Valley Forge
The March to Valley Forge
"Sad and dreary was the march to Valley Forge, uncheered by the recollection of any recent triumph as was the march to winter-quarters in the preceding year. Hungry and cold were the poor fellows who had so long been keeping the field for provisions were scant, clothing was worn out, and so badly were they off for shoes, that the footsteps of many might be tracked in blood."
(Irving 451)
(Irving 451)
Life at Valley Forge before von Steuben
The troops nearly starved in "crowded, damp
quarters[;] the army was ravaged by sickness and disease. Typhus,
typhoid, dysentery, and pneumonia were among the killers that
felled as many as 2,000 men that winter." The first three of these diseases were caused by poor sanitary conditions.
(http://www.scienceviews.com/parks/valleyforge.html)
(http://www.scienceviews.com/parks/valleyforge.html)