New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-06-14


rabbits eyes, occasioned by great cold and
smoke. What have you got for breakfast,
Iadsr eFirecake and water, sir The Lord
send that our Commissary Of Purchases may
live on frecake and water until their glutted
stomachs are turned to pasteboard
He continues in this strain day after day tell
ing Of deaths, of meals passed by because there
was nothing to eat, of wholesale designations OK
officers of his learning TO darn stockings and
..nake them look like knit work" On January
/. ITS. he writes: New Year. am alive; am
welIP' and indeed, it was WonderIul IIin5'
and cause for exclamation
Washington himself, gives some evidence IN
his writings. In September. III. when on the
way toward Valley Forge, he wrote; AT least
one thousand men were barefooted and per-
formed the marches in that condition VI an
other day he said: Few men have more than
one shirt; many only the moiety OF one ana
more none at ALL
When the dreary winter was at it's height
under date of February TO- 1lIS, Washington
Wrote:
For some days past there has been HttIe Tess
than famine in the camp. part Of the army
has been a week without any kind Of flesh, and
the rest three or four days. Naked and starv-
ing as they are we cannot but admire the IN
cornparabIe patience and fidelity of the soldiers
that they have not been ere this excited oy
their sufferings to a general mutlny and disper-
SION"
One must remember that Washington's COM
mand at this time numbered only IIOVO men,
Four thousand Of them were unfit for duty from
lack of clothes. Not more than five thousand
of the whole number could be considered el-
fective fighting men. The well fed and clothed
british threatened from nearby Philadelphia,
and the danger of a sudden attack added to
their cup of bitterness.
yet amidst all this suffering, day after
day" writes Losing in one of his Revolution
airy histories surrounded by frost and snow
patriotism was still warm and hope1uI IN the
hearts of the soldiers and the love of self was
merged in the holy sentiment OF love of coan-
try 1t was one Of the most trying scenes IN
the life of Washington; but a cloud OF doubt
seldom darkened the serene atmosphere OF lis
hopes He knew that the cause was just and
holy. and his faith and confidence IN God as a
defender and helper of the right were as steady
in their rninistrations OF vigor to his soul as
were the pulsations Of his heart to his limbs
In perfect reliance upon Divine Providence he
moved in the midst Of crushed hopes and
planned brilliant schemes for the future
To the visitors who toll up the hill to the in
trenchments of Valley Forge, after visit to the
quaint little house in which Washington made
his headquarters, the most astonishing thing
about the encampuent is that a century ana a
quarter of effort by the elements has failed to
make any impress on the solid earthworks. The
rifle pits are filled with dead leaves, trees have
grown on the hills that were once cleared or
timber in order to give the sharpshooters view
of the points in danger of attack, and some Of
the advanced posts are distinguishable only be-
cause of the signs describing them; but the lines
of the trenches are plainly discernible as
though Washingtons army had only just
marched out of the camp
stands grim as ever in the foreground one
looks down from an angle of the intrenchments,
and it requires little imagination TO see the
mouths of the cannon pointing out OF the en-
brasures and the CLEAN of the sentry'S bayOnet
as he parades behind the wall From this
angle the valley stretches in peaceful beauty,
two or three old fashioned houses the only
structures in sight, and the white column erected
by the Daughters of the Revolution TO the dead.
who lie buried all around, the most conspicuous
mark on the pastoral landscape.
With a map of Valley Forge encampment,
made in Washington's time, every point can be
located, every fort traced. even the positions
occupied by the various State troops definitely
fixed. There are several schemes of restoration,
from an active military post to the exact repro
duction of the original encampment- The latter
plan has the most followers just now, and Will
probably be adopted. 1t will not be hard to
arrange the camp in the form it assumed when