Valley Forge Diary

The freezing soldiers lay around on the cold hard ground; some are wrapped in their tattered rags while others are vomiting, having fatigue and starving from lack of food. Despite these grim conditions, however, their ambitions towards freedom disguised their miserable life in camp. The winter of 1777 at Valley Forge was tough for Washington and his men. They lived in extremely poor weather conditions with a deficient amount of resources to stay alive. Diseases were also spreading, and the army was in desperate need of money if they even wanted to dream of defeating Britain. After many requests for help to the congress did they finally see events start to turn around, and even though the colonies would not have defeated experienced British

Dr. Albigence Waldo, a Connecticut surgeon who helped care for sick soldiers, wrote frequently in his diary in 1777. In his diary, he wrote about the daily lives of the soldiers while camping out in Valley Forge. On December 14, 1777, he wrote, “I am Sick - discontented - and out of humour. Poor food - hard lodging - cold Weather - fatigue - Nasty Cloaths - nasty Cookery - Vomit half my time - smoak’d out my senses… Why are we sent here to starve and Freeze… There comes a Soldier, his bare feet are seen thro’ his worn out Shoes, his legs nearly naked from the tatter’d remains of an only pair of stockings…” Life at Valley Forge was not easy; the soldiers were constantly sick and without food, while freezing with barely any clothes. These soldiers were forced to cope with these conditions; however, if they had gone home, they would have had a better treatment than the one they had to endure during their life in camp. They would have been in a better state had they decided to leave the army. However, their hard work and perseverance would eventually show when the colonies defeated the experienced British in what would become one of the most victorious wars in American