If I Stay At Valley Forge Analysis

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.

Things are terrible at Valley Forge for the past couple months. I don’t think I can stand it any longer! Right now it is winter in 1777. I have served my time as a soldier in Valley Forge, but now I have to decide if I will quit or not. In this case, quit means to not re-enlist. A lot of soldiers are considering not to re-enlist. I have decided not to re-enlist for three reasons which are, the bad conditions, half of the soldiers are sick, and very cold/snowing.

When a person is in a stressful situation on instinct they have two options, fight or flight. In war the same is true. War is not always bayonets and bullets, it’s the decisions you make during times of hardship. A soldier has to make the decision whether to keep fighting for what they believe in no matter what the stakes or to flee. In December of 1777, George Washington and his troops arrived at Valley Forge. Since the summer of 1775, all has gone well for the Continental Army. More recently Washington was presumably unable to stop General Howe and his British soldiers from claiming the national capital of Philadelphia. With Howe and his army of approximately 18,000 comfortably quartered in Philadelphia,

One of the reasons I wouldn't quit Valley Forge is because 50% of the people were sick but only 15% died. In document A it says “3989 (about 4000) out of 8000 were sick or unable to report for duty.” By February 1st, about 50% of soldiers were sick. But sickness is common around this time. For example, in our classroom about half of our students were sick. (Doc A) “1800 out of 12000 died”. 1800 out of 12000 soldiers may sound like a lot but it is actually only 15%. That's only 15% of all the soldiers dying. That's pretty good for being the “UnderDogs” in a war. This still gives you an 85% chance of living. So I would stay.

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

The first reason I am staying in Valley Forge is, with so many soldiers dead or too sick to get out of bed, they need as many people as they can get. By this time, February 1, 1778, about half of the soldiers at Valley Forge are too sick to work. Another 1,800 to 2,500 are already dead. (Document A) This means that they are severely short on troops. If the British were to attack at this time and everyone was leaving, we wouldn’t fare very well.

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.

I am one of those people who would quit Valley Forge. Valley Forge is a winter camp that was developed in the year 1777 to prepare Washington’s army for war. The 18,000 soldiers would have to train for 7 months in the cold weather with limited supplies. I would leave Valley Forge, because from 18,000 healthy soldiers, soon became 7,000 soldiers getting ill, and 2,500 end up dying (Document A).

I am a Colonist and I can’t stand it here anymore so I have decided I am going to leave Valley Forge. In Estimates of Illness and Deaths at Valley Forge (DocA). Not all of the soldiers were able to survive. A lot of the soldiers got very ill at Valley Forge because of the weather. In the Diary of Dr. Waldo (Doc C). The army starts to get sick. There is very poor food for us at Valley Forge. The American Crisis by Thomas Paine (Doc D). It is a very difficult time for us to be there. It gets very cold at Valley Forge that is why it is a difficult time to be there. There is illness, poor food, and it is a difficult time that is why I would leave.

There was a lot of sick people, but there was not a lot of people dying from the sickness. Firstly, in document A it stated there was “3,989 people sick out of the 8,000” who were there. So what that is saying there was about 50% of soldiers sick and in the Winter it is common to be sick especially in those conditions. Secondly there were only “1,800 out of the 12,000 men died in Valley Forge”(doc A). What this is saying is that there is only a 15% chance of dying and a 85% chance of living which that is pretty good odds. Also in the background essay it says “today we know that most of the army survived the winter. So, I would take those odds and stay at Valley Forge.

I would stay at Valley Forge because only 15% of people died. The first reason I would have stayed at Valley Forge is because 3,989 out of 8000, which is 50%, of people were sick. (Doc A) People are probably only sick because of the weather, since it is February 1, which is still winter time. Half of the people are sick but in

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,

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

The first reason I will not re-enlist is because the sickness in 1777 to 1778 is a very easy disease to spread. The quote “ Sent here to starve and freeze” (Waldo 151) is harsh, especially for the people that are fighting for their country. As well as for the quote “ However, the most frequent time of re-enlistment was nine months… Others just simply deserted” (Roden 141) shows that they knew how hard the living was and that they needed to leave. In Document A it talks about the average people at Valley Forge in the beginning and the average after the sickness spread. So by looking at the chart I would have a 25% chance of living, and a 75% chance of dying.These reasons are causing me to not re-enlist because I would rather not die of a sickness but of old age. This whole paragraph is talking about how you can catch a sickness and may not survive.

Many people would say that being a soldier working at Valley Forge wasn’t worth it. Furthermore, that working at Valley Forge wasn’t beneficial; But how could you judge something if you haven't been there to judge? Now everyone knows that Valley Forge is located in Pennsylvania and that many of Washington's men were enrolled to fight for nine months at the least six including myself. But the question I constantly run across is “Should I quit?”There are many nights that I have layed in my 16’ by 14’ log hut inhaling smoke and thinking about this specific topic, but everytime it comes to mind I always think about my loyalty to my country,the sickness of men, and my beliefs as a christian.