The Winter at Valley Forge was one of the roughest in all of American History. Most of the soldiers didn't have shoes or proper clothes."You might have tracked the army... to Valley Forge by the blood on their feet." George Washington. They would rap their feet in spare scraps of cloth. They slept on the ground with no sleeping bags or pillows. Some business men would sell goods to the army at high prices just to make money. "I would to that one of the most atrocious of each state was hung up in the gallows... great for the man who can build his greatness upon his countries." George Washington. They had to build all the huts and houses from scratch. After half of the houses were built, it probably looked like a small city. "There comes a soldier; his bare feet are seen through his worn-out shoes, his legs nearly naked from the remains of an only pair of stockings, his breeches not sufficient to cover his nakedness, his shirt hanging in strings... He comes and cries with an air of wretchedness and despair, "I am sick, my feet lame, my legs sore,my body covered with this tormenting itch." Albigence Waldo. All of the soldiers had at least on disease. Most had Typhus, Smallpox or pneumonia. In the end, for every one soldier that left, one hundred stayed.
Alec, Willowcreek Middle School, date last edited: 4/9/13