“This land is my land, this land is your land. From California to the New York islands.” THis patriotic song did not agree with the British way of governing. The soon to be Americans wanted freedom and they set out to do just that. They formed armies to fight against the British. Though the Americans were not well trained they did have spirit and a good cause. Two years after the Americans had declared their independence the American soldiers made camp at Valley Forge. They were eighteen miles away from where the British were, Philadelphia. At this point in time the Americans were having a rough time. They had not won any battles for a while and the had bad supplies. If asked the question, if i were in Valley Forge would I have reenlisted …show more content…
During Valley Forge from December 1777 to February 1778 the number of soldiers was 12,000 to 8,000. The number of weakened soldiers from December 1777 to February 1778 was 2,898 to 3,989 (Document A). These large numbers of ill and dead soldiers caused many to not relist and if I had been one I would have done the same. One of the many viruses that hurt the soldiers was smallpox “Four in 10 victims die. Surgeons harvested a small amount of pus from a smallpox victim and smear it onto the open cuts of a healthy victim. The hope is that the infection spreads at a slow enough rate that the body’s white bodies attack the virus before it can become fatal. Washington’s gamble pays off and the death rate falls from the thousands to the dozens as only 1in 50 of those inoculated die.” (history.co.uk …show more content…
No meat’- the distant vales echo’d back the soldiers, ‘No meat! No meat!’” (Document C) In Dr. Albigence Waldo dairy he tells of the starvation that suffocates the camp. In the painting by William Powell the men are thin and weak from the lack of food. For an army to win battles they need to have enough food to give them strength, but for the American army food was not an option. Farmers could sell food to the Americans for a lower price or the British for a higher price. Many went with the latter option leaving the Americans with very little to eat.
In conclusion if I was to be given the question of staying in Valley Forge after my enlistment I would not reenlist. If all the soldier quit that we would not have won our independence, but we need to remember that to their families and homes and lives that are just as important to the