when did the winter at valley forge end
Valley Forge The army’s situation improved when a five-man congressional delegation arrived on January 24. The delegates consisted of “Francis Dana of Massachusetts, Nathaniel Folsom of New Hampshire, John Harvie of Virginia, Gouverneur Morris of New York, and Joseph Reed of Pennsylvania.”[30] According to historian Wayne Bodle, they came to understand through their visit “how vulnerable the new army could be to logistical disruption, owing to its size, its organizational complexity, and its increasing mobility.”[31] Washington and his aides convinced them to implement recommended reforms to the supply department. In March 1778, Congress also appointed Nathanael Greene as Quartermaster General, who reluctantly accepted at Washington’s behest. One of the Continental Army’s most able generals, Greene did not want an administrative position. Yet he and his staff better supplied the troops at a time when the weather began to improve, and with it, road conditions. The Schuylkill River also thawed, allowing the Continental Army to more easily to transport convoys from the main supply depot at Reading.[32]