On December 19, 1777, with the campaign season at an end and the British in control of Philadelphia, George Washington took his ragged Continental army into winter quarters at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, about 20 miles northwest of the occupied capital. It was a hilly, wooded site at the junction of the Schuylkill River and Valley Creek, far enough from the city so the British could not approach unnoticed, and a secure base from which the revolutionaries could counter enemy expeditions into the area. With the implementation of a skillfully planned system of entrenchments, fortifications, and artillery placements, Valley Forge was virtually impregnable by late winter. Battling deep snow and freezing temperatures was another matter, however. That winter, of the approximately 11,000 soldiers that constituted Washington’s army, almost 3,000 were unfit for duty due to lack of shoes and clothing. Adequate shelter became their first priority, and the men immediately began felling trees and building log huts. Washington offered cash prizes for the best and fastest built and for the best roofing material they could concoct. More than 1,000 huts were built, most being completed by the end of the year. Once his men were adequately housed, Washington moved out of his own tent and into rented quarters in the village, the Isaac Potts house.
The general’s troubles were many that winter. Aware that factions within the army and in the Second Continental Congress doubted his leadership abilities and wanted him removed as commander in chief, Washington weathered the Conway Cabal while at Valley Forge.
Baron von Steuben at Valley Forge, 1777 (National Archives)
Despite the fact that Pennsylvania and the other colonies were not destitute of supplies, procuring and issuing provisions to the army through official channels was a continual problem. Meat and bread were often unavailable for days at a time. Medicines, bedding straw, blankets, drinking water, salt, and alcohol (an integral part of the 18th-century diet) were also severely limited. Much of the army was virtually naked, forcing men to borrow clothes from one another when called upon to stand guard duty. Those without shoes stood on their hats to protect their feet from the snow. And when the various states did send provisions for their Continental regiments, they were for their own state troops only, resulting in an uneven distribution of goods, with units from the larger and wealthier states being the best supplied. Nor was the want limited to the army’s human contingent. Horses, used as cavalry mounts and to pull wagons and artillery pieces, also faced starvation. To ease the demands on what fodder was available, Washington sent a detachment of cavalry to Trenton for the winter. Nevertheless, more than 1,500 horses died at Valley Forge.
Not surprisingly, such drastic shortages of food and supplies—not to mention back wages—kept the men on the verge of mutiny, though somehow many persevered with wry good humor. Officers and men alike, however, indulged in brawling, drinking, and gambling. Hunger drove many marauding bands of soldiers into the surrounding countryside, prompting Washington to institute punishment for unauthorized absences and looting. Desertion among the men was rampant, and those caught routinely received 100 lashes as punishment, though two extreme cases resulted in hanging. The officers, who paid most of their own expenses while in the field, were also not immune to the lure of home and family and better conditions outside the army. They began resigning by the dozen in December, one division alone lost 50 of its leaders. Those not resigning requested furloughs in such numbers that Washington was compelled to reserve approval to himself for leaves of those above the rank of captain. Chronic absences among his senior staff forced much of the burden of command onto Washington alone.
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