What the Army Endured

I am sick, discontented, and out of humor. Poor food, hard lodging, cold weather, fatigue, nasty clothes, nasty cookery.

Surgeon Albigence Waldo · Valley Forge · December 1777

1778

Von Steuben Begins Training the Army

1778

Nathanael Greene Appointed Quartermaster General

1777

Continental Army Arrives at Valley Forge

1778

News of the French Alliance Reaches Camp

Valley Forge

PA · American Revolution

The Continental Army's winter encampment of 1777-78 transformed a ragged force into a disciplined army.

The Winter Ordeal

Events

Stories

Connections

Winter 1777–1778

~2,000 Died Here

Not a battle. A test of whether the army would still exist in spring.

Emerging

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8People10Events2Stories

**Valley Forge: The Crucible of an Army and a Nation**

PEOPLE

All People →

George Washington

Commander-in-Chief, Continental Army General

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Martha Washington

Commander's Wife, Camp Organizer, Morale Supporter

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Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben

Prussian Officer, Inspector General, Military Trainer

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Nathanael Greene

Major General, Quartermaster General

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KEY EVENTS

Full Timeline →

Von Steuben Begins Training the Army

Mar 1778

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Nathanael Greene Appointed Quartermaster General

Mar 1778

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Continental Army Arrives at Valley Forge

Dec 1777

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News of the French Alliance Reaches Camp

May 1778

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Continental Army Departs Valley Forge

Jun 1778

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Supply Crisis Peaks

Feb 1778

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STORIES

All Stories →

MODERN VOICE

What the Ground Remembers

People arrive expecting something dramatic — a battlefield, maybe, with monuments and cannon placements. What they find is quiet rolling hills, open fields, and a few rows of reconstructed log huts. T...

HISTORICAL VOICE

The Prussian Who Taught Americans to Fight

Friedrich von Steuben arrived at Valley Forge claiming to be a Prussian lieutenant general. He was actually a former captain who had been dismissed from the Prussian army years earlier. Benjamin Frank...

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