Valley Forge had been the Continental Army Encampment during 1777 until 1778. Situated between Mount Joy and Mount Misery on the west bank of the Philadelphia River, it was the perfect, defensible camp and most viable option for shelter and survival against the coming winter. For more fast facts, here’s everything you need to know about Valley Forge:

Fact 1: Although several locations were suggested, General George Washington had chosen Valley Forge as the spot to set up camp. With winter quickly approaching, Valley Forge was the most secure and viable option. It is located 30 kilometers away from Philadelphia.

Fact 2: Valley Forge was named for resembling an iron forge on Valley Creek. The territory was just the right enough distance between the Americans and the Britons, close enough for Washington and his men to keep the British raiding and foraging factions out of Pennsylvania, yet far enough to put a stop to the threats of British surprise attacks.

Fact 3: George Washington and his men had finally made it to Valley Forge on the morning of December 19^th, 1777. Washington and his weary, starving, and ill-equipped men braced themselves for the fury of winter. The winds were merciless, blowing hard against the 12,000 continentals.

Fact 4: In an army of 12,000, only one in every three of them had shoes on. Majority of the men; if not perishing from extreme fatigue, cold, and hunger, died from frost bite, lack of proper medication, battle wounds, and exposure. The snow that stretched from the soldier’s long march was covered with bloodied foot prints. It is believed that Martha Washington stayed in camp to bring food and socks around to the soldiers that needed them the most.

Fact 5: With the thickly forested plateau of Mount Joy and the adjoining 3 kilometer long plateau of Mount Misery and the addition of the Schuylkill River up north, Valley Forge was easily defensible. The forests and their abundant timber allowed the men to build shelter. The wood would later be used to build thousands of log huts.

Fact 6: 78 log huts were build in the military camp, all by just one axe! The men would soon be housed in these huts, but sadly, this wasn’t enough to keep the cold and hunger out. 2,500 men died even after the housing was built.

Fact 7: In 1893, the military camp site had become the new Pennsylvania State Park. Shortly after, a Valley Forge National Historical Park had come into full swing and was officiated on the 4^th of July, 1976. There is even a chapel that was built in 1903 to commemorate the war and to serve as a memorial for George Washington. The adjoining carillon of 58 bells represents the all of the United State’s territories.

Fact 8: George Washington’s army had been the most racially integrated army in history up until the start of the Vietnam War. A great number of the general’s men were made up of Native Americans who hailed from the Oneida Indian Nation.

Fact 9: If it wasn’t for men like General Christopher Ludwig, Friedrich Von Steuben, or Henry Knox, the men would have most likely abandoned the cause or disbanded and fled. These men, together with a host of camp followers that were made up of the families of the soldiers, the men’s morale shot up and everyone pulled through.

Fact 10: Roughly 5000 of the soldiers that took part in the war were of African descent. The African Americans were the most active members on the battlefield, a force composed of both free and enslaved men. When the war had ended, a resolution was passed by Congress in 1779 that decreed enslaved man that served the Continental Army, upon release from their service, would become a freed man. Only half were freed.