[1][2][3] At Valley Forge, the Continental Army struggled to manage a disastrous supply crisis while simultaneously retraining and reorganizing their units in an effort to mount successful counterattacks against the British.

Capital improvements made by John Potts and his family over the following decades permitted the small community to expand its ironworks, establish mills, and construct new dwellings for the village's residents.

[6] Valley Forge was surrounded by rich farmland, where mainly Welsh Quaker farmers grew wheat, rye, hay, Indian corn, and other crops, and raised livestock, including cattle, sheep, pigs, and barnyard fowl.

Fearing such a concentration of military supplies would become a target for British raids, the forge's ironmaster, William Dewees Jr., expressed concerns about the army's proposal.

Following the inconclusive Battle of Whitemarsh from December 5–8, however, increasing numbers of officers and politicians began to appreciate the need to defend the greater Philadelphia region from British attack.

[16] In the two winter encampments prior to Valley Forge, the Continental army had sheltered themselves in a combination of tents, constructed huts, civilian barns and other buildings.

Valley Forge marked the first time Washington ordered the Continental Army primarily to concentrate into a more permanent post, which required them to construct their own shelters.

B. Trussell Jr. writes that many squads "dug their floors almost two feet below ground level," to reduce wind exposure or the number of logs required for construction.

On February 16, 1778 from Valley Forge, Washington reached out to George Clinton, then governor of the Province of New York, for support, writing, "for some days past, there has been little less, than a famine in camp.

In large part, supplies dried up due to neglect by Congress so that by the end of December 1777 Washington had no way to feed or to adequately clothe the soldiers.

[26] Washington chose the Valley Forge area partly for its strategic benefits, but wintertime road conditions impeded supply wagons on route to the encampment.

Therefore, during the first few days of constructing their huts, the Continentals primarily ate firecakes, a tasteless mixture of flour and water cooked upon heated rocks.

In his memoir, Joseph Plumb Martin wrote that "to go into the wild woods and build us habitations to stay (not to live) in, in such a weak, starved and naked condition, was appalling in the highest degree.

Washington continued with a dire warning to Congress: "unless some great and capital change suddenly takes place in that line, this Army must inevitably be reduced to one or other of these three things, Starve, dissolve, or disperse, in order to obtain subsistence in the best manner they can.

[18] Many soldiers remained unfit for duty, owing to the disease, lack of proper clothing and uniforms ("naked" referred to a ragged or improperly attired individual).

Years later, Lafayette recalled that "the unfortunate soldiers were in want of everything; they had neither coats, hats, shirts, nor shoes; their feet and legs froze till they had become almost black, and it was often necessary to amputate them.

"[33] On January 7, Christopher Marshall related how "ten teams of oxen, fit for slaughtering, came into camp, driven by loyal Philadelphia women.

"[34] While these women provided crucial assistance, most people remained relatively unaware of the Continental Army's plight—"an unavoidable result of a general policy" to prevent such intelligence from reaching the British.

The delegates consisted of "Francis Dana of Massachusetts, Nathaniel Folsom of New Hampshire, John Harvie of Virginia, Gouverneur Morris of New York, and Joseph Reed of Pennsylvania.

"[36] According to historian Wayne Bodle, they came to understand through their visit "how vulnerable the new army could be to logistical disruption, owing to its size, its organizational complexity, and its increasing mobility.

To combat the spread of contagion, Washington commanded soldiers to burn tar or "the Powder of a Musquet Cartridge" in the huts every day, to cleanse the air of putrefaction.

Throughout the encampment period, Mary Ludwig Hays and approximately 250–400 other women had followed their soldier husbands or sweethearts to Valley Forge, sometimes with children in tow.

Lucy Flucker Knox, Catharine Littlefield "Caty" Greene, and other senior officers' wives journeyed to Valley Forge at the behest of their husbands.

In exchange for enlisting, soldiers of the 1st Rhode Island Regiment gained immediate emancipation, and their former owners received financial compensation equal to the slave's market value.

They bought freedom for 117 enslaved recruits before the law allowing them to do so was repealed, but these free African American Soldiers continued to enlist in the military.

The cabal consisted of a handful of military officers and American politicians who attempted to replace Washington with Major General Horatio Gates as the head of the Continental army.

[61] Baron Friedrich von Steuben, a Prussian drill master who had recently arrived from Europe, instituted a rigorous training program for the troops.

Under Steuben's leadership, the Continentals practiced volley fire, improved their maneuverability, standardized their march paces, exercised skirmishing operations, and drilled bayonet proficiency.

However, the October 1777 surrender of British General John Burgoyne's army at Saratoga won for Americans the assistance they needed from other foreign powers.

As they marched through south and central New Jersey on their way to New York City, the British Army destroyed property and confiscated supplies and food, inspiring growing enmity among the area's civilians.