“THE BEGINNING OF OUR FREEDOMS, INDEPENDENCE AND BIRTH OF THE UNITED STATES’ DONATED BY GEORGE AND NANCY DUFOUR AND FAMILY
(Above inscription on base))
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WE FIGHT, GET BEAT, RISE TO FIGHT AGAIN”
GENERAL NATHANAEL GREENE – 1781
THE PEOPLE LIVING IN THE THIRTEEN BRITISH COLONIES WHO REBELLED AGAINST THE AUTHORITY OF THE CROWN WERE KNOWN AS PATRIOTS, REVOLUTIONARIES, CONTINENTALS, COLONIALS, REBELS, YANKEES, OR WHIGS. THESE ARE THE MEN WHO FOUGHT FOR LIBERTY, FREEDOM, AND REPUBLICAN IDEALS, MAYBE NOT FOR THE COUNTRY BUT FOR THEMSELVES AND THEIR FAMILIES. THEY HAD TO RELY ON FRIENDS AND RELATIVES TO SEE TO THE WELFARE OF THEIR FAMILIES.
AMERICA WAS BORN PENNILESS. THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS HAD TO BORROW AND BEG FOR MONEY TO FUND THE WAR. FREQUENTLY, THE MEN DID WITHOUT PAY FOR MONTHS AND FOOD AND SHELTER WAS MEAGER. OFFICERS TRIED TO EQUIP AND FEED THEIR TROOPS FROM THEIR OWN FUNDS. BY THE END OF THE WAR, SOME OFFICERS WERE SO DEEPLY IN DEBT THEYLANGUISHED IN DEBITORS’ PRISONS.
THEY AVOIDED LARGE-SCALE CONFRONTATIONS AND STRUCK QUICKLY IN ATTACKS LEARNED FROM THE NATIVE AMERICANS.
WHEN NOT FIGHTING, CAMP LIFE WAS TEDIOUS. IT CONSISTED OF DRILLING EIGHT HOURS A DAY; PRACTICING FIRING A MUSKET FOUR TIMES IN A MINUTE; DIGGING LATRINES; AND ERECTING FORTIFICATIONS.
ONLY ONE HOT MEAL A DAY WAS ALLOTTED. WHEN AVAILABLE, DAILY RATION CONSISTED OF 1.5 POUNDS OF MEAT, EACH HUNK INCLUDED NOT ONLY THE MEAT, BUT BONE, FAT, AND GRISTLE; A POUND OF BREAD AND TWO OUNCES OF SPIRITS TO BE ADDED TO THE WATER IN THEIR CANTEENS TO KILL VERMIN IN THE WATER.
REDUCED TO WEARING RAGS FOR SHOES, THE MEN WOULD MARCH UP TO 19 HOURS A DAY LEAVING BLOODY FOOT PRINTS. THEY SLEPT WITH NO SHELTER FROM DOWNPOURS, SNOW AND FREEZING TEMPERATURES. DEAD SOLDIERS WERE STRIPPED FOR THEIR CLOTHES AND SHOES.
SOME OF THE GREATEST THREATS TO THE MEN CAME NOT FROM THE ENEMY, BUT FROM DISEASES SUCH AS DYSENTERY, MALARIA AND SMALLPOX.
IN DECEMBER 1776, THE TWELVE THOUSAND-MAN CONTINENTAL MILITIA SETTLED IN VALLEY FORGE, PENNSYLVANIA. SUPPLIES WERE VIRTUALLY NONEXISTENT. MEN SHARED THEIR BLANKETS. THE ONLY FOOD THEY HAD WAS WHAT COULD BE SCROUNGED FROM THE DEVASTATED COUNTRYSIDE.
SANITATION WAS ALWAYS A PROBLEM; AS A RESULT, DISEASES RAN THROUGH THE CAMP. APPROXIMATELY TWO THOUSAND MEN DIED THAT WINTER. LIVING CONDITIONS WOULD NOT IMPROVE IN THE SUBSEQUENT YEARS OF FIGHTING.
IT WAS AT VALLEY FORGE WHERE THEY BECAME A TRUE ARMY. THE CONCEPTS OF BASIC TRAINING, THE COMPETENCE OF THE OFFICER CORPS, AND THE RISE OF THE ARMY’S DISTINCTIVE BRANCHES STARTED THERE. THE MILITARY LESSONS LEARNED SERVED THE VETERANS WELL IN THE FIGHTING AHEAD.
BESIDES HOUSING PRISONERS ON LAND, THE BRITISH KEPT THEM ON SHIPS IN SHOCKING CONDITIONS. HUNDREDS OF PRISONERS WERE CRAMMED IN ENCLOSURES THAT ONLY HAD 3 F00T HIGH CEILINGS. OVER 10,000 DIED DURING IMPRISONMENT. THEIR BODIES WERE OFTEN JUST THROWN OVERBOARD.
WITH INSUFFICIENT EQUIPMENT AND OUTNUMBERED FOUR TO ONE, THEY WON BECAUSE THEY FOUGHT FOR SOMETHING THEY PASSIONATELY BELIEVED IN AND WERE WILLING TO DIE FOR TO BE INDEPENDENT AND FREE.
ESTIMATED AMERICAN MILITARY CASUALTIES:
•6,824 KILLED IN ACTION
•6,100 WOUNDED
• 17,000 DEATHS DUE TO SICKNESS & POOR TREATMENT
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