Valley Forge

Encampment at Valley Forge: December 1777 to June 1778

The suffering of the soldiers at Valley Forge, and Washington’s desperate attempts to rally Congress and the states to their aid, has become legend. This was the first large, prolonged winter encampment that the Continental Army endured – nine thousand men were quartered at Valley Forge for a six-month period. During that time, some two thousand American soldiers died from cold, hunger and disease. The troops that survived emerged seasoned and disciplined, a far cry from the untrained band of men that had straggled into the camp during the bitter December of 1777.

The following documents, spanning the duration of the encampment, illuminate the experience at Valley Forge from several perspectives. The linchpin is the famed letter written by George Washington to the states ten days after his arrival at Valley Forge in which he pleads for troops and supplies, citing “not less than 2898 men unfit for duty, by reason of their being barefoot and otherwise naked” (GLC03706). Other documents include Washington’s request to General Henry Knox for advice on a winter encampment; a letter from William Ellery to William Whipple, both signatories of the Declaration of Independence, analyzing the war’s prosecution and noting the selection of Valley Forge as a winter encampment; General Horatio Gates’s order, at the height of the supply crisis, to seize food for the troops; a soldier’s account of sickness and smallpox in camp; a wagonmaster’s diary; provision returns; and muster rolls.