The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1914-02-17

"\lIlS is the one hundred and THU
q. II V-siNth anniversary Of one u
4 the greatest crises In American
I history. the encampment of tn
= Continental army during the terribl
winter of TITS. The hungry aud for
q lorn champions Of well nigh hopeless
u cause, wasted by wounds. privutiOl
, and disease. finished their distresSn.
, campaign Of the year and traced thei
weary way up over the old Gulph anl
Swedes Ford roads to occupy Il cold
bleak hill ana sleep under frost ant
snow without clothes or blankets" al
Valley Forge
. Ii is said that i'm summer more pill
grims visit this historic spot every
week than Washington had in his
whole army then, but the real Valley
Forge is not seen i'm summer. To get
the proper local color" one should go
there in the dead of winter Under
the patronage OF great commons
wealth Valley Forge park of this age
presents an aspect Of finely groomed
landscape gardening, with broad,
smooth highways leading To far and
fair vistas and with countless markers
bearing legends for the information of
] the unhistoric wayfarer.
The very name OF Valley Forge sug-
| gests dreariness of soul Its contem-
] porary literature is somber with
wretchednesS and misery 1t must not
\ be imagined for one moment that the
| ragged and barefoot army went there
and found those snug little chinked
and chimneyed log huts. such as are
now artistcally spotted over the park,
waiting for them with cheerful fires
blazing on the hearths. They were
details that took weeks to work out
with AK and ADJ in the SNOW and sleet.
Valley Forge lies but twenty-five or
twenty-three miles north OF Phiadel-
phia on the west bank OF the Schuyl-
kill river. 1t takes its name from an
iron working plant tlblished there
many years before the militant Amer
leans made it famous.
Almost the first object 10 attract the
attention of the visitor upon dsem-
barking from the railway train is the
old pointed stone house OF the miller.
Isaac Potts, the structure which all
America chershcs today us the head
quarters of Washington for the half
year the army was encamged upon the !
hills To the south.
In 1t he wrestled with problems that |
would have appalled, ordinary men |
Here he confronted and cpIfounded the
malign conspiracy of Conway: the mis-
cry and Indebtedness of his suffering I
soldiers came home To him here, and
it was here that he displayed super.
human strength ana courage i'm keep
Ing alive through the long winter the
feeble spark of II thing called the
American Revolution.
lt Is amazing to contemplate the in.
finite variety of matters that were put
up To the commander in chief The
butchers who killed the beef brought
In by the foragng parties in the mid
die OF January stung the soldiers by
eNtorting money for the "plucks" The
general settled that by stating definite
ly how the pluck" should he ISSUED.
The number of courts martial was
prodigious. and it seems the general
reviewed the findings of the court in
some of the forty-eiGht hours he work
ed every day. "Lashes well laid on
upon his bare back" was the ordinary
punishment, and the stripes ranged in
humber from 80 to az high as 5OO-if
"A man wasted his ammunition by fir.
ing ms piece unnecessarily 80 Iashes:
desertion, 100 for that; stealing. 100.
Il wv |
tashiercd or dismissed from service.
y German officer attached to the
staff ut Valley Forge, Frederick vii.
lam Augustus Baron Won Steuben
was appointed inspector general This
S from one of his accounts: The
arms AT Valley Forge were in horri-
Die conditioR covered with rust, half
II them without bayonets. many from
which single shot could not be fired
The pouches were quite as bad as the
Irms. great many of the men had
In boxes instead of pouches Others
lad COW horns and muskets, carbines
owing pieces and rifles were to be
zen in the same company The de.
cripti on OF the dress is most easily
1Ven. The men were literally naked.
ONE of them in the fullest extent of
ne word. The officers who had coats
ad them of every color and make.
aw Officers at n grand parade at Val.
ey Forge mounting guard in a sort of
rcssing gown, made of an old blanket
+ woolal bed cover. With regard
their military discipline may safe
say no such thing existed" SO
luch for the organization and it's
quipment. "
June IL 177S. the army evacuated \
alley Forge md started in haste
fter Sir Henry Clinton's 1000 Brit J,
~ ana his twelve mile supply train. A
Vhen the clash came at Monmouth
II the 2Stlr this wonderful weapon W
'shioned by the Prussian drillmaster
D tine dreamy Pennsylvania hillside =
roved its worth Hobly. and but for :,
10 perfidy of that id poltroon' ~
harles Lee IL would doubtless hays 81
lded the war then itnd there.
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CireumstantiaI Evidence. :,