Rocky Ford enterprise., 1907-02-22

In bitterness and defeat. only to come
out Of Il Hsccicd for tho work that In
that long. dreadful winter was ripcn.
In. for Il.
Through Il all Washington. as com.
mandcr.in chief. ns soldier. and NJ nm
individual sufferer with his men. was
the colossal figure that emphasizes
this supreme test Of patriotism.
Defeat ut Germantown on Oct. ).
1871. had sent Washington In retreat.
Fort Mifiiln and Fort Mercer in'quick
succession. had been abandoned by tho
Continental army. Al whitcmnrsh
Washington had made stand 30 un.
expected and determined as to cause
tho British general. Howe. TO return
TO his comfortable winter quarters In
Philadelphia. There. on Dec. II. Gen.
Washington. with his suffering army
Of 1900 men. took up tho weary
march TO Valley Forge. n sleepy de-
preston In the hills. 2? miles from
Philadelphia. On one side was tho
schuyikil river and on tho north was
Valley creek.
(. Snow lny deep on the ground when.
on Dec. 10. tho patriot army reached
tho site of the winter camp. Tents
wero stretched for rs many rs could
be housed. hundreds slept In the snow.
already rcddcned by their bleeding
bare feet. Al once Gen. Washington
directed that work begin on log huts.
previously designed. To do this. men
were divided into squads Of Il. fur.
nished with rude tools. and directed
TO build huts large enough to house
each squad. According to spccihca.
tons these huts were II by l6 feet.
with sides. ends and roofs made Of
logs. The roofs were made water.
tight with bark. split slabs. or other
material. The cracks In the sides
were filled with clay. In the rear Of
each hut was fireplace made Of
wood. protected by clay. The door
was in the end next to the camp
street and was made OF oak slabs.
In the rear Of each line Of huts for
troops were the huts for officers. Each
general officer got hut to himself:
each field officer OF regiment got
one: the stan OF each brigade shared
another; the stan OF each regiment
WIS assigned one: commissioned ON.
.ers for two regiments had one. while
Tor the non-commissioned officers and
men OF the army L. persons wee al.
.oted to each hut.
The winter of 1777-7s was remark.
able for its severity and It's deep
SHOWS. and when work was Begin at
making camp. nearly 5000 men were
unfit for duty. British sympatiizcrs
populated the surrounding country and
food and bedding were hard TO get,
even when the soldiers had tho de-
preciated currency Of the country to
offer in exchange. As an Incentive to
hut t.building. Gen. Washington offered
a purse OF 500 to the officer or man
who would suggest the best substitute
for boards as a roofing material hav-
Ing especial reference to cheapness
and celerity in building. Then, to the
squad in each regiment which built its
hut quickest and in the best manner
he gave a purse of $12. So encour.
aged, the tattered. emaclated army
was housed late In January.
, Twenty-Five miles away was Howe's'
army. of 1880 men In Philadelphia
paying British gold and silver for sup.
plies. Washinston's starveling army
had only the continental currency 1
worth $25 to the 500 OF face value.
Even with the spirit Of Toryism abb
sent the army at Valley Forge would
have been handicapped. AS 1t wes
they found b. farmers defending '7ti.eir \