I, Damian Hernandez, a citizen of America would have quit if I was a soldier at Valley Forge. If I were to stay at Valley Forge the Revolutionary War wouldn't be the only battle I’d fight. There’s another battle that I’d have to conquer and that is the fight for my own life. The Continental Army stayed at Valley Forge in the winter of 1777-1778. The winters at Valley Forge were extremely cold, there was little heat and not much space in the “cabins” that they stayed in. In a letter that George Washington wrote to George Clinton concerning supplies and food he describes his troops as being “naked”. This term means that the clothes the men had weren’t fit for the conditions they worked in. In addition to this, I have found information about …show more content…
ill soldiers and deaths at Valley Forge from Document A. According to Document A, there were 1,800 to 2,500 deaths because of illnesses.
Additionally, there were 6,887 soldiers who were unable to work. The diseases that were spread at Valley Forge were smallpox, scarlet fever, and pneumonia. Pneumonia is a lung infection that can occur in cold weather, therefore, many people in Valley Forge had this. Although pneumonia can be cured by a vaccination today, in 1777 or 1778 I highly doubt they had a highly effective treatment to this disease. Scarlet fever is a rash that is spread on arms, neck, and legs. Along with this rash comes a fever and can be caused by strep throat. Smallpox is another form of rash. This rash is intensified majorly and is spread everywhere on the body. These diseases and illnesses were the reason the Continental Army’s population came to a low and it took a toll on the army. In a letter George Washington wrote to George Clinton, a governor of New York at the time, he explained that many of his soldiers were ill and unable to work. He concluded the letter by requesting that congressmen come to the aid of his …show more content…
soldiers. Furthermore, water, food, and clothing were also things that made the Continental Army suffer.
While scanning through Document B, the water at Valley Forge was contaminated, but despite the consequences, the soldiers still drank it. Much like water, there were sparse amounts of food, which means there is not much nutrition. “Hotcakes” is what the soldiers ate. This was a mixture of fire and water that was warmed up over a fire. The malnourished soldiers were very unhealthy, but still appreciated every bit of food they could get. Along with these problems is another, the clothing the soldiers had on was not fit for the weather. The bitter cold bit at the soldiers as they waited for orders, some were barefoot, some had holes in their pants, and some had little clothing. All of these things should have been provided for the soldiers while they were there. Although Washington did make efforts to help his army, they were still struggling and many were still dying of disease, lack of nutrition, and lack of warmth (hypothermia). Following these findings I also discovered a quote from Document D.
The quote states “Patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from service of their country.” This is very true because not only are the soldiers risking their life to fight for their country, theiralso risking their life to be able to fight for their country. Many people died in this war, not only because of wars, but because of illness. Many may argue that they would rather fight and lead their
country to victory or die trying. However these people do not realise that they will be away from family that they may never see again, and they may become homesick to the point that they have suicidal thoughts. In conclusion, quitting would be my option because staying at Valley Forge would be full of suffering. Although the outcome was great for the United States there was many reasons why I would quit. One, there were deadly diseases that spread viciously amongst the soldiers. Two, food, water, and clothing were all sparse at the time which led to malnutrition, hypothermia, and extreme diarrhea. Finally, I would quit because many soldiers were unable to fight for their country and pursue what they went to Valley Forge to do, and for all I know one of those people could have easily been me.
To make matters worse they had to deal with smallpox more dangerously than that is Lice because they rarely bathed or washed themselves or had laundered clothing. Another horrible things that Martin and his soldiers had to deal with was typhus a potential killer disease characterized by usually high fevers and red sports on the skin. Typhus took the lives of most of the Valley Forge Martin was under the brigade command of General James M. Varnum but his actual commander was Colonial John Durkee of the 4th Connecticut regiment, since Varnum was elsewhere. Washington’s continentals fairly well- supplied with food, but in the months preceding a major reason for so much privation at Valley Forge. Martin’s statement about Washington’s main army was misleading about them residing in the White Plains as they crossed the Hudson River and established winter quarters in Middlebrooks, New
In the winter of 1777 and 1778 George Washington and the Continental Army had a rough time at Valley Forge. Valley Forge was 18 miles outside of Philadelphia . Some of the soldiers left because all they did was work it was cold and they had bad clothing like worn out shoes and they were getting sick but not all left some stayed loyal and times got even harder but they were so devoted to stay and fight for their freedom. So I would not have quit because…..
Goal: Have the general public understand why the army stayed at Valley Forge, and what the soldiers did here in order to survive the winter encampment.
The day to day life for the regular soldier was not glorious. Many times the regiments were low on supplies such as food and clothing. They lived in the elements. Medical conditions were grotesque because of the lack of advanced equipment and anesthesia. “Discipline was enforced with brutality” as if all the other conditions were not bad enough.
Soldiers faced diseases like measles, small pox, malaria, pneumonia, camp itch, mumps, typhoid and dysentery. However, diarrhea killed more soldiers than any other illness. There were many reasons that diseases were so common for the causes of death for soldiers. Reasons include the fact that there were poor physicals before entering the army, ignorance of medical information, lack of camp hygiene, insects that carried disease, lack of clothing and shoes, troops were crowded and in close quarters and inadequate food and water.
"America's present need is not heroics but healing, not nostrums but normalcy, not revolution but restoration .not submergence in internationality but sustainment in triumphant nationality."
