It's Time To Vacate From 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.

The first reason I will not re-enlist is all the bad conditions. I am sick because of the poor/nasty cookery. I am out of humor, all the men are! All of the 12 men in my hut are getting more sick with the smoke from the fire. On December 21, I heard a general yell “No meat!” “No

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

Victory does not come cheap. The soldiers who joined Washington in Valley Forge in December of 1777 learned that very quickly. While we camp here for the winter, we endure very harsh conditions. Many soldiers leave once their terms come to an end, and some even desert before then. Though some decide to stick it out and reenlist. The question is: which group will I join once my term is up? My response is that I will stay and fight for my country. There are three main reasons that I have come to this conclusion; The army is in need of people, I do not want to spread sickness to my family, and we are fighting for our freedom.

It is the middle of the in 1778, there are men everywhere, cots full of ill soldiers, and smoke filled huts. Half of the population is sick and the soldiers have almost no fight left in them. There are few men with spirit left in the camps at Valley Forge. Thomas Paine states, “These are the times that try men's souls”, and as the men walk around injured, bleeding, frozen, and starving you do not only see hunger and pain, you would see what looked like poverty. Tattered clothing draped on the backs of the worn out soldiers, and starved, skeleton resembling bodies. Even though these harsh times will show the true colors of man, some are boasting with the red, white, and blue of patriotism. While innumerable people believe that there is almost no fight or spirit left, the soldiers that stay have hope to win this war. If I was a soldier at Valley Forge, I would stay. I would continue to

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).

“Every thought is a battle, every breath is a war and I don’t think we are winning anymore”. The depressing thoughts in which were made up of dying and not surviving were going through the minds of all the soldiers at Valley Forge as well as mine. The need of food, clothes, and weapons were needed. The wanting to win and return home to our families were mutual between all of us as well. Since the summer of 1775, George Washington has withdrawn from Boston and retreated to New York City after the American Revolution. Recently, he had been unable to stop the British when Howe marched his army into the capital of Philadelphia. Washington had a very hard time trying to keep us in his army. Some of them had signed on for one year or two, but others left or simply deserted us. The question is simple, whether or not you would stay and fight for your country or leave with honor and your dignity. My choice was obvious, staying to fight for my country. There are many reasons surrounding my choice, including the fact that the supplies were provided for us in order to live and fight through the terrible seasons, the encouragement we needed, and the conditions we faced.

I would want to quit because the illness killed a ton of soldiers. In (Document A) it shows how many soldiers died from the illness. They lost 4,000 soldiers in only 2 months. Many of the soldiers either died, or they may have unenlisted due to

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

Would you fight for independence in the harsh conditions or stay home and hope for independence. During December 1777 George Washington led an army called the Continental Army of 12,000 men to take base at Valley Forge, PA which was 18 miles Northwest of Philadelphia. The question that I have to answer is; Valley Forge: Would you have quit?. This basically means that if you had to make a choice to not re-enlist or stay, which one would you choose. I am not re-enlisting or quitting valley forge because of the shortage of food, the terrible illness and dreadful accommodations.

We have to sleep in 16’ by 14’ hut. There is twelve people per hut. We are all squished and uncomfortable. I don’t think a day has gone by that it has not been snowing here. My feet are frozen and cold. I am missing one of my fingers and cry myself to sleep wanting to be with my family. So now I have the choice to leave and through all of this in the end I get to go home. There is also frostbite, many of the men are having their feet, arms, and fingers being cut off. This is only a few of the awful thing happening here at Valley Forge.

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.

Valley Forge was a winter camp full of sickness, death, and misery. There is no reason why anyone should’ve stayed. Estimate of Illness and Death (Document A) shows how Over a period of two months the total number of soldiers went from 12,000 to 8,000. Four thousand soldiers died in two months. Imagine how many people died during the whole camp! Also, 50% of soldiers were sick and were unable to train and fight. In the Diary of Dr. Waldo (Document C) he states, “Poor food-hard lodging-cold weather-fatigue-Nasty clothes-nasty Cookery-vomit half my time-smok'd out of my senses.” A man who participated in Valley Forge was miserable and sick which proves how bad this was. They had no food and freezing weather. The Committee of Congress Engraving