Wayne Bodle, The Valley Forge Winter: Civilians and Soldiers in War. University Park PA: Penn State University Press, 2002. Map. Notes. Index. Pp. xlll, 325. $35 .00.
Despite its title, this book covers more than the few months of the "Valley Forge Winter." Background material treats the period from the winter of 1777 when expiring enlistments brought the discharge of the bulk of Washington's army at Morristown, New Jersey, the piecemeal assembly of a predominantly new force as recruits trickled in through the spring, and the constant but inconclusive maneuvering of these troops through most of the summer. The detailed narrative addresses the nine months between the late-summer arrival of the British and American forces in Pennsylvania through the departure of both forces in mid-June 1778 and their clash at the Battle of Monmouth. The author's analysis of what he considers the significance of the experience provides the conclusion.
In examining the "Civilians in War," primary emphasis is given to their response to the political and economic consequences of military operations. These were particularly influenced by the unique diversity of the population and the resultant differences in attitudes toward the war and the independence that was its goal. The new state government, brought to power by the war's supporters, nonetheless lacked a solid base of popular support and was further weakened. Its inability to restrain Pennsylvanians who sought the windfall profits promised by British readiness to pay inflated prices for food- and in gold - or even to maintain basic law and order, gave rise in some areas to what Professor Bodle calls virtual civil war. He also shows that it was the political need of Pennsylvania's government for support rather than any compelling military considerations that led Washington reluctantly to agree to keep his troops concentrated within striking distance of Philadelphia and hence to establish their encampment at Valley Forge.
Summing up the book's coverage of "Civilians in War," the material offered is generally familiar. Restricting examination to eastern Pennsylvania suggests either that the Valley Forge winter had no material impact on the civilians of other regions of the state, or that regional differences in popular attitudes did not exist. As neither possibility seems likely, the account must be viewed as less than comprehensive. Within these limits, however, the book's depth of detail and impressive documentation malce it a valuable contribution to the literature devoted to an important phase of the American Revolution.
Regrettably, the author's extensive research and his thorough grasp of economic, political, and social factors that produced understanding insight with regard to the subtitle's "Civilians in War" is not matched in his treatment of the "Soldiers in War." The account of the Valley Forge encampment itself, in which most of the specific attention to the soldiers' experience is concentrated, has substantial merit when it addresses such essentially political matters as Washington's dealings with Congress, the work of the investigation by the "Committee in Congress," and the defeat of the attempt by the Board of War to usurp Washington's command authority
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