Valley Forge

by Bob Drury

  “I am informed that it”: Ibid., “From George Washington to Henry Laurens, 17–18 November 1777,” pp. 292–96.

  To drive home the point: Idzerda, Lafayette in the Age of the American Revolution, Vol. I, p. 165.

  In this instance, one can assume: “John Laurens Letter to Henry Laurens, 3 December, 1777,” in Simms, The Army Correspondence of John Laurens 1777–1778,” p. 90.

  Without naming a specific location: Ibid.

  ♦ PART II: Epigraph

  “I am sick”: Waldo, Account of the Ordeal at Valley Forge.

  ♦ CHAPTER ELEVEN: The Relics of an Army

  “A cavalcade of wild beasts”: Martin, Narrative of a Revolutionary Soldier, p. 121.

  Influenza, typhus, typhoid, dysentery: “Journal Entries of Albigence Waldo Regarding the Continental Army Moving to Valley Forge,” December 12, 1777, in Waldo, Account of the Ordeal at Valley Forge.

  “a good and loving wife”: Ibid., December 31, 1777.

  “pretty children”: Ibid., December 12, 1777.

  Waldo stretched the horizons: Ibid., November 10, 1777.

  He could not help ruing: Ibid.

  At night, gazing about: Bodle, Valley Forge Report, Vol. 1, p. 76.

  Such a feast, he wrote: Martin, Narrative of a Revolutionary Soldier, p. 88.

  As the commander in chief beheld: “From George Washington to John Bannister, 21 April 1778,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 12, ed. Grizzard and Hoth, pp. 291–92.

  More important, the travelogue shone: Ellis, His Excellency, p. 7.

  Thereafter he told friends: Plaque at Museum of the American Revolution, Philadelphia, PA.

  As a Richmond newspaper editorial: Ellis, His Excellency, p. 23.

  The company he recruited: Ibid., p. 24.

  Three weeks earlier Henry Knox: The Papers of George Washington, November 26, 1777.

  ♦ CHAPTER TWELVE: Chaos in the East

  As he wrote to Henry Laurens: “From George Washington to Henry Laurens, 11 November 1777,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 12, ed. Grizzard and Hoth, pp. 208–10.

  To lighten their loads: Busch, Winter Quarters: George Washington and the Continental Army at Valley Forge, p. 54.

  When they finally procured beef: “Brig. Gen. James Mitchell Varnum to George Washington, Dec. 22,” George Washington Papers, Library of Congress.

  Joseph Plumb Martin, now an 18-year-old: Martin, Narrative of a Revolutionary Soldier, p. 91.

  The snake-rail fencing: Nelson, Thomas Paine: Enlightenment, Revolution, and the Birth of Modern Nations, p. 121.

  The commander in chief’s General Orders: “General Orders, 20 December 1777,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 12, ed. Grizzard and Hoth, pp. 641–44.

  The effort expended to assemble: “Jonathan Todd Jr. to Jonathan Todd Sr., December 25, 1777,” Record Group 15, National Archives and Records Administration.

  His regimental officers: “General Orders, 22 December 1777,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 12, ed. Grizzard and Hoth, pp. 662–65.

  Even the strongest threats: Idzerda, Lafayette in the Age of the American Revolution, Vol. I, p. 170.

  A colonel from New York’s brigade: “Col. Henry Livingston to Gov. George Clinton, 24 December, 1777,” in Public Papers of George Clinton.

  “The Men must be Supplied”: “Brig. Gen. James Mitchell Varnum to George Washington, Dec. 22,” George Washington Papers, Library of Congress.

  “Were soldiers to have”: “Journal Entries of Albigence Waldo Regarding the Continental Army Moving to Valley Forge, 8 December 1777,” in Waldo, Account of the Ordeal at Valley Forge.

  Instead he was left: Ibid., “21 December 1777.”

  The French engineers grumbled: “Gen. Johann de Kalb to Count Charles Francis de Broglie, 25 December, 1777,” in Kapp, Life of de Kalb, pp. 137–43.

  Calling Washington: Ibid.

  Writing years later, he observed: “Memoir of 1779,” in Idzerda, Lafayette in the Age of the American Revolution, Vol. I, pp. 169–70.

  ♦ CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Trenton Redux?

  It was against this shortfall: “General Orders, 22 December 1777,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 12, ed. Grizzard and Hoth, pp. 662–65.

