Washington's Engineer by Norman Desmarais (speed reading book TXT) 📕

Head Quarters at the Gulph,

Dec. 17. 1777—

The Commander-in-Chief with the highest satisfaction expresses his thanks to the officers and soldiers for the fortitude and patience with which they have sustained the fatigues of the campaign—Although in some instances we unfortunately failed, yet upon the whole Heaven hath smiled on our Arms and crowned them with signal success; and we may upon the best grounds conclude, that by a spirited continuance of the measures necessary for our defence we shall finally obtain the end of our warfare—Independence—Liberty and Peace—These are blessings worth contending for at every hazard—but we hazard nothing. The power of America alone, duly exerted, would have nothing to dread from the power of Britain—Yet we stand not wholly upon our ground—France yields us every aid we ask, and there are reasons to believe the period is not very distant, when she will take a more active part, by declaring war upon the British Crown. Every motive therefore, irresistibly urges us—nay commands us to a firm and manly perseverance in our opposition to our cruel oppressors—to slight difficulties, endure hardships, and contemn every danger—The General ardently wishes it were now in his power to conduct the troops to the best winter quarters—But where are these to be found? Should we retire to the interior parts of the State we should find them crowded with virtuous citizens, who, sacrificing their all, have left Philadelphia, and fled thither for protection. To their distresses humanity forbids us to add—This is not all; we should leave a vast extent of fertile country to be despoiled and ravaged by the enemy, from which they would draw vast supplies, and where many of our firm friends would be exposed to all the miseries of the most insulting and wanton depredations—A train of evils might be enumerated, but these will suffice—These considerations make it indispensably necessary for the army to take such position, as will enable it most effectually to prevent distress and to give the most extensive security, and in that position we must make ourselves the best shelter in our power—with activity and diligence Huts may be erected that will be warm and dry—In these the troops will be compact, more secure against surprises than if in a divided state, and at hand to protect the country. These cogent reasons have determined the General to take post in the neighborhood of this camp; and influenced by them he persuades himself, that the officers and soldiers, with one heart, and one mind, will resolve to surmount every difficulty, with a fortitude and patience, becoming their profession, and the sacred cause in which they are engaged. He himself will share in the hardship, and partake of every inconvenience.—

Tomorrow being the day set apart by the Honorable Congress for public Thanksgiving and Praise; and duty calling us to devoutly express our grateful acknowledgements to God for the manifold blessings he has granted us—the General directs that the army remain in its present quarters, and that the Chaplains perform divine service with their several corps and brigades—and earnestly exhorts all officers and soldiers, whose absence is not indispensably necessary, to attend with reverence the solemnities of the day.11

VALLEY FORGE

Valley Forge was selected, and the army set up headquarters there on December 20, 1777. Before leaving the Gulph, orders were issued regarding the building of huts, which the soldiers were immediately to construct for themselves. Thomas Paine, who was at Lancaster and York during the winter of 1777–1778, wrote a letter to Benjamin Franklin regarding the encampment at Valley Forge: “I was there when the army first began to build huts; they appeared to me like a family of beavers; every one busy; some carrying logs, others mud and the rest fastening them together. The whole was raised in a few days.”12

Immediately after erecting shelters for the men, the work of providing defenses began. Duportail was assigned the task of bolstering those defenses to prepare against an enemy attack because the army was encamped in a place easily accessible from the enemy’s headquarters in Philadelphia. Washington expected an attack the following spring, but it never happened. This was among the most significant of all of Duportail’s services and established his reputation.

General Washington’s order book for January 15, 1778, specified,

The works marked out by the Engineers for the defense of the camp are to be erected with all possible dispatch and the Commander-in-Chief requests the favor of General Greene, Lord Stirling and the Marquis de la Fayette (General Sullivan being upon other duty) to consult with Genl. Portail on the proper means and number of men necessary to execute the works in the different Wings & second line and gives orders accordingly—and that each of them appoint proper officers to superintend and push forward the defences.13

The soldiers built two thousand huts similar to these to house 20,000 men and officers. Each hut sheltered nine to twelve men. Construction was completed in a month, and the encampment became the fourth-largest city in America after Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. Photo courtesy of the author.

Later, when General William Howe returned to England, he came under severe criticism for not having driven Washington from his entrenchments before his departure from Philadelphia. His excuse was that the place was naturally strong and had been so strengthened by “artificial works” that he did not judge it prudent to attempt an attack “during the severe season”; later, it would have been impossible. He said, “[H]aving good information in the spring that the enemy had strengthened his camp by additional works and being certain of moving him from thence when the campaign opened, I dropped all thought of attack.”14 This gives “indirect but decisive testimony to the wisdom of the selection of this site” and to the “deterrent effects” of the entrenchments so laboriously constructed and constantly strengthened by additional works of a defensive character carried on during the winter.15

The Duportail House (297 Adams Drive,