American Revolution: The Winter at Valley Forge
The American Revolution was not won through the winning of battles. General George Washington, Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, won only three battles during the war: at Trenton, Princeton and finally at Yorktown with the surrender of General Cornwallis. The American Revolution was won through sheer tenacity and the continuing survival of the Continental Army.
No better examples exist of the sheer struggle to survive for George Washington’s army than the winter of 1777-78, spent in Valley Forge in Pennsylvania. After suffering two major defeats at Brandywine and Germantown, the Continental army moved to Valley Forge to spend the winter, arriving on December 19th, just in time for Christmas. Little fighting was ever done in the winter in the 18th century, as weather conditions often just did not permit it.
The Continental Army at Valley Forge
Winter at Valley Forge was a harsh one. Exceedingly cold, the ragtag army had little food and supplies. Christmas dinner of 1777 for the soldiers was composed of fire cakes and cold water. Reading the diaries of soldiers who spent the winter there we learn of stories of bloody footprints in the snow left by those who did not even have boots to wear on their feet, not eating for days on end, freezing cold temperatures.
Quarters were built for the wintering soldiers. Every 12 men had a 16 x 14 foot long hut in which they were to sleep in incredibly cramped conditions. They were built two feet into the ground in an attempt to conserve some warmth, but mostly had only dirt floors. Doors were generally composed of a simple cloth blanket draped over the entrance to the huts.
Supplies were hard to find in Valley Forge. While the supplies were available, those in charge of delivering supplies to the camp were apathetic and incompetent, and the soldiers of Valley Forge spent the first half of the winter in fighting for their lives from day to day.
With temperatures averaging in the 20’s and 30’s, rain and snow commonplace, little to no food, inadequate clothing and completely unsanitary conditions disease was rampant. It is estimated that as many as 3,000 men died during the winter due to disease.
Turnaround at Valley Forge
Things began to change as 1777 turned into 1778. In February Prussian military tactician and strategist Baron von Steuben arrived in Valley Forge. Volunteering his services to General Washington, it was his job to turn the ragtag bunch of soldiers who had survived into a well trained fighting machine.
The experiment began with 100 soldiers whom von Steuben himself would personally train. These 100 men would then go to other regiments and train others, who would go on to train others and so on. Von Steuben was angered and surprised to learn that men were put into units before being properly trained, and put into place a system of progressive training, where soldiers would be trained as the progressed from unit to unit.
Von Steuben was a harsh teacher. He spent his days marching up and down the line during drills, yelling and cursing at his students in German and French. Unfortunately for the soldiers, the vast majority of them spoke neither German nor French. Von Steuben then enlisted the aide of Captain Benjamin Walker to translate for him.
Things began to greatly improve for the Continental Army in March of 1778 when Nathanael Greene was appointed quartermaster general. Unlike his predecessor Thomas Mifflin, Greene worked hard to make sure that the troops were well supplied, and things at the camp generally began to grow better. The arrival of a 70 man baking company from Philadelphia also greatly helped matters. These bakers ensured that every soldier at Valley Forge received fresh bread daily.
Between the increase in supplies and the training of soldiers, the Continental Army by the end of June 1778 was a stronger, better prepared and better fed force than they had been the December before. Although there were still three long hard years fighting left ahead of them, they had passed through the hardest months of the war. They had survived, and so had the American spirit for independence. Before this spirit the British would lose the day, unable to continue on.
