Interior
Here's a close approximation of what the interior of the camp huts looked like at Valley Forge. Bedding would have been set up on the wooden framework to the right and left, providing space for about 12 bunks. There wouldn't have been much in the way of blankets, though, as most of the soldiers didn't have any. They would have spent the cold winter days hoping to get whatever warmth they could from huddling together. When they could, they'd eat cakes made from a paste of flour and water. On rare occasions, they might have the luxury of a soup made of broth and tripe. They tried to stay dry, but it was a damp winter, and disease festered in the mold. Typhoid, small pox, pneumonia, dysentery, all were common in these cabins.
But as bad as things were in Valley Forge, this is also where things started turning around. Washington had been begging the Continental Congress for funding for months, but a Congressman typically finds raising an army a lot more fun than raising a tax to pay for an army. The whole fight had started from people not wanting to pay taxes to fund an army in the first place. But in late January, five members of the Continental Congress made a visit to Valley Forge, and Washington showed them first-hand the condition of the army the Congress was hoping would reclaim Philadelphia. After that, the distribution of supplies was rejiggered, and somebody found some money so that by the middle of February, supplies were flowing into the camp.
Interior
Here's a close approximation of what the interior of the camp huts looked like at Valley Forge. Bedding would have been set up on the wooden framework to the right and left, providing space for about 12 bunks. There wouldn't have been much in the way of blankets, though, as most of the soldiers didn't have any. They would have spent the cold winter days hoping to get whatever warmth they could from huddling together. When they could, they'd eat cakes made from a paste of flour and water. On rare occasions, they might have the luxury of a soup made of broth and tripe. They tried to stay dry, but it was a damp winter, and disease festered in the mold. Typhoid, small pox, pneumonia, dysentery, all were common in these cabins.
But as bad as things were in Valley Forge, this is also where things started turning around. Washington had been begging the Continental Congress for funding for months, but a Congressman typically finds raising an army a lot more fun than raising a tax to pay for an army. The whole fight had started from people not wanting to pay taxes to fund an army in the first place. But in late January, five members of the Continental Congress made a visit to Valley Forge, and Washington showed them first-hand the condition of the army the Congress was hoping would reclaim Philadelphia. After that, the distribution of supplies was rejiggered, and somebody found some money so that by the middle of February, supplies were flowing into the camp.