The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1878-01-23
VALLEY FORGE.

How the American Army Endured the Win.
ter of 1777-S-A Camp Of Huts Mt Valley
ForRe-Suffering from Lack of Food and
Clothing.
Hardly any name is more familiar to
the student, young or old, of American
history than that Of Valley Forge. One
still reads with pain of the sufferings
undergone there by the sturdy Contin-
entail soldiers, and with pride of the
Spartan frmness with which those
dreary vicissitudes were encountered.
Of all the anniversaries which have so
n~umerously distinguished these centen-
MAJ years. nom is more worthy of at
least a quiet commemoration than that
of the establishment of Washington's
forlorn winter quarters in 1777. None
of the early years of the young Republic,
struggling for life against the greatest
odds, were darker than this. The slight
est glance at the situation will show that
it was indeed d%eplorable.
The battle of Brandywine had been
fought CALAMITY, and it had been lost.
Congress had fled from Philadelphia to
Lancaster. A series of reverses had
opened g way to that city for Sir William
Howe, and Washington was too weak to
risk a battle which might have saved it,
nor, with more than a thousand of his
men barefoot, could he undertake those
rapid and mastery operations which had
been so brilliantly executed at Trenton
and at Princeton. Meanwhile all efforts
of an impotent Congress and of rash
generals to clamor and importune him
into military im%prudence were vain.
Washington, that he might restrict
the enemy within the narrowest possible
limits, established his winter quarters, on
the 10th of December, at Valley Forge,
about twenty miles from Philadelphia,
on the south side of the Schuylkill. Here
he would be able to keep a vigilant eye
on the city and also protect a large ex-
tent of country. he had H. 900 troops,
but they were in a very wretched con-
dltion. Provisions were scant, clothing
worn out, and such was the want OF
shoes, that all the late marches had been
tracked in blood. There wa a like want
of blankets, so that many of the soldiers
were forced to sit up all night by the
camp fires. Washington offered a pre-
MUM Tor the best pattern of shoes made
of hides untanned. One-quarter of the
troops were unfit for duty. The COM
missariat was miserably managed, for at
this very time (says Gordon) "hogs-
heads of shoes, stockings and clothing
were lying at different places on the
roads and in the woods, perishing for
want of teams or Of money to pay the
teamsters." Washington had deter
mined to hut the troops, and he took
particular pains to make the dwellings
as comfortable as possible. Among other
expedients, he offered a reward of $12 to
the party in each which finished its hut
in the most workmanlike and quickest
manner. The little town, with its regu-
lar streets and avenues, was oon built.
Each hut was fourteen feet by sixteen,
with walls Of logs filed in with clay, and
a chimney of clay or wood rising a foot
or two above the roof, which was a single
sharp slope, constructed to shed easily
the coming snow. To each hut was
assigned twelve non = commissioned
officers and men. Each general officer
had a hut to himself, with two windows.
The huts of the soldiery fronted on the
streets. Troops from the anne State
were lodged in the same street or quar-.
ter. In shape, the whole was like a tri-
angle, with Valley creek forming its
base, and the Schuylkill for its left side.
1t he'd abbatis, redoubts, and pickets at
different points. Washington's quarters
were in the house of a Quaker, Isaac
Potts, which is still standing.
But with all the sufferings of Valley
Forge, there was some social comfort
there. Lafayette wrote home that the
general officers were sending for their
wives: "and I envy them" he said,
naively-"not their wives, but the hap
piness of being where they can see
them" Mrs. Washington was with her
husband to cheer and encourage him.
There wa no dancing. for the quarters
were too narrow ; cards were prohibited
because they led to gambling; but there
were tea parties and coffee parties, con-
versation and music. There were gallant
gentlemen, too-Morris and Reed, and
Charles Carroll, when the Congress dele
cation came down-and Hamilton and
Laureps.
The ensuing May found Washington
still in his environments, with an effective
force of about twelve thousand men. It
was impossible by any reinforcements to
carry this number beyond twenty thou
sand. But rumors came of the evacuation
of Philadelphia, since the Delaware
would be in danger of being blocked up
by o French feet. Washington busted
himself in the formation of a new system
for the army, and had asked Congress to
send a committee Of arrangements, five
in number, to the camp. They remained
with him three months, and the recon-
mendations resolved upon were generally
adopted. On the 18th of June, the pre-
parations for the evacuation of PhiIadel-
phia having been completed, the British
army took up its line of march through
the Jerseys. AID soon as he had informa-
ton of this, Washington broke camp
with his whole army, marching in pur-
suit. And 30 ended the memorable sea-
son at Valley Forge. There was still to
be a short period of defeat and disap-
pointment, but brighter days were close
of hoDd Moan VorL. Tr;b1no