  Only that morning he had informed: Ibid., “From George Washington to Henry Laurens, 23 December 1777,” pp. 683–87.

  As his longtime aide Tench Tilghman: Boyle, Writings from the Valley Forge Encampment, Vol. II, p. 3, citing John Reed Collection, Valley Forge National Historical Park.

  The left wing of the shock corps: “Plan to Attack Philadelphia, 25 December 1777,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 12, ed. Grizzard and Hoth, pp. 701–3.

  Even if Washington viewed: Ibid.

  But he reminded Washington: Ibid., “To George Washington from Major General Nathanael Greene, 24 November 1777,” pp. 376–79.

  In the end, Washington heeded their advice: Chernow, Washington: A Life, p. 208.

  Still others, the usually sober: Bodle, Valley Forge Report, Vol. 1, p. 127.

  The latter, “adapted to privation”: Idzerda, Lafayette in the Age of the American Revolution, Vol. I, p. 170.

  ♦ CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Starve, Dissolve, or Disperse

  The delegates were still in fact: “To George Washington from Henry Laurens, 22 December 1777,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 12, ed. Grizzard and Hoth.

  After reading Henry Laurens’s missive: Ibid., “George Washington to Henry Laurens, 22 December 1777,” pp. 667–71.

  He then wrote, “Unless more”: Ibid.

  “It would give me infinite”: Ibid.

  He was, he wrote, “most sensible”: Ibid.

  Now, more than ever: Ibid., pp. 683–87.

  When he learned that Howe: Ibid.

  No man, he wrote: Ibid.

  “I can assure those Gentlemen”: Ibid.

  He even resorted to stark: Ibid.

  One such uprising, he wrote: Ibid.

  He wrote that he was now convinced: Ibid.

  More dispiriting was the sight: “John Laurens Letter to Henry Laurens, 23 December, 1777,” in Simms, The Army Correspondence of Colonel John Laurens in the Years 1777–1778, p. 96.

  ♦ CHAPTER FIFTEEN: The Best Answer to Calumny

  Lee may have been: “From George Washington to John Augustine Washington, 31 March 1776,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 3, 1 January 1776–31 March 1776, ed. Chase, pp. 566–71.

  His bewildered new father-in-law: Paul David Nelson, “Charles Lee,” in American National Biography, http://www.anb.org/view/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.001.0001/anb-9780198606697-e-0100506.

  Lee was also taken: Buchanan, The Road to Valley Forge, p. 142.

  Conversely—as the historian: Ibid., p. 143.

  Upon receiving the “melancholy intelligence”: “From George Washington to John Hancock, 15 December 1776,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 7, ed. Chase, pp. 344–45.

  But as the lack of purposefulness: Ellis, His Excellency, p. 9.

  Although technically against army regulations: “John Adams to Abigail Adams, 22 May 1777,” in Smith et al., Letters of the Members of the Continental Congress, Vol. 7, p. 103.

  It helped that the awestruck statesmen: “John Laurens Letter to Henry Laurens, 3 January 1778,” in Simms, The Army Correspondence of John Laurens 1777–1778, p. 103.

  Alexander Hamilton, less florid: Lefkowitz, George Washington’s Indispensable Men, p. 152.

  “The promotion of Gen. Conway”: “John Laurens Letter to Henry Laurens, 1 January 1778,” in Simms, The Army Correspondence of John Laurens 1777–1778, p. 100.

  It was a warning borne out: Lefkowitz, George Washington’s Indispensable Men, p. 152.

  The concepts of reputati
on: Bodle, Valley Forge Report, Vol. 1, p. 202, citing “Officers of Artillery to Washington, 10 February 1778,” George Washington Papers, Library of Congress.

  As John Laurens added: “John Laurens Letter to Henry Laurens, 3 January 1778,” in Simms, The Army Correspondence of John Laurens 1777–1778, p. 103.

  Though he filed no formal protest: “From George Washington to Major General Thomas Conway, 30 December 1777,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 13, ed. Lengel, pp. 66–67.

  “If there is any truth”: “George Washington to Richard Henry Lee, 17 October 1777,” in Fitzpatrick, Writings of George Washington, Vol. IX, pp. 387–89.

  Washington also made it known: “From George Washington to Brigadier General Thomas Conway, 5 November 1777,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 12, ed. Grizzard and Hoth, pp. 129–30.

  He wrote to his friend George Clinton: “Alexander Hamilton to Henry Clinton, 13 February 1778,” in Syrett, The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, Vol. 1, p. 428.

