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into Valley Forge, PA. Trenton on the prior Christmas Eve.
Congress denied Washington’s pleas
He had chosen this location for
for provisions, even as they stripped
their winter encampment for
him of some of his authority, placing
strategic reasons. For one thing, the
him under the command of General
surrounding topography served as a
Horatio Gates, whom they appointed
sort of natural fortress. Their camp was
as President of the Board of War. This
situated on a plateau that sat atop a
was a conflict of interest, because Gates
series of hills that offered protection.
was also supposedly Washington’s
For another, he wanted to be near
subordinate.
enough to Philadelphia to be able to
monitor the British troops who had Gates had taken credit for the
occupied that city, in order to be able Army’s victory at Saratoga, which was
to prevent surprise attacks on the local actually managed by Benedict Arnold,
settlements. Enoch Poor, Benjamin Lincoln, and
Daniel Morgan, all of whom served
It also was distant enough from
under Gates’s command. Ever the
the fertile farmland to the north of
political opportunist, Gates was often
Philadelphia to avoid becoming an
critical of Washington’s aggressive
unnecessary burden on the locals.
strategy, and had advised against
Washington estimated that about Washington’s attack on Trenton, which
a third of his men had no shoes, and was enormously successful. Although
many had no coats or blankets. They he served under Washington, Gates
had little in the way of food: 25 barrels always felt as though he should have
of flour and a small amount of salt been Commander-in-Chief instead,
pork. A large number of his men had and made his reports directly to
left family farms on a moment’s notice Congress instead of to Washington,
with only the clothes on their backs to who was his immediate superior. It’s
join in the fighting, and as such, they easy to see how Washington would
were never properly trained as soldiers. have been discouraged, and somewhat
Desertion was a common problem, as desperate.
some of the men, seeing their cause as
Valley Forge was so named because
hopeless, would leave to return to work
it served as the location of an iron
their farms.
forge that was owned by a family
The Continental Army had suffered named Potts. Isaac Potts was one
a series of defeats at the hands of of the owners of Valley Forge, and
the British, even in the wake of he had little faith in the cause of the
their successful surprise attack at
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