T1+-+6.3B

T1 - 6.3B: Grace Klinger, Molly Houlahan (Valley Forge) =Valley Forge=

In November of 1777, Washington and his troops could tell that they had to make a camp soon. The winter was approaching. That was when they came upon Valley Forge. It was not nearly as easy as they may have thought. The living conditions were horrible and they went through an excruciating winter.

The conditions at Valley Forge are far from leisurely in fact they could be downright horrible. With the lack of supplies provided by the continental congress, they soon ran out of food and had to eat firecrackers, a mix of flour and water. From lack of food, supplies, and intense cold dieses raged through the camp. Men are suffering through typhoid fever, dysentery, Pneumonia, and typhus. Most men do not even have shoes and are leaving bloody footprints in the snow .The conditions at Valley Forge are very hard on the men.

The soldiers were looking for a place to stay for the winter, and the British army was not expecting them to come from the direction of Valley Forge. After they were ready to fight, they caught the British by surprise from a different direction. They also needed to get ready for the British. None of then were trained very well, and entering the camp, they weren’t fit to take on the British. When Washington was not making any moves, his army began to lose faith in him. Congress and the soldiers were getting angry and impatient with him. They were untrained, loosing faith, and resigning. At one point, Washington says, “No day, nor scarce an hour passes without the offer of a resigned commission.” In the end, a man named Friedrich Wilhelm Von Stueben trained them to become an army that won the Revolutionary War.

The one thing that is making Valley Forge a success for the continental army is baron von Steuben. He was brought in to train these farmers, shopkeepers, slaves, and convicts into soldiers. He trained the soldiers with little mercy and is making the officers train the soldiers .He was very gruff but the important thing was that he got the job done.

These men are going through horrific times at Valley Forge. With not enough food, clothes, shoes, other equipment two thousand men are dying there. It did turn them into a real army, when they marched into Valley Forge on December 19 1777 they had just had a string of horrible losses they were in no shape to fight the British. They are through hell in order to become an army. Will it be worth it?