GEORGE WASHINGTON TO GOVERNOR GEORGE CLINTON
Valley Forge, 16 February, 1778
Dear Sir:
It is with great reluctance I trouble you on a subject which does not properly [fall within your province]; but it is a subject that occasions me more distress than I have felt since the commencement of the war; and which loudly demands the most [zealous exertions] of every person of weight and authority, who is interested in the success of our affairs; I mean the present dreadful situation of the army, for want of provision, and the miserable prospects before us, with [respect to futurity]. It is more alarming than you will probably conceive; for, to form a just idea of it, it were necessary to be on the spot. For some days past, there has been little less than a famine in camp. A part of the army has been a week without any kind of flesh, and the rest three or four days. Naked and starving as they are, we cannot enough admire the [incomparable patience] and fidelity of the soldiery, that they have not been, ere this, [excited by their suffering to a general mutiny and dispersion]. Strong [symptoms, however, of discontent] have appeared in particular instances; and nothing but the most active efforts, everywhere, can long [avert so shocking a catastrophe].
Our present sufferings are not all. There is no foundation laid for any [adequate relief hereafter]. All [the magazines provided] in the States of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland, and all the immediate additional supplies they seem capable of affording, will not be sufficient to support the army more than a month longer, if so long. Very little has been done at the eastward, and as little to the southward; and whatever we have a right to expect from those quarters must necessarily be very remote, and is, indeed, more precarious than could be wished. When the before-mentioned supplies are exhausted, what a terrible [crisis must ensue], unless all the energy of the Continent shall be exerted to provide a timely remedy!
I am etc.
NOTES AND QUESTIONS
Historical Note. This letter was addressed to George Clinton, governor of New York from 1777-1795. Washington appealed to Clinton because of the abilities and resources of New York and also because the governor’s zeal as a patriot was well known. At the same time Washington addressed a similar letter to the inhabitants of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, urging the farmers to provide cattle for the use of the army. He assures them of a bountiful price as well as the knowledge that they have rendered most essential service to the illustrious cause of their country.
Discussion. 1. Read in your history text what is said about the winter of 1777-1778 at Valley Forge. 2. How do the methods of conserving food for the army in Washington’s time compare with those of our own time? 3. How does Washington hope to avert a terrible crisis? 4. Pronounce the following: incomparable; catastrophe; adequate; precarious.