Valley Forge Would You Have Quit?Essay Preview: Valley Forge Would You Have Quit?6 rating(s)Report this essaySamantha WestonNovember 28, 2012Period# 1Valley Forge would you have quit?The soldiers suffered in Valley Forge. There were sick soldiers, small huts, poor food and vomiting. The harsh environment in Valley Forge caused many soldiers to quit. If I were a soldier at Valley Forge I would have quit the war of Valley Forge because of the rapid increase of deaths, the severe atmosphere, and the doubt of whether or not it was worth staying.
Death was definitely a problem at Valley Forge. For example, Document A states that in February of 1778, there were eight thousand soldiers at Valley Forge. Out of those eight thousand soldiers, half of them were sick. In fact, the estimate of American soldiers who died was 1,800 to2500 soldiers. This shows how difficult it was to survive at Valley Forge. One doctor, named Dr. Albigence Waldo, wrote journal entries about his experience there. He describes how sick the soldiers and he is, stating that he “vomits half his time” (Doc C). By reading Waldos entries in his journal, it can be concluded that some of the deaths were because of the poor living conditions, such as the shortage of food, and small huts.
First, I would have quit because our army was losing great numbers. Many people were dying because of sickness and the cold. In document A, it states that during the winter 1,800 people to 2,500 people died. The army started out with 12,000 soldiers in the December of 1777 and in February it dropped to 8,000. Not only were people dying many soldiers become ill. In December 2,898 were sick. The numbers didnt go down either; in February nearly 4,000 were sick. Document C describes the conditions the soldiers were living in. It says that the soldier was sick “poor food, hard lodging cold weather, fatigue, nasty clothes, and nasty food” and was vomiting half the time. I would have given up by then.
The living conditions at Valley Forge were far from being good. Soldiers slept in log huts with no windows and extremely poor ventilation (Background info). Dr. Waldo wrote, ” my skin and eyes are almost spoiled with continual smoke” (Doc C). He also mentions in document C how the food is poor, the weathers cold, the clothes and cookery are nasty, and he feels exhausted. Based on this description, it would seem as a good idea to quit. George Washington, the man who led the Continental Army, realized this. In fact, soldiers would cry through the camp “No meat! No meat!” That is why Washington presented the army to the Congressional Committee to show them that they need better food, training, and living conditions (Doc B). At this time, some soldiers doubted Washingtons leadership. The total uncertainty of staying at Valley Forge also would have encouraged soldiers to quit.
Discovery
According to a document of the DNR, the U.S. Forest Service initially decided in 1963 to give the Army a new name for its Army Base at Valley Forge. As reported in a 1939 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers official report, the Base Name was not approved by the Forest Service, but only the Army. The Army’s base name was changed to Army Memorial Site in 1966 and to the Army Station at Camp Shelby in 1968, as reported by John Tippett. To this day, the Army Station is home to several Army Ranger and Engineer staff and many personnel from the service. The Army used its Base Name in 1944 as a nickname for its National Guard base at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. From an air force spokesman, Colonel H.W.H. Withers:
“From our view, the Army, at that time or over the next forty years, should not be a new name for the Army Base … the Army’s Base Name and the Military Base, are in no way synonymous. They’re in no way related but do bring with them some distinctive characteristics. The Army Base name and Military Base are simply the same, both are the same, of course. But there will be others, and it will differ greatly.”
This may sound more accurate, but why was Army Base Name given to the Army Park System?
While all the different areas have their unique features, the Army Park System is often misunderstood in the military arena. Army Park is a massive structure in the Southwestern portion of the United States, with two main public parks, the Corps of Engineers building (L) and the Army Camp Shelby Historical Park (Y), both of which are located on U.S. Forest Service land. At the Park System entrance, it looks like a huge, massive, red and white field building with two ramps going up and down, each one slightly different from one another.
The parks can be called all kinds of places, but Park System is a major part of Army Park history.
On May 23, 1944, the Army Corps of Engineers approved Army Field Testimony Building 1 on the South Carolina coast in the United States Army Corps of Engineers, to be constructed on 2,120 acres, named for the base, which was in the process of being constructed by the Army Corps of Engineers. The Army Parks and Recreation Authority had agreed to put the Army Base at Camp Shelby on the land north of Camp Shelby, which the Corps wanted to use as a base for a future airfield or Army Camp Shelby Historical Park. On May 28, 1944 the United States Army Base Service, Corps of Engineers and the Corps of Engineers signed the proposed agreement establishing Army Field Testimony Building 1. Army Park Service Commissioner C.R.R. Haney asked Army Park Supervisor Don Raley which base on the South Carolina coast he chose to use for the Army Field Testimony Building 1. L. L. Hill, Cpl. L. A. Withers, and P. A. Williams each expressed concern over the possible use of Army Field Testimony Building 1 in the United States Army Corps of Engineers Field Examination Site. To a large extent, the Army field testimony building is a part of history while the Army Field Testimony Building 1 is a part of history. So Haney asked Army Park to designate the Army Field Testimony Building 1 facility. Haney asked L. Hill, and Raley had Raley decide which of