How did Valley Forge affect the war?

Answer 1

Washington's Army spent the Winter of 1777-78 camped at Valley Forge in Southeast PennsylvaniaOn the march to Valley Forge, Washington's

army lacked supplies. Many soldiers had only blankets to cover themselves.

They also lacked shoes. The barefoot men left tracks of blood on the frozen

ground as they marched.

The soldiers' condition did not improve at camp. Over the winter, the

soldiers at Valley Forge grew weak from not having enough food or warm

clothing. Roughly a quarter of them died from malnutrition, exposure, or

diseases such as smallpox and typhoid fever. Because of this suffering, the

name Valley Forge came to stand for the great hardships that Americans

endured in the Revolutionary War.

Washington appealed to Congress for supplies, but it was slow in responding.

Luckily, private citizens sometimes helped the soldiers. On New Year's

Day 1778, a group of Philadelphia women drove ten teams of oxen into

camp. The oxen were pulling wagons full of supplies and 2,000 shirts. The

women had the oxen killed to provide food for the troops.