Valley Forge was the military camp in southeastern Pennsylvania, approximately 20 miles (30 km) northwest of Philadelphia, where the American Continental Army spent the winter of 1777–1778 during the American Revolutionary War. Starvation, disease, malnutrition, and exposure killed over 2,500 American soldiers by the end of February 1778.With winter almost setting in, and with the prospects for campaigning greatly diminishing, General George Washington sought quarters for his men.