1777 And You Are A Soldier In The Continental Army

Valley Forge December year of 1777 Washington and his army arrived at Valley Forge. Valley Forge was used for a winter camp for Washington and his army. Valley Forge was a cold place to live, not a lot of food, and not a lot of clothes, bad housing all these things are bad but soldiers stay with their army. Valley Forge would you have quit me I would not quit because There were a lot of people sick but not a lot of dying, Washington is getting help, and I’m not a summer soldier freedom is worth fighting for.

George Washington and his continental army were staying at a winter camp in Valley Forge in very bad conditions from December 1777 to June 1778. These “summer soldiers” are leaving, but some are staying loyal. If you had been at Valley Forge would you quit? I would quit because only 15% of people are dying, there is help on the way and because of the inspirational words of Thomas Paine from the “American Crisis”.

Valley Forge is where George Washington and his troops sent camp for the winter. During camp the colonists trained hard and gained the confidence they needed to win the war. Unfortunately the lack of food and spread of disease caused many deaths during this harsh winter. If I had the choice to leave or stay at Valley Forge I would leave. I would not want to risk my life or have to suffer through the cold and sickness. According to Estimates of Illness and Deaths at Valley Forge (Doc A), during the encampment about 2,500 soldiers died. That is about ⅓ of the colonists fighting in the war. About 49% of the soldiers get sick. “I am sick-discontented-and out of humour. Poor food - hard lodging - Cold Weather - fatigue - Nasty Clothes - nasty

In Document C, it says “I am Sick - discontented - and out of humour. Poor food - hard lodging - Cold Weather - fatigue - Nasty Clothes - nasty Cookery - Vomit half my time - Smok'd out my senses…” and much more. Essentially, everything about Valley Forge is terrible, such as the food, ventilation, clothes, and hard lodging. Even though the conditions were terrible, “Dr. Waldo suffered during his winter at Valley Forge but stayed loyal to the Continental Army as he helped other surgeons care for sick soldiers.” As well as “... spirit of Alacrity…” shown by the soldiers. This evidence is meaning even though the conditions were very bad, a lot of the other soldiers showed spirit and willingness, so I would have too.

In 1777 Continental troops head toward Philadelphia to fight and take land from the British troops, but are stopped by a Tragic snow storm. Men stop and set up camp to get past the storm but sadly Men start dying from illness and weather. Some troops wanted to leave and other wanted to stay and fight. Here's is my three reasons why you should stay at valley forge. First and foremost about 12,000 men settled at valley forge and from December 1777 to February 1778 about 4,000 men died. These are tragic deaths but if you do the math you only have a ten percent of dyeing, and 90 percent of living. Also about only 50 percent of people get sick, so if you put both together you have a high chance of living. The second reason why to stay at valley

Valley Forge is a winter camp for soldiers. It was about 18 miles northwest of Philadelphia that had the not so clean items. If I had a choice to quit or stay at Valley Forge I would choose to quit. Showing the amount of estimates of illness and deaths is one of the main reasons why I would quit. During February 1778 the estimated amount of soldiers is 8,000. The estimated amount of illness during the encampment was 3,989 which is about 50% of the people get sick. (Doc A). Also, 1,800- 2,500 is the estimated number of people who die due to illness. (Doc A). The diary of Dr. Waldo wrote about the conditions of the troop and huts. Many reasons why soldiers are dying because of the harsh conditions such as sickness, poor food, cold weather, fatigue,

Though trouble and doubt we will prevail. This happened in the winter between 1777-1778. Valley Forge is a place about eighteen miles northwest of Philadelphia. A lot of soldiers are leaving when we need them to fight. Victory seemed a long way off; in fact for many, it seemed unlikely. Even though that has happened I have decided to not re-enlist for three reasons which are: conditions, health, and results of war.

