Excerpt from Washington at Morristown During the Winters of 1776-77 and 1779-80 This may be regarded as a low view of patri otism, but it is a plain and apprehensible view. I should like to know how rapidly our Govern ment would have carried on the late war with Mexico if the currency with which the expen ses were to be defrayed had been made up of Michigan Wild - cat bills. Yet, in spite of these circumstances, Washington's faith was as steady as the magnetic needle. Although drained and weakened as we already are, yet we must make a decisive effort on our part. Our situation demands it. We have the means of success without some unforeseen accident, and it only remains to employ them. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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In the fall of 1776 the British delivered a crushing blow, a story of the small band of soldiers held together by George Washington in the face of disaster.

Excerpt from Winter Encampments of the Revolution: A Soldier's Christmas at Morristown in 1799 An account by one of the soldiers after his arrival in camp in 1779 is no less enlightening: It was cold and snowy, we had to march all day through the snow and at night take up our lodgings in some wood, where, after shovelling away the snow, we used to pitch three or four tents facing each Other, and then join in making a fire in the centre. Sometimes we could procure an armful of buckwheat straw to lie upon, which was deemed a luxury. Provisions, as usual, took up but a small part of our time, though much of our thoughts. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

George Washington and his Continental Army braving the frigid winter at Valley Forge is 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.