The Women Present At Valley Forge

Martha Washington- (1732-1802)- During the Revolutionary War, Martha joined her husband for part of each winter encampment, he attended, including the 1777-1778 encampment at Valley Forge. Martha arrived in the beginning of February and left in the beginning of June. Much of Martha’s time at the encampment was involved in running the household at Washington’s Headquarters. This would include organizing daily meals for the staff, entertaining guests and officers’ wives. According to Pierre Etienne Duponceau, secretary to Baron Von Steuben wrote, “In the midst of all our distress there were some bright sided of the picture which Valley Forge exhibited...Mrs. Washington had the courage to follow her husband to that dismal abode…”

Throughout the course of history, there have been many important people whose names shall be known forever. But what about the people who shaped the world, but didn’t get the fame? Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, or Eliza Hamilton, was one of those people. Eliza Hamilton was born in 1757 in Albany, New York, and she died at the age of 97 in Washington, D.C. When she was 23 years old, she married the man who would forever change her future: Alexander Hamilton. As well as performing the expected hardships of being a mother in the 18th century, Eliza also greatly helped Alexander with his work. She helped him write many of his essays and speeches, and she gave him advice about all aspects of his work in the colonial government. Eliza’s devoted work

They opened up their homes to the wounded, raised money for and provided food and clothing to the Army. There are even several recorded instances of women serving as spies or soldiers in disguise. Most of the active participants however, were in the form of what was called "camp followers". While some of these were women were prostitutes, many others were wives, daughters and mothers of soldiers who followed the Army because they were unable to support themselves after their men left for war. They served the Continental Army as nurses, cooks, laundresses, and water bearers. These women became the earliest American examples of women who supported the military to "free a man to fight" as they performed jobs usually done by male soldiers.

Valley Forge was a winter camp that was 18 miles northwest from Philadelphia that the American Continental Army spent the winter from 1777-78 during the American Revolutionary war. There were many soldiers at Valley Forge, Many of them died, but many of them also lived. An approximate amount of soldiers at Valley Forge was 12,000 in December 1777 and 8,000 in February 1778. While many soldiers were sick or heave died, the remaining soldiers that survived were being trained by General George Washington. Though staying at Valley forge may have not been the right idea. In the “Estimate of illness and deaths at Valley Forge (Document A)” it shows how many soldiers were sick and how many soldiers

Martha Washington served American Army during the revolutionary war and called on the women of colonies to help Continental Army’s soldiers through monetary contributions and supplying donations which helped in the stability of American Army. She organized the huge donation campaign named “The Offering of the Ladies” to support the colonial soldiers and collected a huge amount of money at that time. The soldiers really appreciated all the efforts made by Martha Washington during her stay at Valley Forge. She provided them with the services like cloths, food and with the first aid services to the sick, wounded and dying soldiers. Also, helped the Army with food when they were starving and with cloths when they were freezing with cold with the help of other women in the colonies. She assumed the prominent role as the caretaker of

An important person in the Revolutionary War was Martha Washington. Martha Washington was the wife of George Washington.

During the 1760’s, Martha Dandridge Custis Washington settled down and her life revolved around her home and her family. As tensions with Britain rose, she became a target and Washington convinced her to leave Mount Vernon. She would spend time with family and friends while moving from location to location. Martha would stay with George during the winter throughout the years of the war at places like Valley Forge and Morristown, New Jersey. There were many other women at the camps also but she had more responsibility than them. She was Washington’s secretary and his representative. She tended to the sick and wounded. She also created a camp social center by inviting guests to the camp. Martha also organized a women’s sewing circle that would often mend clothing. All of these things were part of the success of the war. After the war, her son’s widow remarried and two of Martha’s grandchildren

