Valley Forge Dbq
Valley Forge: The 9 Month Death Sentence
When you hear “Valley Forge” do you think of great living conditions, a large quantity of food, and all healthy soldiers? No. In the winter of 1777 and 1778 when George Washington’s Continental Army was forced to set up winter camp in Philadelphia even the littlest task of surviving was a struggle. Washington couldn’t even keep his own soldiers in the battle. So if you were a 9 month soldier, living in huts, becoming ill, and not being provided with enough supplies would you have stayed to fight for your country or would you have left to be with your family? Even though the Continental Army was made up of patriot soldiers, many deserted, and so would I due to the fact that death and illness were very common, Washington wasn’t a very good leader, and the housing was poor.
To start, the living conditions for the soldiers were …show more content…
Since the soldiers were living in such bad conditions I would want to leave as soon as possible for the fear that I would become ill and die. In December of 1777 there were 12,000 soldiers arriving at Valley Forge, but in February of 1778 George Washington left with an army of only 8,000(Doc A). According to Dr.Waldo in (Doc C) the army began to grow “sickly” from the fatigues. Some of the most common diseases were Smallpox, Influenza, Typhus, and Pneumonia. Most troops were treated for Smallpox, but were unable to work because they had to be quarantined. December 23,1777 and 2,898 are reported sick or unable to work, and by February 1,1778, 3,989 are reported sick or unable to work. Illness was the main cause of death, but 6,300 soldiers were KIA, killed in action, and 8,500 died as POW, prisoners of war. Throughout the Revolutionary around 10,000 of the 25,000 American soldier were killed due to illness. If soldiers would have left as the illness started to spread many of these deaths could have been
When you hear “Valley Forge” do you think of great living conditions, a large quantity of food, and all healthy soldiers? No. In the winter of 1777 and 1778 when George Washington’s Continental Army was forced to set up winter camp in Philadelphia even the littlest task of surviving was a struggle. Washington couldn’t even keep his own soldiers in the battle. So if you were a 9 month soldier, living in huts, becoming ill, and not being provided with enough supplies would you have stayed to fight for your country or would you have left to be with your family? Even though the Continental Army was made up of patriot soldiers, many deserted, and so would I due to the fact that death and illness were very common, Washington wasn’t a very good leader, and the housing was poor.
To start, the living conditions for the soldiers were …show more content…
Since the soldiers were living in such bad conditions I would want to leave as soon as possible for the fear that I would become ill and die. In December of 1777 there were 12,000 soldiers arriving at Valley Forge, but in February of 1778 George Washington left with an army of only 8,000(Doc A). According to Dr.Waldo in (Doc C) the army began to grow “sickly” from the fatigues. Some of the most common diseases were Smallpox, Influenza, Typhus, and Pneumonia. Most troops were treated for Smallpox, but were unable to work because they had to be quarantined. December 23,1777 and 2,898 are reported sick or unable to work, and by February 1,1778, 3,989 are reported sick or unable to work. Illness was the main cause of death, but 6,300 soldiers were KIA, killed in action, and 8,500 died as POW, prisoners of war. Throughout the Revolutionary around 10,000 of the 25,000 American soldier were killed due to illness. If soldiers would have left as the illness started to spread many of these deaths could have been