Читать книгу First Ladies For Dummies - Marcus A. Stadelmann, Marcus A. Stadelmann PhD - Страница 47

Martha Washington became a national hero when she decided to travel with her husband during the Revolutionary War to join him for his winter camps. Thousands of people would flock to her just to be able to see her. Newspapers wrote stories about her travels and how important it was for George Washington and the troops to have her with them. For this reason, Martha became an important part of the Revolutionary War. Spending five of eight years on the front, she sacrificed as much as everybody else in the fight for independence and became an American heroine.

In 1777–1778, Martha spent the brutal winter with her husband and his soldiers at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, about 20 miles northwest of Philadelphia. Her husband and about 12,000 soldiers had set up winter camp there to protect Congress, which was in session in New York City at the time. The troops suffered horrible conditions. To help morale and the horrible physical conditions soldiers were in, Martha would not only host dinners for the officers but also help the regular foot soldiers, taking care of the wounded.

In addition, Martha was a master seamstress and put her skills to good use sewing socks and mending clothing for the freezing soldiers. Although she wasn’t knitting fancy tapestry and doing embroidery as most proper ladies did in the 18th century, she was doing important work and literally knitted thousands of socks. Soon, she became a house mother and foster mother to young officers and regular troops.

Martha even encouraged other officers to bring their wives and daughters to come and visit and help out. She managed to entertain at Valley Forge, despite the freezing cold and lack of food, and impressed French and German officers fighting for George Washington in the American army. When the Marquis de Lafayette met her, his impression was that Martha had amazing charm and truly must love her husband, because she sacrificed so much spending harsh winters with him and his soldiers.

Martha’s son, Jack, who had enlisted in the Revolutionary Army, died in 1781 in Yorktown of typhus. She outlived all four of her children.

Finally, in 1783, the Revolutionary War ended, and Martha was able to return to her beloved Mount Vernon.