History is full of turning points—moments that we can look back upon and wonder what the world would be like if things had gone differently. While we often think of major battles or singular events as the great “what if” moments of the past, there are also less sensational—but no less crucial—episodes that have shaped the course of history. One such moment occurred in the harsh winter of 1777-78, when General George Washington and his Continental Army found themselves hanging by a thread after a series of crushing defeats by the British.

Join Professor Allen C. Guelzo as he takes you back to those few fateful months in Tragedy to Triumph: The Winter at Valley Forge. Across 10 lectures, Professor Guelzo will walk you through the story of near-disaster and miraculous recovery that altered the course of the American Revolution. While you’ll follow the events and meet the people that made the Valley Forge encampment so notable, you’ll also see how strategy, diplomacy, and political struggles beyond the camp were also shaping the eventual outcome of the war.

Valley Forge may not have been a battlefield, but it certainly witnessed its share of struggle and tragedy as the Continental Army faced off against hunger, cold, disease, and despair. But despite it all, George Washington and his army used their harrowing winter in Pennsylvania to regroup, shore up discipline, and chart a course to ultimate victory. The results of these efforts make Valley Forge a truly remarkablechapter in American history that would inspire the nation as it forged its own identity in the wake of the Revolution and beyond.