America, isn't particularly known for learning or remembering its history, however, Valley Forge, and the remembrance of the bare-footed soldiers with bleeding feet, clothed in rags, disease ridden, suffering through the privations of shoddy shelter, lack of food and critical supplies, in the winter of 1777, is a story that most everyone is familiar with, or at least have seen the pictures of it depicted in various paintings. Valley Forge certainly was a time that tried the very souls of the American Revolution, and as the general of that camp, stood Washington, who as the Commander in Chief was the man that the troops stood steadfastly by, despite the appalling conditions of that dreadful winter.
Not too surprisingly, those with only the most rudimentary grasp of history, chalked up the sufferings of our troops as just being one of those things that happened in times of war, or of bad weather, or of bad location, and of a rebellion that apparently was underfinanced in a country that was far poorer in material wealth and far less united than we are accustomed to today. While there is a generic truth to this viewpoint, that isn't the whole truth, as in any war effort, the commissars, the supply chain, the logistics of procurement and distribution, the treasure chest, are all quite vital to the overall effectiveness of men at war.
This signifies then, that there were people authorized by Congressional authority, but typically far removed from Valley Forge, who were in charge of supplying Valley Forge with appropriate food, blankets, horses, and ammunition. Unfortunately, times of war, can bring to those that have or are responsible for these above-mentioned items, a chance to profiteer from owning or controlling items that are in high demand, so that there was many a man that increased the pricing of his wares significantly so as to capture more profits for himself, and/or to sell his goods to the British side because they paid in gold specie, whereas the revolutionaries paid in Continental script. To makes maters much worse, though, the commissary whose responsibility it was to fulfill the desperate and compelling needs of the Valley Forge soldiers, contained a combination of incompetency, corruption, duplicity, bureaucratic conflicts, inefficiency, selfishness, and powerless.
Washington and his soldiers were at the mercy of their own fellow revolutionary compatriots that failed in their ability to perform their supply duties in a competent and timely manner, which meant that far from their not being enough supplies to furnish Washington's soldiers with adequate food and shelter; instead the logistics in order to accomplish these tasks was abysmal or lacking, with the end result, being that soldiers fighting for the freedom of the revolutionaries sufferedwith their own lives and deprivations from this lack of supply.
In times of war, things change, so that those that have cattle or other vital food stuffs, cannot sit on a fence and subsequently be held unaccountable, as those that do not either actively participate or provide labor or materials for a revolutionary effort are not deserving of the fruits of such a success, and as for those, that see war and conflict, as the opportunity to play one side against another, or to profiteer from the desperations of others, should suffer the long term consequences of their short term rapacity.
The soldiers at Valley Forge, that suffered, and they did suffer, suffered primarily because those that could or should have provided that helping hand chose not to, and those that gained upon the sufferings of others, are neither patriots nor deserving of liberty to which nothing good ever comes without much cost and much commitment.