Battle+of+Valley+Forge

Valley Forge By Abigail

As the winter of 1777 approached, General Washington chose to move his troops to a more secure location for the coming winter. He knew they would be facing a long, difficult winter together. He chose to move the troops to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, 18 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

On December 19,1777 Washington's troops were poorly dressed and were cold with no place to sleep and nothing to eat. The march to Valley Forge took the colonist through harsh weather. When the soldiers got to Valley Forge they had to sleep in the open exposed to to the frigid cold air.

The next day soldiers began to complain about Congress being in their houses by a fire with warm clothes and fresh food to eat. This angered the soldiers since they had nothing to eat and didn't have proper supplies. General Washington warned Congress that if they did not receive proper supplies they would commit to one of the following three things: starve, dissolve or disperse. There were still many things to be done back at camp. Thomas Paine, who had visited camp, described the scene of men ''like a family of beavers, everyone busy, carrying logs or mud and the rest fastened them together.

After a brutal winter the soldiers rejoiced when supplies arrived. Martha Washington also came with supplies. Washington's leadership shined through that day at the battle of Monmouth. At the Battle of Monmouth the British were not fighting the same Americans they were in 1777. For Washington's men, the bitter lessons of Valley Forge had a great reward for them that day.