The Valley Forge encampment of 1777 and 1778 was the third winter encampment of the Continental Army under the command of Gen. George Washington.

Two and a half years after the “shot heard round the world” in Lexington and Concord, Mass., and a year after the famous Christmas night crossing of the Delaware River, a battered and tired Continental Army marched into the small farming community centered around the village of Valley Forge.

After a disastrous Philadelphia campaign, after the defeats at Brandywine, Paoli, and Germantown, the Army was short on supplies. The British had captured the capital city of Philadelphia, sending Congress and the Pennsylvania Supreme Executive Council fleeing to York and Lancaster, respectively.

The Army’s supply system had completely broken down, leaving the soldiers poorly clothed and underfed.

Despite these setbacks, the men were in high spirits. While they had lost most of the battles of the previous year, they had made the British pay dearly for their victories. As the AmericanArmy marched into winter quarters, three things needed to happen for them to keep fighting: the Army needed consistent supplies, the soldiers needed consistent and uniform training, and of course the Army needed to survive this winter.

Dec. 19, 1777 was a clear but cold day as the Army arrived at Valley Forge.

Following nearly a week of ice-cold rain, the roads were in poor condition and it took several hours for the Army to march the six miles from Gulph Mills.

Immediately upon arriving, Gen. Washington issued orders that 12-man groups of soldiers would build and spend the winter in log huts 14 feet wide and 16 feet long.

In about a month and a half, the soldiers had built nearly 2,000 of these huts to house the Army through the winter. This Army of around 12,000 soldiers was roughly the equivalent of the fourth largest city in the country at the time, outnumbered only by the residents of Boston, New York and Philadelphia.

The infrastructure that supported this sparse farming community about 20 miles outside of Philadelphia threatened to crumble under the weight of the Army.

After almost three years, the American public had largely grown weary of war, and many people longed for an end to the fighting.

The countryside around Philadelphia was largely settled by Welsh Quaker pacifists who would not swear loyalty to either side in the war and sometimes preferred to sell their crops to the British, who paid with gold and silver coin, rather than nearly valueless paper money.

Combined with a supply department rife with corruption, the situation in the Army had become dire. In a letter to Henry Laurens, president of Congress, Washington wrote that “unless some great and capital change suddenly takes place … this Army must inevitably be reduced to one or other of these three things. Starve —dissolve —or disperse.” The war effort was teetering on a knife edge, and something needed to be done.

When the Army arrived in Valley Forge, many regiments had their own system of training.

Individually the units fought bravely, but when it came to fighting as an organized army, they fell short of the British.

In late February, a Prussian officer with extensive military experience arrived in camp to assist in any way possible. Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben had fought throughout Europe under Frederick the Great of Prussia and had a mind for military organization and professionalism, and a keen eye for detail.

Congress and Washington were immediately impressed with him and appointed him to be Inspector General of the Continental Army, responsible for the training and discipline of the troops.

Although he spoke little English, he was able to use French-speaking translators, such as a young Alexander Hamilton to retrain the entire Continental Army under the same standard training system.

The following winter, he organized the notes he took at Valley Forge into the first official manual of the United States Army. It was titled “Regulations for the Order and Discipline for the Troops of the United States” but because it was bound in a blue cover, it came to be known as the “Blue Book,” a title that is still applied to U.S. Army training manuals.

While the Valley Forge winter is often characterized as extremely cold and snowy, that description is not quite accurate.

The winter of 1777 and 1778 was not unlike most southeastern Pennsylvania winters. Temperatures hovered just above freezing, with frequent cold rain and occasional snowfall.

In the encampment, open latrine trenches overflowed, the fields became a sea of mud, and the roads became unpassable. Getting food and clothing became extremely difficult.

Influenza, typhus, typhoid, and dysentery swept through the Army, killing many and making many more unfit for duty. Although few, if any, soldiers froze or starved to death at Valley Forge, an estimated 2,000 men died of disease over those six months.

Many more likely would have died were it not for what was perhaps the first major inoculation program in North America.The previous year, Gen. Washington ordered every soldier in the Continental Army to go through what today would be considered a primitive and dangerous inoculation against smallpox. That program continued at Valley Forge and throughout the war.

Through the winter, small units of soldiers scoured the countryside to gather supplies, scout British positions, and prevent the British from foraging for food. Dozens of skirmishes erupted between the British and American forces over the six months of the encampment as both armies fought a battle for survival.

Gen. Washington and Congress reorganized the supply department of the army, eventually appointing a reluctant Nathanael Greene as Quartermaster General. Greene’s leadership brought order out of the chaos caused by the political and military fighting of the previous year. By the end of the winter, the soldiers finally had proper clothing and sufficient supplies.

The Continental Army overcame many difficulties and differences throughout the war. Just like today, the Army was a cross-section of American society.

The soldiers were adherents to many religions. Many were immigrants who spoke a variety of languages.

In addition to the white soldiers, there were over 700 Black soldiers fighting for American freedom and countless soldiers of Native American or multi-racial backgrounds. The men came from many economic backgrounds. They were businessmen, tailors, shoemakers, carpenters, farmers, and any number of other professions.

In addition to the many soldiers, there were roughly 500 women and children following the Army that contained their husbands and fathers.

One woman in particular, Hannah Till, was an enslaved cook in Gen. Washington’s headquarters household and gave birth to a son at Valley Forge. Many other women acted as laundresses and nurses for the Army.

While historians know how many soldiers died of disease, the Army kept no records of the women who succumbed to illness that winter.

Through all of the hardships of the winter, the Continental Army found time for joy. On May Day, soldiers danced around maypoles and played music. Just a few days later, upon receiving news of the French alliance, the Army performed a Grand Review in the middle of camp with everyone marching out in formation, firing off cannon, a running fire of musketry. Three cheers each were given for the King of France, the friendly European powers (which also eventually included Spain and the Netherlands), and for the United States of America.

The soldiers persevered through six months of misery and suffering and on June 19, 1778, they left Valley Forge as the most effective fighting force at that point in the war. Nine days later, they fought the British at Monmouth Court House in New Jersey and drove the enemy from the field.

To this day many historians consider Valley Forge the birthplace of the professional United States Army.

Today, Valley Forge National Historical Park preserves the nearly 3,500 acres of land on which these people fought for their own survival as well as the survival of the country. All around the world there are statues and monuments dedicated to those who died in battle, although the ones who died between the battles are frequently forgotten. At Valley Forge, they are remembered.

Steven Walter, a former Butler resident, is a park guide with the Valley Forge National Historical Park.