The+Winter+at+Valley+Forge+G

   Courteney Kim The Winter at Valley Forge  The basic framework of the American Revolutionary tale framework includes suffering soldiers, blind dedication to liberty and freedom, torture from British soldiers, and the fury of nature--it is a way that present and past generations romanticize the American Revolution. These concepts, especially “patient suffering,” display the extreme hardships faced by the Continental Army and emphasize the “humble” soldiers’ extreme dedication to freedom. “The Winter at Valley Forge” is supposed to display most of these themes of the revolution; however, the winter at Valley Forge was actually mild and clement in terms of both weather and war casualties. In fact, those soldiers who did suffer, did not suffer quietly or submissively-- they complained, pillaged nearby farms for food and goods, deserted, and mutinied.  At first, patriots from various parts of society gathered to join the army. However, by 1775, the soldiers of the army needed to returned to their own lives; they returned home to their normal jobs as farmers or artisans. This made it necessary for Congress to offer money for military services. When even this did not recruit as many people, they fixed the number of men that each state had to contribute to the army. States and towns added their own offers of pay for military service, but still there weren’t enough to fill their quotas-- this led to drafts. A draftee had to either go himself, or find someone else to go in his place; it led people with wealth to hire others that would go in their place. This in turn, lead to the formation of an army of boys or men without property or jobs, laborers, apprentices, and even Indians and former slaves.  Civilians did not support the army, they feared standing armies and looked down upon the men because of their low social statuses’. Soldiers resented the fact that they did not get as much support as they needed; food and clothing was rarely distributed in time, if ever, due to Congress. The soldiers of the Continental Army demanded food, clothing, and pay that had been promised to them. The shortage of food and supplies forced troops to pillage from local civilians—both farms and households. Locals were given worthless notes instead of money for their produce, grain, milk, and meat. Many soldiers ran away and mutinied to escape the pains of military service. The suffering soldiers stood up for themselves by mutinying, they demanded better treatment. Soldiers needed to get through to General Washington, who could influence Congress and state officials to help the troops. These resistances are opposite to the “patient suffering” that is usually connected to the “winter at Valley Forge”. Starvation and the need for basic items was always a problem. The troops had to fight the enemy while starving and badly clothed. The soldiers mutinied to get respect and an increase in rations, not for control of power.  The January of 1780, not 1777-1778, in Morristown, not Valley Forge, was the coldest winter that the army had ever faced--bays and rivers froze hard enough to serve as roadways. The winter at Morristown was faced with little food and scarce clothing. It snowed continually and the temperature went down into negative Fahrenheit. Morristown was the lowest point of the war; it was the “real” Valley Forge. However, Morristown was ignored while Valley Forge was highly esteemed because Valley Forge just happened to fit the framework of the story that everyone wanted to hear and tell. It was assumed that the soldiers at Valley Forge suffered patiently and quietly and remained faithful to their leader; however, at Morristown, there were several mutinies—it did not create a positive impression. Also, the information was harder to remember for Morristown since there were actually four winters instead of one. In addition, the Morristown story would reveal that suffering continued throughout the war for the soldiers never received the help that they had needed-- this would make the civilians look bad. At Valley Forge, the troops were supposedly trained and put into shape and were obedient. Assuming that the winter at Valley Forge was the worst, the victory at Saratoga happened close around Valley Forge, so it made sense that the highest point of the war followed the darkest and lowest. In reality, most deaths at Valley Forge were caused by disease rather than cold, hunger, or war casualties.  Later historians painted a completely different picture of the war. For example they claimed that the troops had faith in the congress, while in reality congress incessantly failed them; the troops were written to be blindly devoted, while mutinies and desertions were common happenings; the civilians were supportive of their troops, while in real life, the fact the army was made up of low class men and boys was considered an embarrassment and shameful to myriads of Americans; etc… However, after thirty years, the civilians looked at the army as heroes instead of people to be feared (as a partial result of the necessity of new soldiers in the War of 1812 when patriotic writers and orators praised the virtues of the men who had fought in the American Revolution). Valley Forge was recognized while Morristown was left out of the limelight because of its former history of mutinies. Later on, people grouped the winters of Valley Forge and Morristown together since they both occurred in a similar time period (approximately 2 years of difference) and it became known as the Winter of Valley Forge (because of Morristown was ignored for its rebellious history). The Continental Army was actually displaying American virtues of independence, liberty, and freedom by demanding their pay, food, and clothing which they were entitled to.