War was advancing in a very quick manner, Washington saw that, and as winter approached he looked for a place to establish with his troops. He decided for Valley Forge, located 18 miles (29 km) northwest of Philadelphia. The area was close enough to the British to keep their raiding and foraging parties out of the interior of Pennsylvania, yet far enough away to halt the threat of British surprise attacks. The high ground of Mount Joy and the adjoining elevated ground of Mount Misery made the area easily defensible. During December 19, 1777, when Washington's poorly fed, ill-equipped army, weary from long marches, struggled into Valley Forge, winds blew as the 12,000 Continentals prepared for winter's fury.
Within week and 3 days, the man were undercover the first properly constructed hut appeared in 3 days. One other hut, whose timber had to be collected from miles away, went up in one week with the use of only one axe. These huts provided sufficient protection from the cold, but mainly wet and damp conditions of the mild, but typical Pennsylvania winter of 1777–1778. Snow was limited, and small in amounts. Alternating freezing and melting of snow and ice made it impossible to keep dry and allowed for disease to fester. Soldiers received irregular supplies of meat and bread, some getting their only nourishment from "fire cake," a tasteless mixture of flour and water.
Word of the British departure from Philadelphia brought a frenzied activity to the ranks of the Continental Army. On June 19, 1778, six months after its arrival, the army marched away from Valley Forge in pursuit of the British, who were moving toward New York. The war would last for another five years, but for Washington, his men, and the nation to which they sought to give birth, a decisive victory had been won.
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