Page:History of the United States of America, Spencer, v1.djvu/550

518 mingled with great prudence and discretion.

In a council of the officers, a great variety of opinions was expressed, as to the most eligible place for winter-quarters for the army. Washington, compelled to decide the question himself, fixed upon Valley Forge, as we have before stated; a deep and rugged valley, about twenty miles from Philadelphia; bounded on one side by the Schuylkill, and on the other by ridges of hills. The soldiers were too miserably deficient in suitable clothing, to be exposed to the inclement winter under tents merely: it was therefore determined that a sufficient number of huts should be erected, to be made of logs, and filled in with mortar, in which they would find a more effectual shelter. The whole army began its march towards Valley Forge, in the middle of December: some of the soldiers were seen to drop dead with cold; others, without shoes, had their feet cut by the ice, and left their tracks in blood. After the most painful efforts, the troops at length reached their destined quarters.. They immediately set about constructing their habitations upon a regular plan. In a short time, the barracks were completed, and the soldiers lodged with some slight degree of comfort.

It is impossible, however, to express in words, the intense suffering which the army was called upon to endure at Valley Forge. Utterly destitute of almost every thing necessary to support life; tattered and half-naked; some few of the soldiers had one shirt; many only the moiety of one; and the greater part, none at all. Numbers of these brave men, for want of shoes, were compelled to go barefoot over the frozen ground. Few, if any, had blankets for the night. Great numbers sickened ; others, unfitted for service by the cold and their nakedness, were excused by their officers from all military duty, and either remained in