<P> On January 7, Christopher Marshall related how "ten teams of oxen, fit for slaughtering, came into camp, driven by loyal Philadelphia women . They also brought 2,000 shirts, smuggled from the city, sewn under the eyes of the enemy ." While these women provided crucial assistance, most people remained relatively unaware of the Continental Army's plight --" an unavoidable result of a general policy" to prevent such intelligence from reaching the British . </P> <P> The Continental Army did not experience a particularly harsh winter at Valley Forge, but many soldiers remained unfit for duty, owing to the lack of proper clothing and uniforms ("naked" referred to a ragged or improperly attired individual). Years later, General Marquis de Lafayette recalled that "the unfortunate soldiers were in want of everything; they had neither coats, hats, shirts, nor shoes; their feet and legs froze till they had become almost black, and it was often necessary to amputate them ." </P> <P> The army's situation improved when a five - man congressional delegation arrived on January 24 . The delegates consisted of "Francis Dana of Massachusetts, Nathaniel Folsom of New Hampshire, John Harvie of Virginia, Gouverneur Morris of New York, and Joseph Reed of Pennsylvania ." According to historian Wayne Bodle, they came to understand through their visit "how vulnerable the new army could be to logistical disruption, owing to its size, its organizational complexity, and its increasing mobility ." Washington and his aides convinced them to implement recommended reforms to the supply department . In March 1778, Congress also appointed Nathanael Greene as Quartermaster General, who reluctantly accepted at Washington's behest . One of the Continental Army's most able generals, Greene did not want an administrative position . Yet he and his staff better supplied the troops at a time when the weather began to improve, and with it, road conditions . The Schuylkill River also thawed, allowing the Continental Army to more easily to transport convoys from the main supply depot at Reading . </P> <P> With the fourth largest population in (former) British North America, maintaining cleanliness remained a challenge for the Continental Army . Scabies broke out due to the filthy conditions within the encampment, as did other, deadlier ailments . The army had a limited water supply for cooking, washing, and bathing . Dead horse remains often lay unburied, and Washington found the smell of some places intolerable . Neither plumbing nor a standardized system of trash collection existed . To combat the spread of contagion, Washington commanded soldiers to burn tar or "the Powder of a Musquet Cartridge" in the huts everyday, to cleanse the air of putrefaction . On May 27, Washington had ordered his soldiers remove the mud - and - straw chinking from huts "to render them as airy as possible ." Due to an imperfect understanding of disease transmission, however, these actions would not have produced the desired results . No one had yet discovered germ theory . </P>

When did the winter at valley forge end