I would leave Valley Forge because 49% of soldiers died at Valley Forge and the lowest estimate of dying soldiers was 1,800 (Doc A). The Diary of Dr. Waldo also wants to make me leave because there was no ventilation in the huts besides the door. But they didn't open the door because it would let all the cold air in. They also had no beds all they slept on was snow and dirt. Also Later during winter they ran out of meat and all the had to eat flower and water mixed and boiled (Doc D). Doc B would make me want to leave too because in the engraving the soldiers had no shoes and no warm clothes either. Also in the background it looks like I would literally freeze to death. Even if I did desert the probably couldn't find me from all the snow in
It was the winter of 1777 and 1778, about 18 miles outside of Philadelphia. Commander George Washington and his Continental Army set up a camp named Valley Forge. Nearly several thousand patriot soldiers were sent there to fight against the British. There were 18,000 comfortably quartered soldiers. Since there was no place for the many soldiers to stay, they made log “huts” There were no beds, just fragile straw on the cold, mud floor. They housed 12 men and had no windows. Cold was one problem, smoke was another. Since the “huts” had no windows, the smoke had nowhere to get out and made the soldiers hurt. There were many problems, and the first two years of the American Revolution had not gone well for the Continental Army. Washington was having problems keeping soldiers in the army. Even nine-month men decided to go home and not returning. Others simply deserted. Would you have quit Valley Forge? There are reasons to quit, like the poor conditions, but I would stay at Valley Forge because I am not a summer soldier or sunshine patriot and there is still hope.
One of the reasons I am not going to re-enlist at Valley is the amount of sick soldiers and astonishing death toll. By the end of the Winter at Valley Forge, about 50%, or half of the soldiers were sick and 1,800-2,500 soldiers died there (Doc A). People who
Valley Forge is about twenty miles away from Philadelphia. You wouldn’t really call it a village because it was awfully small. There were a few fieldstone houses and a mill for forging iron. The Quaker farms that were near there offered food. It was a week before Christmas in 1777. So the question if I would quit Valley Forge. Yes I would definitely quit Valley Forge. I mean of course I would. Just looking at the Chart of illnesses and deaths there and Dr. Waldo’s dairy even if Thomas Paine had a great speech. For starters the chart, about 50% of the soldiers were sick and the estimated amount of deaths were between 1,800 being the lowest and 2,500 at the highest amount. Secondly, the diary of
illnesses or died at Valley Forge “3989” people had illnesses and “1800 to 2500” in total had parish. In document see a journal entry, from the account of the soldier, that there was “No Meat, No Meat!” With this evidence, the fear of becoming ill or even dying would persuade anyone that Valley Forge it’s not equipped with the proper resources to alleviate what is wrong with the soldiers. Lastly, if the illness spreading to myself then how would I be able to fight the British.
“These are the times that try men’s souls” (Paine, 1776). The first two years since George Washington had taken command as General of the Continental Army in 1775 had not gone well for the colonial side of the American Revolution. Washington took his troops to build a winter camp at Valley Forge about 18 miles northwest of Philadelphia. In the duration of which the army stayed at Valley Forge, they caught sicknesses, ran low on provisions, and yet most were still willing to stay and continue to fight for their freedom. Through all the hardships and sufferings in the winter at Valley Forge, would it be reasonable to quit? Probably. But, a soldier who has enough willpower and determination should fight for his freedom until the end because of the survival rates, their willingness, and the glorious triumph they would feel when they conquered another conflict in the course of the revolution.
I would’ve left Valley Forge once my contract was up because of the awful conditions. For soldiers in the Continental Army, living quarters seemed a little tight for 12,000 soldiers at a small camp. Conditions for the soldiers were anything but pleasant. As seen in William H. Powell’s painting soldiers walked around in ripped clothing without shoes. Snow at Valley Forge made the lack of clothing a lot worse for the soldiers (Doc. B). As if ragged clothing wasn’t enough, the soldiers lived with sickening smells. According to Dr. Waldo [a doctor who lived with the soldiers] “I am sick-discontented...vomit half my time...smoak’d out my senses...”(Doc. C). For soldiers to live with little to no clothing, and no healthy air to breathe, they were bound to
I would have gone home and left the Valley Forge because of the sicknesses. During the war at Valley Forge, George Washington was under command. He and his army had stayed at Valley Forge for six months to train the Continental Army to get stronger. Still, one thing that weakened the military were the sicknesses. According to Noel F. Busch, approximately 6,887 soldiers left the U.S. army because of illnesses from December 1777 to the February of 1778 (1). Plus, 1,800 to 2,500 soldiers died during the camp out from being ill (Busch 1). Consequently, the army decreased in size. At that point in time, there were very slim chances of the Continental Army winning the war. Why-as a U.S. soldier-risk my life if so many members of my army are leaving
In December 1777 to June 1778 in Valley Forge it was a very hard and difficult time for the soldiers. If I was in Valley Forge at this time I would not quit Washington's continental army because even though there are a lot of people getting sick there aren't very many people dying. And although all of this is happening Washington is now getting help. And the reason why I would not quit is because I don’t want to be a summer soldier because freedom is worth fighting for. If you are one of those people who would quit then you are a summer soldier because a summer soldier is someone who quits when the time gets tough.