Valley Forge Would You Have Quit?

Samantha Weston

November 28, 2012

Period# 1

Valley Forge would you have quit?

The soldiers suffered in Valley Forge. There were sick soldiers, small huts, poor food and vomiting. The harsh environment in Valley Forge caused many soldiers to quit. If I were a soldier at Valley Forge I would have quit the war of Valley Forge because of the rapid increase of deaths, the severe atmosphere, and the doubt of whether or not it was worth staying.

Death was definitely a problem at Valley Forge. For example, Document A states that in February of 1778, there were eight thousand soldiers at Valley Forge. Out of those eight thousand soldiers, half of them were sick. In fact, the estimate of American soldiers who died was 1,800 to2500 soldiers. This shows how difficult it was to survive at Valley Forge. One doctor, named Dr. Albigence Waldo, wrote journal entries about his experience there. He describes how sick the soldiers and he is, stating that he "vomits half his time" (Doc C). By reading Waldo's entries in his journal, it can be concluded that some of the deaths were because of the poor living conditions, such as the shortage of food, and small huts.

First, I would have quit because our army was losing great numbers. Many people were dying because of sickness and the cold. In document A, it states that during the winter 1,800 people to 2,500 people died. The army started out with 12,000 soldiers in the December of 1777 and in February it dropped to 8,000. Not only were people dying many soldiers become ill. In December 2,898 were sick. The numbers didn't go down either; in February nearly 4,000 were sick. Document C describes the conditions the soldiers were living in. It says that the soldier was sick "poor food, hard lodging cold weather, fatigue, nasty clothes, and nasty food" and was vomiting half the time. I would have given up by then.

The living conditions at Valley Forge were far from being good. Soldiers slept in log huts with no windows and extremely poor ventilation (Background info). Dr. Waldo wrote, " my skin and eyes are almost spoiled with continual smoke" (Doc C). He also mentions in document C how the food is poor, the weather's cold, the clothes and cookery are nasty, and he feels exhausted. Based on this description, it would seem as a good idea to quit. George Washington, the man who led the Continental Army, realized this. In fact, soldiers would cry through the camp "No meat! No meat!" That is why Washington presented the army to the Congressional Committee to show them that they need better food, training, and living conditions (Doc B). At this time, some soldiers doubted Washington's leadership. The total uncertainty of staying at Valley Forge also would have encouraged soldiers to quit.

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