Army At Valley Forge Dbq Analysis

More than two thousand men deserted Washington’s Army at Valley Forge, according to Document A. If I was a part of Washington’s Army, would I have been one of the hundreds to leave? After reading about the amount of sickness and death, the little amounts of food, and how poor the living conditions were, I made a decision. If I could, I would leave Valley Forge. Read the documents, and listen to me. Would you stay, or follow me and leave? A doctor at Valley Forge had a diary, and it told us what the winter was like, according to Document C. This doctor had many things to say about the camp. The army was growing sick, and the doctor was sick as well. He was “Discontented- and out of humor.” The food was poor and the lodging was incommodious and harsh, and both the clothes and cold weather were nasty. Many men only had rags to wear, and no shoes, which was unfitting for such cold weather, yet the men could get no other clothes. There is no meat, and the cabins are crude, …show more content…
According to document B, “The committee of 5 congress men stayed several weeks and was helpful in getting more food…” The five men were going to stay only a few weeks, to help feed 12,000 men. In total, Valley Forge was stationed in Virginia for 3 months, and these five guys helped out for only a few weeks, so there is no way there was food for the whole winter. Despite anyone’s effort, there was never enough food for the men. During the winter at Valley Forge, so many people died, and so many more people got sick. In December, there was about 12,000 soldiers. Almost 7,000 people got sick. From that amount, about 2,000 men died. Despite the peaceful winter, so many men died for simply living at Valley Forge. Men died from sickness, smoke, the cold, and malnutrition. At the end of the winter in February, there was only 8,000 soldiers. 4,000 men have gone from the already weak army. Would you have been one of the men who died at this camp for