America is facing a hard time right now. It is the Winter of 1777. We are at Valley Forge, 18 miles away from Philadelphia with George Washington, leading us as the head of the Continental Army. The first two years of the American Revolution had not gone well or the Continental Army. The patriot soldiers were commanded to spend the winter at Valley Forge. The soldiers are having difficulties and hard time of surviving. We are risking our lives for something that we aren’t even guaranteed to get. For the past few months, I was considering if I should re-enlist or not, and I came to the decision of not re-enlisting for the Continental Army. I am not going to re-enlist, because of the death and illness, harsh conditions, and the lack of support …show more content…
Almost 50% of the soldiers are sick and “1,800 to 2,500” soldiers died (Doc A). My good friend Dr.Albigence Waldo supports me with his diary that says soldiers “now begins to grow sickly from the continued fatigues they have suffered this Campaign” (Doc C). This leads us to believe half of the soldiers are sick and there is a very high possibility that I might get ill soon. Soldiers are now suffering from illness due to the harsh conditions and environments of the camp. The soldiers have families and I have a mother who is poorly ill that I need to take care of. It is not worth the risk to die for our independence if we aren’t even sure we are going to earn it.

The second reason I am not re-enlisting is because of the harsh conditions of the camp. The painting of the Continental Army and the Congressional Committee shows that the soldiers do not have shoes and almost half of the soldiers look like they are going to die, and some look very ill (Doc B). Dr. Waldo supports me with his diary that says the soldiers “bare feet are seen thro’ his worn out shoes” (Doc C). This evidence suggests that the harsh conditions of the camp can lead to illness. We need a stable and a fit environment to, at least, maintain our health for battles that will come after this