George Washington and his Continental Army braving the frigid winter at Valley Forge form an iconic image in the popular history of the American Revolution. Such winter camps, Steven Elliott tells us in Surviving the Winters, were also a critical factor in the waging and winning of the War of Independence. Exploring the inner workings of the Continental Army through the prism of its encampments, this book is the first to show how camp construction and administration played a crucial role in Patriot strategy during the war. As Elliott reminds us, Washington’s troops spent only a few days a year in combat. The rest of the time, especially in the winter months, they were engaged in a different sort of battle—against the elements, unfriendly terrain, disease, and hunger. Victory in that more sustained struggle depended on a mastery of camp construction, logistics, and health and hygiene—the components that Elliott considers in his environmental, administrative, and operational investigation of the winter encampments at Middlebrook, Morristown, West Point, New Windsor, and Valley Forge. Beyond the encampments’ basic function of sheltering soldiers, his study reveals their importance as a key component of Washington’s Fabian strategy: stationed on secure, mountainous terrain close to New York, the camps allowed the Continental commander-in-chief to monitor the enemy but avoid direct engagement, thus neutralizing a numerically superior opponent while husbanding his own strength. Documenting the growth of Washington and his subordinates as military administrators, Surviving the Winters offers a telling new perspective on the commander’s generalship during the Revolutionary War. At the same time, the book demonstrates that these winter encampments stand alongside more famous battlefields as sites where American independence was won.

• How to dress for winter; how to create a campsite and what to use as shelter; how to keep warm • How to signal for help with aerial flares, smoke, mirrors, and whistles; finding and purifying water; finding and preparing food; protecting yourself and your supplies from wildlife • How to use a map and compass; how to travel on snow and ice with snowshoes, skis, and crampons; how to avoid and deal with avalanches The first in Greg Davenport's Books for the Wilderness series, Surviving Cold Weather covers the techniques and equipment necessary for surviving in ice and snow. Photos and drawings illustrate gear and techniques. The book covers the five survival essentials--personal protection, signaling, sustenance, navigation, and health--as they relate to the cold. Upcoming books in the series are Surviving Open and Coastal Waters, Surviving the Desert, and Surviving the Jungle.

Be ready for the worst of winter—from basic car trouble to extreme situations—with this essential guide by the acclaimed survival expert. Tim MacWelch is the go-to-guy for survival techniques and definitely someone you want next to you in your snow cave. With his Winter Survival Handbook, he helps you survive winter dilemmas ranging from the typical to the terrible. Practical Hints Don’t want to spend twenty minutes sitting in the driveway waiting for your car to defrost? Learn how to winterize your car, dress for the polar vortex, drive on black ice, keep your home safe and warm, and everything in between. Emergency Skills When danger threatens you and your loved ones, you’ll be ready to combat any dire circumstance—from a major power outage to a walk through a whiteout, a fall through ice into freezing water, and other terrifying scenarios. Wilderness Survival Freezing and stranded in the middle of nowhere? MacWelch knows what you need to stay warm, survive, and make it out alive. Learn how to build a snow cave, shoot a frozen rifle, make a fire in a snowstorm, and much more.

In this major new history of the Continental Army's Grand Forage of 1778, award-winning military historian Ricardo A. Herrera uncovers what daily life was like for soldiers during the darkest and coldest days of the American Revolution: the Valley Forge winter. Here, the army launched its largest and riskiest operation—not a bloody battle against British forces but a campaign to feed itself and prevent starvation or dispersal during the long encampment. Herrera brings to light the army's herculean efforts to feed itself, support local and Continental governments, and challenge the British Army. Highlighting the missteps and triumphs of both General George Washington and his officers as well as ordinary soldiers, sailors, and militiamen, Feeding Washington's Army moves far beyond oft-told, heroic, and mythical tales of Valley Forge and digs deeply into its daily reality, revealing how close the Continental Army came to succumbing to starvation and how strong and resourceful its soldiers and leaders actually were.

A Beginner’s Guide to Winter Survival - How to Survive Cold Weather Table of Contents Introduction Winter Storms and Warnings Freezing Rain Winter Preparation Winter Clothing What Do You Do in Cases of Frostbite? Symptoms of Frostbite Hypothermia Traveling In Harsh Weather Caught in a Blizzard Sheltering from Blizzards in Your House Defrosting Frozen Pipes Winter Survival Kit When to Call 911 Winter Fuels Carbon Monoxide Another Heating Tip Appendix Long-Lasting healthy foods Granola Pemmican Making Biltong the Traditional Way Conclusion Author Bio Publisher Introduction Mankind has been looking for the best ways in which to survive the harsh winter, for millenniums. That means that he knows that at one particular period of the year, he is going to be subject to ice, snow and cold temperatures. He is also going to face blizzards and storms. As man has not been built by nature to curl up in a warm cave and hibernate throughout the winter like more sensible animals, the onset of winter brings with it the heightened sense of self-preservation. In olden days, all man could do was huddle into a corner, around the fire, and keep praying for the blizzard to stop. During this time, he survived on the food that he had stored in his cave or in his place of shelter during the more clement and temperate months of the year. As time went by man found that it was easy to transport himself and his family to other places, on horseback, or in a cart. And that is why he managed to look for more temperate regions – where the weather was not so harsh – before the onset of winter. But as time went by, nature still kept to her rules of a harsh winter, but mankind did not learn much in terms of common sense. In fact, he persisted on going out in the cold, instead of staying under shelter. And that is why the popular melodramatic cliché of someone turned from a doorstep on a harsh winters evening remained a popular theme in theaters. Even today in 80% of the popular escapist novels, the dumb, but beautiful heroine (single and pregnant in 90% of the cases, according to manuscript submission requirements, goes driving in a blizzard. – I told you that she is dumb – And the multibillionaire hero rescues her. And there is going to be a happily ever after, on page 186, because he is going to marry her. And there we are, we have just wasted our money on another thoroughly idiotic novel.) In real life, she would have died of hypothermia, because she is not well clothed, does not have fuel and has been buried in a snowdrift.

From flying squirrels to grizzly bears, and from torpid turtles to insects with antifreeze, the animal kingdom relies on some staggering evolutionary innovations to survive winter. Unlike their human counterparts, who must alter the environment to accommodate physical limitations, animals are adaptable to an amazing range of conditions. Examining everything from food sources in the extremely barren winter land-scape to the chemical composition that allows certain creatures to survive, Heinrich's Winter World awakens the largely undiscovered mysteries by which nature sustains herself through winter's harsh, cruel exigencies.

A soldier chronicles the harsh winter colonial soldiers, led by General George Washington, spend at Valley Forge during the American Revolution.