Lost Chapters
Winter Encampment: Quartz Location
At Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, George Washington's Continental Army camped from December 19, 1777, to June 19, 1778. Soldiers built log huts and suffered hunger, cold and disease, and about 2,000 died. Training by Baron von Steuben left the army more disciplined.
- Cost
- 4 crystals
- Type
- Location · Outdoor
- Color
- Quartz (Founders & Revolution)
- Rarity
- Common
- Set
- Liberty & Lightning (Set 1)
End of your turn: a character of yours gets +1/+1.
Seasonal military hardship that transformed frozen soldiers into national mythology and painful footnotes.
The real history
Valley Forge was the winter camp of George Washington's Continental Army in 1777 and 1778. The army marched in on December 19, 1777, after a hard campaign near Philadelphia, which the British held. About 12,000 soldiers camped there, along with some 400 women and children. They built roughly 1,500 log huts and about two miles of defensive works, and the camp became one of the largest communities in the colonies.
Supplies were a constant problem. In January 1778 the average ration was about half a pound of beef a day for each man, and in February the men went without meat for several days. As many as 3,000 soldiers were unfit for duty at one point because they lacked clothing and shoes. Nearly 2,000 died, mostly from diseases such as typhus, typhoid, influenza and dysentery rather than from fighting, and about two-thirds of those deaths came in March, April and May.
The camp also changed the army. In February 1778 Baron Friedrich von Steuben, a Prussian officer, arrived. Washington made him an unofficial inspector general, and he taught a single system of drill to the whole army.
In May 1778 news arrived that France had formally recognized the United States and agreed to an alliance. The army left Valley Forge on June 19, 1778, and showed its new discipline at the Battle of Monmouth later that month.
Sources
- What Happened at Valley Forge, National Park Service, Valley Forge National Historical Park
- Winter at Valley Forge, American Battlefield Trust
How the card plays
Winter Encampment costs 4 crystals and is a Quartz Location. Its text reads: at the end of your turn, a character of yours gets +1/+1. Like the soldiers at Valley Forge, your army grows stronger the longer it holds out.
Play it early and keep one sturdy character alive to soak up the boost, since it grows a little every turn. Guard characters make the best targets because they stay home and protect your Life while growing. Rosa Parks, Rosa Parks, has Protest, Guard and Resolve, and Chips, Purple Hearted, Chips, has Guard and Recovers 1 when destroyed. Make Camp, Make Camp, refreshes a character and gives it +0/+2 for the turn, which keeps your growing blocker safe through a bad attack.
- Playable in decks led by George Washington.
- A Signature card of George Washington: it costs 1 less while Washington leads your deck.
- In the Washington starter deck (2 copies). Deck code:
LC2-BhoCgAKBAYIBgwGEAYUBhgKHAYgBiQGKAYsBjAKNAY4BjwGQAZEBkgGTAZQBlQGWAZcBmAGZAZoCmwGcAZ0BngGfAaABoQFBjA - A deck holds up to 3 copies of this card.
Questions about Winter Encampment
Who trained the army at Valley Forge?
Baron Friedrich von Steuben, a Prussian officer who arrived in February 1778. Washington made him an unofficial inspector general, and he taught the army a uniform system of drill.
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