"Those who have only been in Valley Forge and Middlebrook during the last two winters, but have not tasted the cruelties of this one, know not what it is to suffer." Major General Johann de Kalb, an officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolution, was describing the winter of 1779-80 at Jockey Hollow, a wilderness near Morristown, New Jersey.

The beaten up and worn down Continental soldiers had marched through two feet of snow and record-breaking cold to get to Jockey Hollow. This winter will become the harshest of the century. The men also face chronic supply...