Life and Death at Valley Forge - 10 Surprising Facts About the Revolutionary War's Darkest Winter

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Life and Death at Valley Forge - 10 Surprising Facts About the Revolutionary War's Darkest Winter
By Rob Drury and Tom Clavin/ Military History Now (MHN)/ militaryhistorynow.com

"It’s December of 1777. George Washington’s ragtag Continental Army, fresh from its failure to dislodge the British redcoats from Philadelphia, is forced to make camp in the remote Pennsylvania countryside. With dwindling supplies, little in the way of winter clothing and only the most basic of shelter, the next six months will represent one of the lowest points in America’s desperate bid for independence. With the rebellion teetering on the verge of unravelling, it will take all of Washington’s fortitude and leadership skills to keep his shivering and starving 12,000-man army (and the Patriot cause itself) alive during those long, dark and frigid months. At least, that’s how the story goes. Generations of Americans have been raised on tales of the hardship, suffering and sacrifice of that winter at Valley Forge. But of course, like all legends, the narrative many of us remember is riddled with falsehoods, distortions and outright myths. Now two author/historians, Bob Drury and Tom Clavin, have set out to disentangle the facts from the fiction in their new book Valley Forge. And not surprisingly, the truth is just as fascinating as the folklore. Below Drury and Clavin have assembled 10 remarkable facts about America’s famous winter of discontent. (MHN)...."

Two authors have dug into the story of Valley Forge. What they reveal will fascinate history buffs everywhere. (Image source: WikiCommons)

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Valley Forge: George Washington's Most Dismal Christmas Ever
By Bob Drury and Tom Clavin/ History/ history.com

"With a quarter of his troops freezing, starving and barely clothed, Washington, running out of options, schemed a bold—and highly risky—Christmas Eve attack.

December 23, 1778 dawned cold and dank over the hills of Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, the scent of snow in the air. General George Washington, pacing the headquarters tent of his revolutionary army’s winter encampment, was dictating a testy ultimatum to the Continental Congress, laced with what he called his “infinite pain and concern.”

On his mind? British troop advancement and the dire state of his forces. As he spoke, some 12,000 troops were setting up camp around him for the winter, cobbling together 2,000 or so rude huts with foraged wood and the barest of tools. Horses and oxen were in such short supply that the men were reduced to yoking themselves to makeshift carts. Many soldiers went without coats, shoes and blankets; most ate little in the way of meat. That day in camp, there were no cattle to slaughter and fewer than 30 barrels of flour in the commissary. The upshot: Nearly 3,000 freezing, near-naked and starving troops—a quarter of Washington’s force—had been declared unfit for duty.

The six months that the Continental Army would spent at Valley Forge would be the most difficult, and ultimately, transformative of the American Revolution. That December, at a nadir in his campaign to expel the British, Washington found himself in a desperate moment, one that drove him to consider one of his boldest, and riskiest, military maneuvers yet: a Christmas Eve attack......"

General Washington at Valley Forge.

Education Images/UIG/Getty Images



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