No one, he said, ever heard him say a word
about resignation. There were many desertions but, on the whole,
he marveled at the patience of his men and that they did not
mutiny. With a certain grim humor they chanted phrases about "no
pay, no clothes, no provisions, no rum," and sang an ode
glorifying war and Washington. Hundreds of them marched barefoot,
their blood staining the snow or the frozen ground while, at the
same time, stores of shoes and clothing were lying unused
somewhere on the roads to the camp.
Sickness raged in the army. Few men at Valley Forge, wrote
Washington, had more than a sheet, many only part of a sheet, and
some nothing at all. Hospital stores were lacking. For want of
straw and blankets the sick lay perishing on the frozen ground.
When Washington had been at Valley Forge for less than a week, he
had to report nearly three thousand men unfit for duty because of
their nakedness in the bitter winter. Then, as always, what we
now call the "profiteer" was holding up supplies for higher
prices. To the British at Philadelphia, because they paid in
gold, things were furnished which were denied to Washington at
Valley Forge, and he announced that he would hang any one who
took provisions to Philadelphia.
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