William Henry Powell portrays, “Committee of congress at Valley Forge” shows the congress, Washington, and soldiers at Valley Forge (Paine 1866). George Washington was the leader of the continental army, and a delegate in the continental congress. The committee of five, who were also in the congress, stayed at Valley Forge for a few weeks to helped the army get resources and supplies. During this time, George Washington wrote a 35 page report about the relationship between the congress and the Americans. This shows George Washington’s leadership and how he is supporting the army. Before this, the soldiers were barely scraping by in difficult conditions. Many soldiers were getting sick and not getting enough food. The supplies brought by the congress helped reduce sickness and gave hope to the

Wives, daughters, sisters, and other female kin assumed much of the work normally pursued by men- managing plantation, harvesting crops, running business. This pressure took toll on women. “We felt like clinging to Walter and holding him back”, wrote one Virginia woman in reaction to a family member’s enlistment. “I was sick of war, sick of the butchery, the anguish” (encylopediavirginia.org).

When the American Civil War began on April 12th, 1861, over 3 million Union and Confederate soldiers prepared for battle. Men from all over America were called upon to support their side in the confrontation. While their battles are well documented and historically analyzed for over a hundred years, there is one aspect, one dark spot missing in the picture: the role of women in the American Civil War. From staying at home to take care of the children to disguising themselves as men to fight on the battlefield, women contributed in many ways to the war effort on both sides. Though very few women are recognized for their vital contributions, even fewer are

As the British got closer to Philadelphia, it was no longer safe for Reed and her family to stay at their home. Their life wax uncertain and dangerous as it was for other women whose husbands joined the Revolution. Later in 1778 the Ladies of Philadelphia, headed by Reed, worked to raise

The pictures also notes that this is “ George Washington presenting Congressional Committee to soldiers at Valley Forge. The committee of five Congressmen stayed several weeks and was helpful in getting more food and clothing to the soldiers.” This was our moment of hope and probably the happiest moment at Valley Forge. This made more of us want to stay but some still want to leave and others are actually leaving. This is the moment where you should really decide if you want to stay or

During the American Revolution, men were often thought to have been the only ones to fight and participate in the war. While men were the majority that fought in the actual war, women were left to tend to all of the duties left by men, as well as, their own duties. Women were the backbone of towns, farms, and other businesses during the war. The book, Revolutionary Mothers by Carol Berkin, shares the stories of what women went through during the Revolutionary War. Carol Berkin writes about what all the women, no matter what race or political beliefs, went through during the war, and how these women handled the war.

In the United States, women played an imperative role that is clearly depicted in American history. Women’s significance was apparent in imperative historical events such as the American Revolution, struggle for independence, and the colonial America. During the American Revolution, women contributed significantly, where they played an active role in the American armies (Wayne & Tiffany 213). In this case, the women participated in the war as soldiers, where they fought alongside men, with the intention of overwhelming nations that took part in the revolutionary war. Women such as Deborah Sampson, Hannah Snell, among many others played an active role (women soldiers) during the revolutionary war. Their active participation in battle accounted for their rise in high military ranks. The likes of Deborah Sampson were named aide-de-camps to revolutionary war generals such as John Peterson.

Women, regardless of the opposition, were determined to support their armies and their beliefs even on the battlefield. The North and South armies of the country were fighting without proper organization from their respective governments, leading women to volunteer to help their men in whatever manner they could. Contributing to the war effort, women were “responsible for much of the clothing, feeding, and nursing of the soldiers.”18 Women would cook and do the laundry for the soldiers, working in camps away from the battlefield. Other women would provide comfort for the dying soldiers, nurturing the wounded and staying with the men who were dying until their last moments. Their efforts were to offset the fact that the wounded men were separated from their loved ones and “represented domestic tranquility in the midst of armed conflict.”19 Women were not prohibited from nursing injured soldiers because it was “not yet a profession requiring special training…care of the sick and injured was traditionally a female skill”20. Nursing was not the only important contribution that women provided during the war. They also worked within their communities to make up for the men who had left to fight in the war, managing homes and plantations,