There is no food, I am cold, and have little humor, I want to go home. This is only some of the horrible things happening. It is 1777 and George Washington has several 1,000 troops settled at Valley Forge. We are here to fight for are freedom from the british. It is winter here and us men are not doing well. The real question is: Will I Quit? I have served my time.Things have been so bad, I am deciding to quit and not re-enlist. The 3 reasons I want to leave are so many are sick, awful living conditions, and I don’t want to die.

In doc B it shows us how all the men had torn clothes and how they were in a snowy and harsh climate.They were getting frost bite and one of my fellow soldiers only had 3 toes due to having no shoes and getting frostbite. I wouldn't want to stay there because they don't have the appropriate clothes for the climate and they are basically freezing to death in the cold weather.

Sick soldiers, horrible food, tough living arrangements and insufficient clothing made it very easy for Soldiers could tell if they wanted if they wanted to leave Valley Forge. A soldier would want to quit Valley Forge because of the struggles and the harsh weather during the winter at Valley Forge. The weather also affects how the soldiers lives in their living arrangements. In the freezing weather 12 men would have to sleep in a hut, In a hut included one door and no windows which made the air circulation very bad and hard to work with. Also there was not any bed just a muddy floor. And the harsh weather most soldiers would get frostbite.When saying frostbite, most soldiers will get frostbite from walking in bare feet in the winter when there was snow. soldiers would walk in bare feet because they didn't want anyone tracking them or following them. It was also very easy for the soldiers to get frostbite because they would have to walk a complete 18 miles to Philadelphia.

To begin, I would of left Valley Forge due to the rampant disease. In document B it shows that, “deaths by disease 1800-2500”. The amount of deaths due to disease is very foreboding. The chance of someone dying by disease was chillingly high. Also, document C says, “I am sick- discontented and out of home.” This primary source shows a man who is suffering from the terrible conditions caused by disease. The suffering of those with disease in the camp was absolutely terrifying, and

It was either horrible conditions or nothing at all. Document C, the diary of Dr. Albigence Waldo, shows evidence of one of the soldier’s experience of all the bad conditions at Valley Forge. The diary described the hard lodging that did not give much protection from the cold, harsh weather (Waldo). Many soldiers died because of the lack of shelter. How are we supposed to win the war if we are not even given a place to sleep? I could not be a good soldier if I were sick because I did not have a good place to rest. I would have been too weak to fight the British soldiers, like many of the others at Valley

“Poor food – hard lodging – cold weather – fatigue – nasty cloaths- nasty cookery – vomit half my time – smoked out my senses – the Devil isn’t – I can’t Endure it – why are we sent here to starve and freeze” In Document C, they show the life of a Soldier. Now, do you see yet why I would leave? We travel too much and not with the right supplies besides guns, but still, I walk around half of the time with no shoes and freeze my toes off, do you know how much frostbite I got, you wouldn’t imagine. We get sick with many things like small pocks putrid fever, pneumonia, and dysentery. Although you may think that, this wasn’t that big a deal most people do and so do I. I love my family too much to go through this

In the winter of 1777 and 1778 George washington commanded thousands of soldiers that spent their winter at Valley forge and I am one of them Many stayed for 2 years but many left at 9 months. If you were a soldier at valley Forge would you have quit? because of These three reasons I am not re enlisting, sickness, risk and conditions In Valley Forge the Huts were 16 by 14 feet and very cramped for 12 men to fit with all of their belongings. Winter was rough with the cold air in the sky and because of this many soldiers froze.

In Document C, according to the Diary of Albigence Waldo, he states “I am sick-disconnected- and out of humour. Poor food-hard lodging-Cold weather-fatigue-Nasty coats-Nasty cookery…”. In this qoute, you can see that soldiers are in great pain from the cold weather, bad food, and bad care. The soldiers can’t really take this anymore and they feel miserable. Sure they can be warm with their coats, but in Waldo's diary he tells us that the coats they have are “nasty”, they could have diseases on them or they could smell really bad to. The soldiers are in misery from the weather, food, and care.