Imagine you're standing in a cold, snowy camp with thousands of other soldiers.

The ground is covered in a thick blanket of snow, and everywhere you look, little fires burn as people try to keep warm.

You smell smoke in the chilly air, and hear the crunch of snow under heavy boots as soldiers walk by.

Your hands feel cold, even though they are tucked inside your mittens,

and your nose is red from the freezing air.

The wind whistles and howls, sneaking through cracks and holes in the old wooden huts all around you,

making you shiver even more.

Some soldiers are huddled together, sharing blankets

and talking quietly, hoping for warmer days. You're at Valley Forge in the winter of 1777,

with the soldiers of the brand new American army. It's a hard freezing time. But you're here because

you want to help your country become free.

And this year that same country is turning 250 years old.

It's a big birthday, and it all started with hope and courage,

just like the soldiers needed that winter.

Valley Forge wasn't a battle, it was a camp. George Washington, he would

become the very first president of the United States, led his tired, hungry soldiers there after

months of fighting. The British Army had taken over Philadelphia the biggest city around. Washington's

men needed a safe place to rest, but no one

knew just how tough that winter would be. When the soldiers arrived at Valley Forge in December 1777,

they found almost no huts to keep them warm. The weather was very cold and snow covered the ground.

Many of the men only had thin coats to wear, and some had shoes with big holes in them. A lot of soldiers did not have shoes at all, so they had to walk through the freezing snow with bare feet.

To try to keep warm, they wrapped old rags around their toes, but it was still very cold.

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