Did you know that George Washington enlisted the St. Patty's Day holiday to boost the morale of his troops?
That's right. During the bleak winter of 1779-1780, the Continental Army was hungry, cold and discouraged. General George Washington knew his troops badly needed a morale boost, so he enlisted a holiday rarely observed in America, St. Patrick’s Day, to the patriot cause. (continued below)So downing a pint or two on St. Patty's Day is just the Patriotic thing to do!
The Continental Army that encamped in Morristown, New Jersey, shivered through the brutal winter of 1779-1780. It was hard for them to believe that conditions could be any harsher than they had been at Valley Forge two years prior, but these were truly the cruelest days of the American Revolution. Twenty-eight separate snowstorms struck the encampment, burying it under as much as 6 feet of snow, between November 1779 and April 1, 1780. Through the coldest winter in recorded history, patriot foot soldiers slept on straw and huddled together for warmth in rudimentary log huts. The weather made it difficult to obtain supplies, and men went days without food. Some even resorted to eating the bark off twigs for nourishment.
Needless to say, frivolity was at a severe premium. George Washington knew he needed to buoy the spirits of his forces, so he did what a good boss would do: he gave them a day off. The general granted his troops just a single holiday that winter in Morristown, and it wasn’t Christmas. It was a holiday rarely observed in America—St. Patrick’s Day.
Source: History Channel
