George Washington in Valley Forge
In the fall of 1777, General George Washington's Continental Army moved south from New Jersey to defend the capitol on Philadelphia from the advancing the forces of General William Howe. On September 11, George Washington was defeated in the Battle of Brandywine. October 4, George struck in Germantown and was defeated once again. After this George moved his troops into the winter Quarters. George had chosen Valley Forge for his winter encampment. His location was on the Schuylkill River. It was high location in Valley Forge which made it defensible. George Washington had 12,000 men who were in good spirits when they marched into Valley Forge December 19, 1777. The arm's engineers started to construct more than 2,000 log huts. The cold winter was a problem though. It was cold, you could freeze to death. Supplies was a problem also. They started to run low on food and other supplies. The warm weather started to come in March. This was good but is was bad. With the warmth came the disease. Over 2/3 of the army died from disease. That's 2,000 men who died from disease.