Valley Forge.
Valley Forge.
19. On the 11th of December Washington went into winter quarters at Valley Forge, on the right bank of the Schuylkill. Thousands of the soldiers were without shoes, and the frozen ground was marked with bloody footprints. Log cabins were built, and everything was done that could be done to secure the comfort of the suffering patriots. But it was a long and dreary winter. These were the darkest days of Washington's life. Congress in a measure abandoned him. Many men high in military and civil station left the great leader unsupported. But the allegiance of the army remained unshaken, and the nation's confidence in the chieftain became stronger than ever.
CHAPTER XXV.
Events of 1778 and 1779.
IN November of 1776 Silas Deane, of Connecticut, was appointed commissioner to France. His first service was to make a secret arrangement to supply the Americans with materials for carrying on the war. In the autumn of 1777 a ship, laden with two hundred thousand dollars' worth of arms, ammunition, and specie, was sent to America.
Negotiations with France.