Why I Want To Enter The Valley Forge Dbq Essay

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Another cold winter night´s sorrows cannot bring this war to an end. The soldiers cry out in pain, longing for a warm coat or something satisfying to eat. Dense smoke fills the air, forcing men to crawl along the blood-soaked snow. The outcome of the war is already determined, it seems. Our contracts with the army are coming to an end, and it is coming time for each man to look inside himself and decide if he will be enlisting in the army once again. Though many heavy-hearted soldiers are making the choice to return home to their families as opposed to rejoining the army, I am going to enlist for another nine months. There are many reasons one would want to skip signing another contract, but I am making the choice to stay because I am healthy and able to fight, I am loyal to my government, and I hold a firm belief in our cause. …show more content…

When you look at the populace chart of Valley Forge, you can see that in December 1777, about 3,000 of the 12,000 men were sick, but as of February 1778, almost 4,000 of the 8,000 men succumbed to disease (Document A). Consequently, this means that over the course of two months, not only has the population decreased, Washington went from having 25% of his soldiers being ill to 50% of them. However, despite so many soldiers falling ill, I am well and able to fight. If I were to back out of the military, I would be costing Washington a soldier when he had none to spare. We see this again in Dr. Waldo’s letters back home (Document C). “The army which has been surprisingly healthy hitherto, now begins to grow sickly… I am sick- disconnected- and out of humor… fatigue, nasty clothes… vomit half my time… I can’t endure it” (Waldo, Letters). Waldo is a fellow soldier who became ill. From his description of his illness, he is in no condition to fight, which leaves me with the opportunity to step up and defend my country when others

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