Valley Forge Dbq Research Paper

Imagine you’re freezing and starving, your friends are all sick and dying, and on top of all that, you’re in the middle of a war. In the winter of 1777 and 1778, this was how George Washington and his troops lived. They spent a long winter in blistering cold weather and lived in poorly built huts. We had no shoes, food, or supplies in general. If you were in this situation and you had served your enlistment time, would you re-enlist and go back to these conditions? I personally did not re-enlist because there were harsh conditions, people were getting sick and dying, and we had no support or supplies from congress. At Valley Forge there were harsh and unbearable conditions. In the words of Dr. Albigence Waldo, I was “sick and discontented” and “smoak’d out my senses.” The weather was frigid, and the huts were built with very poor ventilation so anytime we built a fire to keep warm, the smoke would stay in our huts.
In document A it is shown that 49% of soldiers were sick and 10% died. That means half of the soldiers were ill and 1 in 10 soldiers died. There was a very high chance of getting sick and since we had no supplies, we had no good medicine. The continental army had no support from congress and no supplies. In a painting by William Henry, The Committee of Congress at Valley Forge, it shows the committee of congress on one side, with George Washington trying to convince them to give the army supplies such as food, shoes, and clothes, and support in the war. The continental Army looks upset so they’re not having much luck. The committee of congress was not giving support or supplies, so many troops didn’t even have shoes. With no supplies or support, harsh conditions, and illness, I did not re-enlist. While there are many good reasons to re-enlist, such as loyalty to the colonies, to me it wasn’t worth