The Continental Army spent the winter of 1777–1778 at Valley Forge in Pennsylvania.
The encampment began after British forces captured Philadelphia in September 1777. General George Washington chose Valley Forge, about eighteen miles northwest of the city, because its elevated position helped protect the army and monitor British movements. Soldiers built huts and remained there from December 1777 until June 1778.
Valley Forge is often remembered only as a place of starvation and suffering, but it was also a major training ground. Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben helped impose standardized drills, discipline, and battlefield procedures. The army emerged better organized, even though thousands of soldiers became ill and many died during the encampment.