With a pre-eminence in personal supervision of details which was not surpassed by that of Frederick, Marlborough, or Napoleon, he planned the minutest organization of that winter cantonment. With his personal Headquarters at the "Isaac Potts " Mansion, he dictated the location, shape, and specific accommodations of each log cabin, whether for officers or men. He established a bridge across the Schuylkill, and so well disposed all subordinate commands, that every approach from Philadelphia was watched; while his own scouting parties had free scope for operations, even to the picket lines about the Capital.

In an official apology for not attacking Washington during that winter, Lieut.-General Howe says, that "he did not attack the entrenched situation at Valley Forge, a strong point, during the severe season, although everything was prepared with that intention; judging it imprudent until the season should afford a prospect of reaping the advantages that ought to have resulted from success in that measure; but having good information in the spring that the enemy had strengthened his camp by additional works, and being certain of moving him from thence when the campaign should open, he dropped thoughts of attack."

Washington, however, kept his campaign open, and never dropped thoughts of attack. From Brooklyn Heights to Howe's recall to England, these soldiers widely differed; for the one rarely lost an opportunity, while the other never improved one.

In so brief a notice of Valley Forge it is not required to state the gallant conduct of Lafayette at Barren Hill, the failure of the British army to involve Washington in a critical issue at Chestnut Hill, nor to detail that series of wise movements which prepared Europe to accept the surrender of Burgoyne as the assurance of ultimate American success.

Valley Forge was the supplement of field-work well done, Valley Forge was the ordeal from which the Republic emerged, when Clinton evacuated. Philadelphia, and through which the Battle of Monmouth was made emphatic, in the deliverance of the North from farther campaigns of serious import. But Valley Forge with its well-ordered huts, its redoubts, and entrenchments, had experiences of far greater moment than those of merely military outline and protection. A winter's severity, hardly surpassed by that of 1780, at Morristown, exacted all possible human endurance.

Intense cold, drifting snow, and a bleak exposure, were the conditions, under which the only organized army of the Republic was maturing for a prolonged conflict with Great Britain. More than three thousand men had no shoes, and bloody imprints marked their daily round of duty. A single blanket covered two or three at night, and fragments of blankets cut for

Rations were often less than

the arms, supplied the place of overcoats. half allowance, and the country had to be scoured for flour, even as if among a hostile people. Sickness came on, and neither surgeons nor medicines were equal to the emergency. In the agony of a desperate yearning over his suffering troops, as if they came from his own loins, Washington appealed to Congress in terms of awful dignity and reproach.

It seemed as if heaven was as brass above, and earth could give no solace. In the midst of this appalling scene of desolation, want, and woe, Washington did not weaken nor lose faith. The "Conway cabal" attacked his fame and conduct. It attempted to place Gates in his place as Commander-in-Chief, but spent its force, and its pliant tool took refuge in

France.

Washington was so persistent, while confident and magnanimous, that in January, 1778, a Committee of Congress visited Valley Forge, saw for themselves, honored his motives and his actions, and pledged him full support. On February 27, 1778, Baron Frederick William Augustus Steuben, born in 1730 (and who lived until 1794), arrived, under appointment as MajorGeneral and Inspector-General, and entered upon his work with a creative, executive, and personal ability and force, which converted the half-starving, worn, and weary men, into self-reliant, fearless, and earnest soldiers. His instructions, then issued, were formulated into regulations, which for many years had the official sanction of Congress, and were in force long after the Republic became truly independent. On April 4, 1778, Congress authorized Washington to call upon Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia for 5,000 militia.

On the 9th of April, Howe was recalled to England. On the 10th of April, Lafayette rejoined the army after a short visit to France, and became at once a significant factor in the struggle. His appeals at the Court of that power had not been in vain. On the 9th of May formal tidings of a French alliance was borne to America by the frigate "La Sensible." A herald landed at Portland, Maine, and hurried, by relays of horses, to unfold the burden of his mission. It was as if the heavens had opened and revealed the assurance of Divine sympathy and support.

Few days in human experience have been laden with such solemn lessons and such profound gladness as that day expressed. The General-inChief of that army-and such an army !—had shared their sorrows and their cares, had implored and almost imprecated the American Congress for their relief. He had inspected their rude hovels, had divided with them the headquarters' supplies, had besought Almighty God to inspire relief; had brought his wife to camp to share the fearful discomforts and animate the