Revolutionary War Diary Entry

Words: 489
Pages: 2

Diary entry: December 1777 The winter has fully set in now, as everyday passes it is getting increasingly worse and worse. Rations are diminishing to less by the minute and the supply of whiskey has depleted. We have been ordered to remain ready all day and through the night because our general refuses to be vulnerable to the enemy in the night. (Waldo, Albigence Waldo's diary, pg.1) Washington has ordered the troops to be inoculated with the smallpox and as we fight the British we fight the disease and the itch. The disease ravaged me so badly that at its peak I could barely lift my hands. When we looked to our commanders for assistance, all we got in return was to be patient and to wait it out in winter quarters. (Marten, Joseph Plumb Martin, …show more content…
With all the marching that has been done, my shoes have disintegrated. This is the situation for lots of the men leaving us barefoot. Some of the men have tried to make their own shoes if they can scrounge together some scrap leather. (Marten, Joseph Plumb Martin, pg.58) Morale is the worst I have seen, I’m certain it is because of the empty bellies and the lack of warmth in these harsh months. Many others and I have been ill for weeks now which has decreased morale even more. Once one has experienced such poor quality of life, it is easy to appreciate the good things. We finally got some food! A pig was roasted and rationed out to the men and it has helped with my health and my recovery from my sickness. I am sure that if the men were fed like this and had sturdy shoes and clothes on their back, we would storm the enemy with a ferocity we have not been able to manage in months. Waldo, Albigence Waldo's diary, pg.1. It has been the coldest winter of the war and I'm positive there are colder days to come. It is miraculous that the men still have such resolve, many of us soldiers have not made it through the brutal conditions of this winter and have passed through camp or succumbed to the