general george washington edward g lengel

Washington also had to look to his own authority, as a dispute with Major Generals Thomas Conway and Horatio Gates seemingly threatened to undermine his command of the Continental army. The arrival in camp of a Prussian volunteer who styled himself the Baron von Steuben, meanwhile, promised to bring about improvements in drill and discipline. Washington hoped that a congressional camp committee would rectify some of these problems, and after consulting his officers on army organization, he submitted to the committee one of the longest, most detailed, and most thoughtful letters he ever wrote.

At the same time the battle losses of the previous summer and autumn had exposed severe problems in military organization, drill, and discipline. Attrition and ineffective recruitment had left most of the Continental regiments dangerously weak, and the rising pace of officer resignations made apparent the need for an equitable pay and pensionary establishment. The American army was badly in need of reform. Most of the fighting that characterized the bloody year of 1777 had drawn to a close by Christmas, and although British foraging and raiding parties ventured out of Philadelphia from time to time, Washington's priority was no longer to fight General William Howe but to preserve his own army and prepare it for the next campaign. The volume begins with Washington's soldiers hard at work erecting log huts to the general's specifications and building a bridge over the Schuylkill River under the direction of Major General John Sullivan. Volume 13 of the 'Revolutionary War Series' documents a crucial portion of the winter encampment at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, when the fate of Washington's army hung in the balance.

General george washington edward g lengel