In the winter of 1777 and 1778 Washington was in charge of thousands of soldiers. They spent their winter at Valley Forge which is 18 miles outside of Philadelphia. They didn’t have much money and the patriot soldiers weren’t paid. They only had their freedom to fight for nothing else so a lot had given up and quit. Most people would have left with all the problems and conditions throw in their way but some would have stayed to fight for what they believed in.
George Washington’s had a lot of men in Valley Forge. Many had got diseases and illnesses from being all together. In the cold their bodies couldn’t heat up to fight the foreign diseases/illnesses so it was very hard for their immune systems to keep them healthy. It is estimated that in December, 1777 there were 12,000 soldiers and in February, 1778 there were only 8,000 left, 33% percent loss of the original soldiers. (Noel F. Busch, Winter Quarters, Liveright, New York, 1974 and researchers from University of Michigan) The deaths came from the great pandemic of illnesses December 23, 1777 the estimates recorded pointed to the total people infected would be 2,898. By February 1, 1778 they sky rocketed to 3,989. Because of all the ruthless illnesses and diseases, from December all the way to June a estimate of 1,800-2,500 died in that short time. If the men didn’t leave and quit they would have to battle a high chance of dying.
There were a lot of different problems with George Washington’s soldiers. They used to be healthy but based on documents dated from December 14, 1777 say otherwise. Dr. Waldo recorded documents since he was a surgeon who tended to the sick and wounded and who stayed loyal to the continental army. His documents stated that the soldiers were “sick-discontented-and out of humor.” On top of that the conditions he described were “poor food-hard lodging-cold weather-fatigue-nasty cloaths-nasty cookery-vomit half my time-smoak’d out senses-the devil’s in’t-I can’t endure it.” There were many conditions that were ruthless to the soldiers there in Valley Forge. Many people who would have enlisted may have left and quit because of the dreadful ways they were living. Without much food, worn down disgusting clothes, and the horrific weather, the times at Valley Forge were unbearable.
The men who did stay showed their courage to battle and keep on from beginning to end, through all the problems the continental army had. To keep George Washington’s army confident and patriotic he had essays read by from The American Crisis. Thomas Paine was the author of the Revolution and took rejected payment for the significant publication. Some of his work for the soldiers stated “THESE are times that try men’s souls.” Which is true based on the situation they had, they had the option to fight or to go home and quit. Either take the struggle and pain or give up on all their living for.
George Washington and his men had an awfully tough time at Valley Forge. They were conflicted with their lives, food and clothing issues, and illnesses. The odds of each men’s survival was so far against them that many men quit and left to go back home. They weren’t paid and weren’t taken care of well. So the question to ask your self is through all their struggle and pain would you have stuck it through or would you have quit?