Page "belles_lettres" Paragraph 1174

In late December, the American army moved from Whitemarsh to Valley Forge, and although the distance was only 13 miles, the journey took more than a week because of the bad weather, the barefooted and almost naked men.

The position of the new camp was admirably selected and well fortified, its easily defensible nature being one good reason why Howe did not attack it.

Besides helping to prevent the movement of the British to the west, Valley Forge also obstructed the trade between Howe's forces and the farmers, thus threatening the vital subsistence of the redcoats and rendering their foraging to obtain necessary supplies extremely hazardous.

In order to see that this hindering situation remained effective, Washington detached several bodies of his troops to the periphery of the Philadelphia area.