You're listening to an Airwave Media Podcast. Hello and thank you for joining the American Revolution.

This week episode 178 massacre at Hancock's Bridge.

For the last couple of weeks I stepped away from General Washington's

Continental's at Valley Forge and General House regulars in Philadelphia to talk about naval operations and the establishment of Vermont.

This week I want to focus on some of the fighting that still took place around Philadelphia as the two armies sought ways to go after each

other over the course of the winter. Of course food was key to both armies.

The British and Philadelphia needed to supply their thousands of soldiers with all the necessities.

They could not send out smaller foraging parties out of the city without being attacked.

Howell had sent out a large army to go out into the Darby area of Pennsylvania shortly after capturing

Philadelphia.

That had provided most of the winter supplies for the Army,

but by early 1778, supplies were running tight.

The Army had to reduce food rations to its soldiers, resulting in the men going hungry.

The Continental's similarly were in desperate need of food, clothing, and just about everything else.

They had better access to farmlands around them.

However, the locals were in no mood to give away their crops

and did not want to accept the increasingly worthless paper money being offered.

A Congress had suggested that Washington simply confiscate what he needed,

but Washington was concerned that doing so would turn the locals against the Army and

encourage them to support the British. Washington eventually tasked General Nathaniel Green to scavenge the area to the south of Valley Forge, seizing whatever he could.

But by that time, there was little that the Army could find.

As a result, the Continental's also suffered from cold and hunger at Valley Forge.

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