Letter from George Washington’s aide-de-camp, John Fitzgerald, to Major John Clark, Jr., 12/16/1777, on the location of winter quarters for the Continental Army. [Library of Congress, George Washington Papers]
On this Day 4 of the Gulph Mills Encampment, tents finally arrived to shield the soldiers from the weather. Up to this point, they made lean-to’s from branches, leaves, and mud to sleep and to stay in. The Continental Army soldiers also captured some British soldiers during one of the several encounters that the pickets had with British soldiers out foraging or spying on the Continental Army.
Two other things of note happened this day, putting the encampment in context:
1) the Virginia General Assembly became the first state to adopt the Articles of Confederation to form the new government that the Continental Army was fighting for. The Continental Congress passed the Articles of Confederation on November 15, 1777 and sent it to each of the thirteen colonies to ratify.
2) It seems that today was the day that Washington decided that the Continental Army would go to Valley Forge for winter quarters. There were two other principal options on the table, basically–1) Wilmington or 2) further into Pennsylvania, like York, where the Continental Congress was now meeting, or Lancaster, where the Pennsylvania General Assembly was now meeting, after leaving Philadelphia when the British captured the city in September 1777. There’s great speculation as to the day that Washington made this decision. So many people assume that he had already made the decision when he moved the army out of Whitemarsh on December 10. But, then others say, if he had decided on Valley Forge then, why not just continue to move the army down Swede’s Ford on December 11 and 12, towards Valley Forge? Why move the army some ten miles in the other direction to Gulph Mills for six days? I’m with the latter group. If you know the area, it doesn’t make sense to take a detour into the heart of Gulph Mills when you could go straight to Valley Forge from Swede’s Ford. It’s not like the soldiers were really able to rest and regroup in Gulph Mills–it was cold, they didn’t have tents, they had little food, and so many of them were already sick.
George Washington’s aide-de-camp, John Fitzgerald, wrote to Major John Clark, Jr. on this date, “tomorrow we shall move four or five miles higher up and build for winter quarters.” [Library of Congress, George Washington Papers] Just the day before, aide-de-camp John Laurens wrote to his father Henry, the president of the Continental Congress, that Washington had not yet decided on the location for winter quarters, but he expected it would be some time that day.
Washington did not announce his decision to the army today. That comes tomorrow in some of the most inspirational writing that I have seen during this period.
But, you can read about today, Day 4, 12/16/1777, in my article, Valley Forge’s Threshold, in the Jounal of the American Revolution, https://allthingsliberty.com/2019/11/valley-forges-threshold-the-encampment-at-gulph-mills/, or via Day 4: Dec. 16, 1777 — Tents arrive and British soldiers captured at Gulph Mills.
Peace–
Sheilah
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