  Compared with Hamilton’s diatribe: “From George Washington to Richard Henry Lee, 28 October 1777,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 12, ed. Grizzard and Hoth, pp. 40–42.

  He finally penned another letter: “To George Washington from Major General Thomas Conway, 10 January 1778,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 13, ed. Lengel, pp. 195–96.

  “Since you will not accept”: Ibid.

  Finally, he effortlessly deflected: “From George Washington to Brigadier General Thomas Conway, 16 November 1777,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 12, ed. Grizzard and Hoth, p. 277.

  Tilghman surely spoke for Washington’s inner circle: “Tench Tilghman to John Cadwalader, January 18, 1778,” Memoir of Lieut. Col. Tench Tilghman.

  Intimating a duel: “John Laurens Letter to Henry Laurens, 3 January 1778,” in Simms, The Army Correspondence of John Laurens 1777–1778,” p. 103.

  As he would explain: “From George Washington to William Livingston,” in Sedgwick, A Memoir of the Life of William Livingston, p. 343.

  “I fancy they don’t like us”: Bodle, Valley Forge Report, Vol. 1, p. 197, citing “Jedediah Huntington to Joseph Trumbull, 31 January 1778,” Governor Joseph Trumbull Collection, Connecticut State Library, Hartford.

  The young Frenchman wrote: “To George Washington, December 30, 1777,” in Idzerda, Lafayette in the Age of the American Revolution, Vol. 1, p. 204.

  The general’s successes in the north: Ibid., letter of January 5, 1778, p. 215.

  Thus the new year opened: “From George Washington to Major General Lafayette, 31 December 1777,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 13, ed. Lengel, pp. 83–84.

  Patrick Henry forwarded an anonymous letter: Butterfield, Letters of Benjamin Rush, Vol. 1, pp. 182–83.

  ♦ CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Integration

  When Washington took command: “General Orders, 4 July 1775,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 1, 16 June 1775–15 September 1775, ed. Chase, pp. 54–58.

  As the revolutionary historian John Milsop: Milsop, Continental Infantrymen of the American Revolution, p. 5.

  An excited Laurens wrote: “John Laurens Letter to Henry Laurens, 14 January 1778,” in Simms, The Army Correspondence of John Laurens 1777–1778, p. 108.

  In an earlier letter: Ibid., “John Laurens Letter to Henry Laurens, 3 January 1778,” p. 103.

  “Habits of subordinations”: Ibid.

  Laurens even proposed a uniform design: Ibid., “John Laurens Letter to Henry Laurens, 9 February 1778,” p. 120.

  In a letter to John Hancock recommending: “From George Washington to John Hancock, 28 August 1777,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 11, ed. Chase and Lengel, p. 85.

  ♦ CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: Firecakes and Cold Water

  Though bedridden by a nearly crippling attack: Bodle, Valley Forge Report, Vol. 1, p. 142, citing “Henry Laurens to William Livingston, 30 December 1777,” PCC, RG 93, M-247, Roll 23, National Archives.

  Within days of his lobbying campaign: “Thomas Jones and John Chaloner to Thomas Wharton Jr., December 24, 1777,” Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

  One of Wharton’s fellow Pennsylvanians: Bodle, Valley Forge Report, Vol. 1, p. 142, citing “Daniel Roberdeau to Thomas Wharton, 26 December 1777,” Frame 0364, Reel 13, PA, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

  The board also warned Wharton: Ibid., 135, citing “Francis Lightfoot Lee to Thomas Wharton, 30 December 1777,” Autographs of Signers of the Declaration, Pierpont Morgan Library, New York.

  “Either from my own particular”: “From George Washington to Henry Laurens, 1 January 1778,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 13, ed. Lengel, pp. 103–6.

  Within 10 days it had delegated: Bodle, Valley Forge Report, Vol. 1, p. 136, citing Ford, Journals of the Continental Congress, Vol. IX, p. 1073.

  The New Jersey delegate John Witherspoon: Ibid., citing “John Witherspoon to William Churchill Houston, 27 January 1778,” in Burnett, Letters, Vol. III, p. 58.

  Yet Henry Laurens praised: Ibid., p. 201, citing “Henry Laurens to John Rutledge, 30 January 1778,” in Burnett, Letters, Vol. III, p. 58.

