
Gouverneur Morris of New York later stated that the Continentals were a "skeleton of an army...in a naked, starving condition, out of health, out of spirits."
Soldiers deserted in "astonishing great numbers" as hardships at camp overcame their motivation and dedication to fight for the cause of liberty. General Varnum warned that the desperate lack of supplies would "force the army to mutiny."
Women who were relatives or wives of enlisted men alleviated some of the suffering by providing valuable services such as laundry and nursing that the army desperately needed. A group of people called Regimental Camp Followers also helped increase the morale of the soldiers and provided necessary support to the men.
Although Washington repeatedly petitioned for relief and supplies, the Continental Congress was unable to provide it and the soldiers continued to suffer. Finally, on January 24, 1778, five Congressmen came to Valley Forge to examine the conditions of the Continental Army. Washington greeted them imperatively, "Something must be done. Important alterations must be made." Washington also informed them that he wanted Congress to take control of the army supply system, pay for the supplies, and replenish them when necessities were scarce.
By the end of February, there were adequate supplies flowing throughout camp after Congress gave full support to monetarily funding the supply lines of the army, along with reorganizing the commissionary department (which controlled the gathering of the supplies for the army).
Increasing military efficiency, morale, and discipline were as vital to the army's well-being as its supply of food and arms. The army had been handicapped in battle because unit training was administered from a variety of field manuals, making coordinated battle movements awkward and difficult. The soldiers were trained, but not uniformly. The task of developing and carrying out an effective training program fell to Baron Friedrich von Steuben. This skilled Prussian drill master, who had recently arrived from Europe, tirelessly drilled the soldiers, improving their battle and formation techniques greatly.
Martha Washington, the wife of George Washington, arrived at the camp on February 10, 1778. She visited soldiers in the huts and in the camp hospital. Martha Washington also organized a sewing circle of women who knitted, crafted, and patched socks, shirts, and trousers.
Camp followers at Valley Forge consisted of the wives, children, mothers, and sisters of the soldiers. These camp followers often served as laundresses, cleaning and mending the uniforms of the soldiers. Washington understood a soldier would die quickly from disease if his uniform was dirty and threadbare. These women and children also provided the emotional support to the army, encouraging them to remain at camp and continue on training and soldiering during the winter months. Women were relegated to the back of the column when marching and were forbidden to ride on wagons. Camp followers faced the issues of disease along with the soldiers.
Because of the terrible conditions of the army during the winter of 1777, the American public, along with Congress, began to criticize Washington for his inability to advance the war effort. Washington himself was aware of an increasing impatience and criticism of his leadership. A few soldiers wanted to replace Washington with General Horatio Gates, who had won a decisive victory in the Battles of Saratoga. Some members of the Continental Congress complained that Washington had left the surrounding countryside unprotected by moving into the isolated area of Valley Forge. Washington replied furiously:
"I can assure those Gentlemen that it is a much easier and less distressing thing to draw remonstrances in a comfortable room by a good fire side than to occupy a cold bleak hill and sleep under frost and Snow without Cloaths or Blankets; however, although they seem to have little feeling for the naked, and distressed Soldier, I feel superabundantly for them, and from my Soul pity those miseries, [which], it is neither in my power to relieve or prevent."
In spite of Washington's inability to do much during the hardship at Valley Forge, anti-Washington movements arose. These soldiers worked "behind the curtains" to degrade Washington's reputation in hopes that this would enable Horatio Gates to replace George Washington as the commander of the Continental Army. This scheme is known today as the Conway Cabal.
While the Congressmen came to examine the conditions of the Continental army at Valley Forge, Washington announced that he knew the critics that were involved in the Conway Cabal. He addressed them by saying:
"Whenever the public gets dissatisfied with my service...I shall quit the helm...and retire to a private life."
This silenced his main critics, and Washington's announcement easily renewed his authority as the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army; his authority was never critically challenged for the rest of the decade.
After the horrendous winter, the Continental Army found out that France was going to aid their cause by sending military and monetary donations to the army. France had signed an alliance pact, on February 6, 1778 with the 13 colonies, after General Horatio Gates had led his army and won the decisive Battles of Saratoga. A celebration of French alliance was organized on May 6, 1778, at Valley Forge. The army repeatedly shouted, "Long live France! Long live the friendly powers! Long live the American States!"
Soon, word of the British departure from Philadelphia brought a frenzied activity to the ranks of the Continental Army. On June 19, 1778, exactly six months after the soldiers arrival at Valley Forge, the tested army marched away from Valley Forge and retook Philadelphia. They later charged in pursuit of the British, who were moving toward New York. The Battle of Monmouth, which occurred on June 28, 1778, resulted in an indecisive victory, though Congress and many newspapers treated it as an American victory (since the British retreated and left the battlefield first). This result demonstrated that the colonists were now able to withstand a strong British army after the intense training at Valley Forge under von Steuben, boosting morale and improving Washington's reputation as the Commander in Chief.
The winter at Valley Forge imbued into soldiers a strong will to persevere, endure, and later triumph over obstacles and bring independence to the United States. Washington always acknowledged that the perseverance gained by the soldiers at Valley Forge was what made the Continental Army bind together even stronger and eventually win the war.
Jonathan Klemens
