Valley Forge: Life In The Continental Army

¨I don't think I would stay¨ ¨would you?¨ In 1776 the Continental Army was going through a very pugnacious time at the winter camp that was set up at Valley Forge. It wasn't a pleasure to stay at that place at the time, but those people managed to stay alive while being there. In fact, in 1777 up to 2,500 people died due to illness. People didn't have a very good chance of surviving at that time, as a matter of fact, people living at the camp had about 10% chance that they would receive sickness, coupled with wars and fights. In 1776 it wasn't very pleasing to live at the winter camp in Valley Forge. Soldiers in the Continental Army shouldn’t stay at Valley Forge due to the outsized chance for them to die. Many people do survive in the camp, but it is challenging to live with unfavourable quality food and sickness around. Also the Congress didn't support the Continental Army so they had very little resources. …show more content…
In December 1777 there was a total of 12,000 guardsmen living at Valley Forge, but at February 1778 the population went down to about 8,000 guardsmen living at the camp, likewise 4,000 people either died or left over about 3 months. Living at the camp was very difficult for the guardsmen. Most of them had families and other things they wanted to achieve, but couldn't due to the fact they have to train and fight at war against the British. Noel F. Busch stated that “50% of soldiers were sick.” due to catastrophic illness that was passing through our the camp.(Busch,1974) Soldiers at camp essentially had a ½ chance you will get sick. This is significant because a soldier has 10% chance of dying, that leaves a 90% chance of survival, but 10% is still an extensive amount at that