  Anthony Wayne, the blunt general from Chester: “Anthony Wayne to Thomas Wharton, 28 December 1777,” John Reed Collection, Valley Forge National Historical Park.

  “We live from Hand to Mouth”: Bodle, Valley Forge Report, Vol. 1, p. 206, citing “Jedediah Huntington to his father, 7 January 1778,” John Reed Collection.

  A year earlier, before the victories: “America’s First Soldiers: Twelve Remarkable Facts About the Continental Army,” Military History Now.

  “Notwithstanding the orders”: “General Orders, 27 December 1777,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 13, ed. Lengel, p. 16.

  Once, when a scrawny cow: “Journal Entries of Albigence Waldo Regarding the Continental Army Moving to Valley Forge, 14 December 1777,” in Waldo, Account of the Ordeal at Valley Forge.

  “There comes a Soldier”: Ibid.

  Concludes the account: Ibid.

  If they survived the journey: Loane, Following the Drum: Women at the Valley Forge Encampment, p. 119.

  While at the time the death toll: Blanco, “American Army Hospitals in Pennsylvania During the Revolutionary War,” p. 355.

  In the same letter in which he detailed: Bodle, Valley Forge Report, Vol. 1, p. 161, citing “Enoch Poor to Mesech Weare, 21 January 1778,” Force MSS, Series 7-E, New Hampshire Council, Library of Congress.

  ♦ CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: Civil War

  Still, even if the Drebbel submarine: Goldstone, Going Deep, p. 12.

  Years later Washington hailed his pet: “From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 26 September 1785,” in The Papers of George Washington, Confederation Series, Vol. 3, ed. Abbot, pp. 279–83.

  He wrote to one militia commander: “From George Washington to Colonel Joseph Kirkbride, 20 April 1778,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 14, ed. Hoth, pp. 568–69.

  Pulaski was in essence: “Circular to Brigadier General Casimir Pulaski and the Colonels of the Continental Light Dragoon Regiments, 25 October 1777,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 11, ed. Chase and Lengel, pp. 619–20.

  But a string of outraged General Orders: “General Orders, 26 December 1777,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 13, ed. Lengel, pp. 1–2.

  He was flattered by the offer: “To George Washington from Captain Henry Lee, Jr., 31 March 1778,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 14, ed. Hoth, pp. 368–69.

  Moreover, Gen. Howe had offered: Marshall and Duane, Extracts from the Diary of Christopher Marshall, February 23, 1778 entry, p. 169.

 
As the historian Wayne Bodle observes: Bodle, Valley Forge Report, Vol. 1, p. 173.

  The farmhouse had more windows: Ibid., p. 176, citing “Henry Lee to Washington (two letters), 20 January 1778,” George Washington Papers, Library of Congress.

  John Laurens was naturally agog: “John Laurens Letter to Henry Laurens, 23 January 1778,” in Simms, The Army Correspondence of John Laurens 1777–1778,” p. 111–12.

  And a 19-year-old New Jersey captain: http://patch.com/california/brentwood/letter-valley-forge-1778-0.

  Washington personally congratulated Lee: “From George Washington to Captain Henry Lee, Jr., 20 January 1778,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 13, ed. Lengel, p. 294.

  “his warmest thanks to”: Ibid., “General Orders, 20 January 1778,” pp. 286–88.

  General Poor, for instance, having: Bodle, Valley Forge Report, Vol. 1, p. 160, citing “Enoch Poor to Mesech Weare, 21 January 1778,” Force MSS, Series 7-E, New Hampshire Council, Library of Congress.

  His starving and half-naked soldiers: Ibid.

  Some 90 of his soldiers: Ibid., p. 175, citing “Samuel Carlton to William Heath, 28 January 1778.”

  “If they had any idea”: http://patch.com/california/brentwood/letter-valley-forge-1778-0.

  Instead, they found themselves: Ibid.

  The 26-year-old Massachusetts lieutenant colonel: Bodle, Valley Forge Report, Vol. 1, p. 156, citing “John Brooks, 5 January 1778,” Miscellaneous Collection, Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston.

  ♦ CHAPTER NINETEEN: An American Army

  These men had watched friends: Bodle, Valley Forge Report, Vol. 1, p. 278, citing “John Patterson to Colonel Marshall, 23 February 1778,” Ely Collection, New Jersey Historical Society.

  More than one bitter patriot: Ibid., p. 156, citing “John Brooks, 5 January 1778,” Miscellaneous Collection, Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston.