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Chapter III - Suffering at Valley Forge,
Baron Von Steuben's Discipline Suffering at Valley Forge, Baron Von Steuben's Discipline
The positive consequences of the French alliance did not alter the miserably impoverished condition of Washington's army. His worn-out troops had established themselves twenty miles from Philadelphia at Valley Forge to endure the harsh winter. Of the eleven thousand soldiers who wearily marched into Valley Forge in December, over twenty-five hundred died before April, not in battle but from malnutrition and disease. Badly clothed, severely underfed and crowded into cramped log huts, the troops grumbled about their hardships. With food supplies running low, many chanted "no bread, no soldier." The civilian population offered little aid to the American troops because, to avoid damaging civilian morale, Washington decided not to publicize the "sad situation." But while many knew nothing of the soldiers' suffering, others exploited the situation. Many merchants refused to sell provisions to American troops who could only pay in the rapidly depreciating currency issued by the Continental Congress, money which gave rise to the saying "not worth a continental." Instead these merchants dealt with the British, who paid in gold and silver.
Throughout the dreadful winter at Valley Forge, the only glimmer of hope for the troops came from a toughy no-nonsense former Prussian officer, Friedrich Wilhelm August Heinrich Ferdinand, Baron Von Steuben. The baron arrived in America in February of 1778 with a letter to Congress from Benjamin Franklin who recommended him highly - though not nearly as highly as Von Steuben recommended himself. However, he volunteered to train Washington's men with no pay except reimbursement of his expenses, unlike others who demanded high pay and a lofty rank for their assistance. Though the weakened men were wrapped in rags or naked under blankets, Von Steuben treated them with respect while conducting constant inspections and rigorous, daily drills in marching and shooting. In spite of their intense hunger and their pathetic condition, Washington's troops developed a sense of self-respect and unity because of Von Steuben's attitude toward them and the stern discipline he imposed.
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