| Tango01 | 06 Apr 2014 4:01 p.m. PST |
"Washington and Lafayette at Valley Forge (1907) by the American painter John Ward Dunsmore (1856-1945). The hard winter in Valley Forge one of the great myths of the American War of Independence."
From here
link Amicalement
Armand |
| 14Bore | 06 Apr 2014 4:41 p.m. PST |
What, what? "one of the great MYTHS of the AWI"? |
| 14Bore | 06 Apr 2014 4:57 p.m. PST |
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| John the OFM | 06 Apr 2014 5:36 p.m. PST |
A "moderate" winter will still have some sever patches, particularly if the men have no shelter and little food or adequate clothing. |
| zippyfusenet | 06 Apr 2014 6:41 p.m. PST |
Washington at Valley Forge,
Freezing cold but up spoke George,
He sang, "Vo-do-dee-o! Vo-do-dee-o-do!"
Crazy words! Crazy tune!
How that George could croon and spoon,
He sang, "Vo-do-dee-o! Vo-do-dee-o-do!" |
| Dynaman8789 | 07 Apr 2014 6:11 a.m. PST |
Wasn't it a couple winters later when a REALLY bad winter kicked in? The army was in better shape (at least before the winter) though. |
| CFeicht | 07 Apr 2014 6:25 a.m. PST |
So several thousand men died in camp because conditions were easy? |
| perfectcaptain | 07 Apr 2014 9:48 a.m. PST |
Sounds like revisionism to me. I live in Canada and even the mildest winters don't ever induce me to walk around in a fall jacket for 12 hours a day, like these fellows would have at Valley Forge. It doesn't have to be freezing to break your body's defenses down and make you susceptible to a wide variety of lethal ailments. Don't forget army cooking! TPC |
Dr Mathias  | 07 Apr 2014 9:55 a.m. PST |
I've been camping in April, May, September etc. and thought I was going to freeze to death many a time. That was in a modern tent, long underwear etc. I imagine they had it pretty rough in Valley Forge. |
| historygamer | 07 Apr 2014 10:18 a.m. PST |
I believe the harshest winter was at New Windsor. |
| 14Bore | 07 Apr 2014 12:59 p.m. PST |
The first link I put up is a weather report in part:
The Encampment saw basically two periods of severe cold. The end of December with a low of 6 Degrees and the end of March with a low of 8 Degrees. The low in January reached 12 Degrees and February was 16 Degrees. The troops arrived at Valley Forge on the 19th of December and eight days later, the deepest single snow of the season fell, which was followed by the severest cold. They were plagued by boughts of cold, which would thaw and then refreeze. |
| pancerni2 | 07 Apr 2014 1:01 p.m. PST |
The importance of that winter at Valley Forge was not just surviving the winter, that wasn't that severe, but the training the units underwent from von Steuben, which prepared them for the Monmouth. db |
| dantheman | 07 Apr 2014 1:03 p.m. PST |
Nope. Harshest winter was Morristown 1779-1780. One of the coldest on record for any year since records were kept. That said, any winter is hard when there is no food or money. One big difference was by Morristown the army was better trained in survival. Less died of disease. At Valley Forge the army was not as prepared and more men fell sick and died. |
| historygamer | 07 Apr 2014 3:02 p.m. PST |
Your right, I was struggling to think of that encampment. Too early in the morning. :-) |
| epturner | 07 Apr 2014 4:55 p.m. PST |
Please… VF wasn't nearly as bad as some other encampments. It's been so mythologized as to be some sort of ridiculous touchstone. Dantheman has it right. A lack of leadership was as much the problem as any shortages of resources. Eric |
| 95thRegt | 12 Apr 2014 7:42 p.m. PST |
So several thousand men died in camp because conditions were easy?
>>
Washington barely had "several thousand men in the army! Washington embellished reports of misery to Congress in order to get supplies. Bob |
