The Winds of Change

Washington at Valley Forge, March 4, 1778      The soldiers serving under General George Washington in December 1777 could not understand his decision to move them into winter quarters in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. While General Washington believed the site an ideal location to allow him to continue to contest the British for control of the countryside around Philadelphia, the Continental army saw nothing except trees, open fields, and a few farmhouses. Traditionally armies spent the winter in towns, where they could find food, shelter, and civilian companionship. But this would become a winter of crisis, with food supplies running out, snow falling, freezing rain turning roads to slush, and overflowing rivers washing out bridges, fords, and ferries that prevented supplies from reaching camp.      While Washington promised to tend to his soldiers’ needs, he feared their trust and obedience would not last long without some change. He warned Congress, ”this army must inevitably be redu