WI- British attack at Valley Forge?

So I was sitting in on a high school US history class for my college class, and they were going over the Revolutionary War and the Battle of Trenton. It was after that I thought about what if the British attacked Valley Forge in a similar style attack? How implausible would that have been, and what would happen be the aftermath of the attack?

My thoughts were that it was pretty implausible since it doesn't really seem like something they would do, but it did happen then it probably would have put a serious hurt on the Colonies moral.

Thoughts?
 
I think that Valley Forge was far enough away to prevent a British surprise attack, ala Trenton. So I feel any sort of British sortie would be detected before they reached VF. It was also winter, and Valley Forge is woods and hills. I thinj that would also impede British mobility. Besides, I think the British were more content to stay in their winter quarters and let the Americans freeze.
 
I think that Valley Forge was far enough away to prevent a British surprise attack, ala Trenton. So I feel any sort of British sortie would be detected before they reached VF. It was also winter, and Valley Forge is woods and hills. I thinj that would also impede British mobility. Besides, I think the British were more content to stay in their winter quarters and let the Americans freeze.

Yeah that's kinda what I thought, and considering the previous events leading up to it the Brits really didn't need to force another victory like Washington did
 
I think that Valley Forge was far enough away to prevent a British surprise attack, ala Trenton. So I feel any sort of British sortie would be detected before they reached VF. It was also winter, and Valley Forge is woods and hills. I thinj that would also impede British mobility. Besides, I think the British were more content to stay in their winter quarters and let the Americans freeze.

I agree. Washington attacked Trenton & Princeton because he needed to.
 
Valley Forge was chosen for its remoteness and natural defensive hills. Not a good location for an attack. It certainly would not be taken by surprise.
 
Like have them become ambushed by the Colonials or the other way around?

The way around, the Brits sealing the Continental Army in Valley Forge and making it wither away (i.e. Continental Army as the French, British Army as the Viet Minh).
 

Anaxagoras

Banned
The way around, the Brits sealing the Continental Army in Valley Forge and making it wither away (i.e. Continental Army as the French, British Army as the Viet Minh).

The French at Dien Bien Phu were far away from support and reinforcements. If the British surrounded Valley Force, they would be the ones at the end of their logistical tether.
 
The French at Dien Bien Phu were far away from support and reinforcements. If the British surrounded Valley Force, they would be the ones at the end of their logistical tether.

Yeah I can imagine that if they made it out to valley forge there supplies would be limited. But given that the the continental army was in a pretty bad shape, wouldn't they just need to engage them and end it there, I know rather implausible since the Washington would probably know theyre coming? I know the continental congress and there members are still in the wind but losing the general and most if not all of the army. Wouldn't that has to be enough to get people talking about throwing in the towel right?
 
Since the British knew the state of the American army, why didn't they attack in OTL?

I would guess, that theyd didn't see it as necessary. They may have even figured that many of them would desert rather than freeze. I mean they just beat them in pretty much every battle, why force the issue and press farther inland where you can't be supported by royal navy.
 
Marching on snowy, muddy roads into hostile territory where irregulars are shooting at you from behind every tree and raiding your supply lines the whole way. Sounds like a recipe for defeat in detail.
 
Marching on snowy, muddy roads into hostile territory where irregulars are shooting at you from behind every tree and raiding your supply lines the whole way. Sounds like a recipe for defeat in detail.

Plus nowhere warm for your men to sleep at night, leaving a trail of bodies if the weather's really cold. Winter campaigns tended to weaken armies horribly. Eylau is a great example.
 
A few points.

Washington placed a brigade between VF & Phildelphia & kept it properly supplied. It was to attack any British tax collecting or foraging expeditions. That gave the Brits a choice of mounting a major winter campaign to attempt control of the countryside. Or, pay the farmers a premium to haul grain & livestock to Philly to feed the army. The forward placed brigade also acted as a outpost for the main army at VF. Valley Forge itself was close enough to Philly to support this economic strategy.

The previous victories at Trenton Princeton had accomplished the same thing. They made the Brits unwilling to scatter brigades about where they could feed off the local farm economy through 'taxes'. The garrisons in new Jersey were withdrawn & the Brits had to pay extra for the farmers to haul in the goods.

Washington could have wintered his army further out from Philly & had a better time of it, but his close in strategy transferred cash from the crowns purse to those of the local farmers. Having participated in three expeditions to the Ohio in the Seven Years War, & commanded the garrisons on the colonial Virginia frontier for several years. From those experiences he gained a clear understanding of the cash costs of maintaining a army in the field where it can 'tax' the farmers for its bread, vs purchasing food at market prices for a army isolated from the farms.

This cash cost of occupying Phildelphia was one of the factors in the decision to withdraw the army back to New York the following spring.
 
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