Facts About Valley Forge

Valley Forge was a camp in the late 1700th century during the Revolutionary War. It is often recalled that soldiers at the camp endured cruel and harsh living conditions that took the lives of many. Although the living conditions were rough, it is thought that a lot of stories about Valley Forge are exaggerated to an extent. Stories and books unraveled about how those poor soldiers were frost bitten and starving. So are the myths and tales true, did the soldiers at Valley Forge suffer in a horrid daily battle for survival?

There was a shortage of uniforms and clothing for the soldiers. They were often without shoes, coats, and pants. Washington tried consistently to cloth the soldiers and provide them with necessary garments. Some books state

They stayed in the same area in the dead of winter in huts such as the soldiers dwelled in. They stated the huts were not necessarily comfortable but not cold enough where one might freeze to death. Each winter varies and from one year to the next temperatures may be colder or harsher than the year before. The volunteers that conducted this experiment were probably fully clothed and possessed all the proper necessities needed as well. So although they tried to reenact the lives these soldiers lived; it doesn’t necessarily mean they did not experience harsh living conditions. It was also late February before some of the men finished their huts because the lack of tools to build with. So even if the winters were mild some men may not have had a shelter at all to keep them dry and

Each soldier was promised a decent amount of food daily, but sometimes they did not follow through with their proposals. When the rations each soldier were promised would run dry they would resort to eating things they could make with flour such as fire cakes. The men would carry on something awful until their shortages were again replenished.

Life was very hard for the soldiers of this time and they experienced many hardships. There were camps all over during the revolutionary war though that experienced the same shortages and some even harsher winters. Valley Forge has always been portrayed as a devastating and cruel. The revolutionary War had many harsh camps and the soldiers experienced even rough times than what the Valley Forge men