The Freeman 1972 - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

1972 THE WAR FOR INDEPEDENCE 353now had an ally who could challengethe British fleet and overmatchthe British army. TheAmericans had shown that theycould defeat a British army. Britainwas not in dire straits, buteven the government was no longerso determined to win. LordNorth got a bill through Parliamentin February 1778 aimed atreconciliation· with America. Apeace commission was dispatcheda little later which was authorizedto offer Americans just abouteverything they had asked forshort of independence. A commandcrisis developed in the Britishforces in 1778. Burgoyne returnedhome· on parole and in disgrace.The Howe brothers resigned commandof the army and navy inAmerica. General Howe may havebeen cautious, but Henry Clinton,who replaced him, was inept.Surely, all it would have taken todrive the British from Americawould have been a decisive musteringof American strength.The Winter at Valley forgeThis was not to be the case,however. Perhaps a better omenthan Saratoga for the immediatefuture was Valley Forge. The warwas to drag on for the better partof five more years, and the conditionof the Continental army atValley Forge in the winter of1777-1778 tells us why, at least inpart. One of Washington's biographershas described conditionsthis way:Thus, at the beginning of 1778, theArmy was witnessing one of thestrangest of races, a contest betweenthe axes of the men building hutsand the harsh wear-and-tear on theremaining garments of those whostill had sufficient clothing to permitoutdoor duty.... Although hospitalhuts were built early and in what wasbelieved to be sufficient number, theysoon were overcrowded with miserablemen who died fast or, if theysurvived, received little attention. Inspite of all exertion, it was the middleof January when the last of thetroops were under roof. Even thenthey did not always have straw totake the chill from the earthen floorof their huts. Thousands had no bedcovering.Food, of course, was the absoluteessential - and food, more than evenclothing or blankets or straw, waslacking at Valley Forge.. , . "Firecakes"frequently were all the halfnakedmen had to eat in their overcrowded,smoky huts. Early in theNew Year most of the regiments hadto be told the Commissary could issueno provisions because it had none,none whatsoever....These were desperate hours. Washingtoncontinued to watch and towarn. "A prospect now opens," hesaid February 17, "of absolute wantsuch as will make it impossible tokeep the Army much longer from dissolution...."8