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We all know the story of Valley Forge, how a band of misfits survived a harsh winter and, under the training of Baron von Steuben, emerged as an army able to hold their own against the British. However, this was not necessarily the winter that decided the revolution, as the story would make you believe. Despite what the tale has become, the winter of 1777-78 was close to a normal winter at that time. A much worse winter was to come. After two more years of campaigning, including a relatively mild winter spent at Middlebrook, NJ, the army was ready to make camp in Jockey Hollow, a hilly area just to the southwest of Morristown, NJ. It was a perfect defensive position and the elevation allowed the army to keep a close eye on the British. Unfortunately the weather that winter would not cooperate with the American Cause.
Winter set in early in 1779, a snowy November combined with a storm at the start of December left a foot of fresh snow on the ground as the first troops made it into the Morristown area. It would only get more difficult from there, snow and cold continued through the rest of the month as the process of cutting down trees and building winter quarters commenced.
Though it was not known at the time, the harshest winter of the century was only just beginning.
The oldest people now living in the Country do not remember so hard a winter as the one we are now emerging from. –George Washington in a letter to the Marquis de Lafayette March 18, 1780
The Commander in Chief’s words in March may sound like an exaggeration, but his sentiments were echoed by one of his long-time generals.
Those who have only been in Valley Forge and Middlebrook during the last two winters, but have not tasted the cruelties of this one, know not what it is to suffer. -Maj. Gen. Johann de Kalb
These strong words were warranted, as the New Year began with a fury. After a cold clear day on the 1st, an immense blizzard began that lasted from the 2nd-4th dropping temperatures into the low 20s (though it felt colder with the high winds) and dumping 4 feet of snow (with drifts over 6 feet) on the encampment. This storm and over a dozen more over the coming months immobilized the army and stopped all supplies and information from moving along the roads. If it weren’t for the help from the surrounding communities in New Jersey the army would have likely starved or dispersed, effectively ending any resistance to the British in the northern theatre of the war. As a true measure of the extreme conditions, this season was the only time in recorded history, all of the harbors, bays, and rivers (both saltwater and freshwater) completely froze over everywhere north of North Carolina. For New York Harbor, this amount of ice coverage has only occurred twice in known history, the other time was during the equally harsh winter of 1820-1821.
Despite the worst winter conditions imaginable and even an attempted mutiny, the American patriots eventually endured, displaying their extraordinary dedication to their cause.
