The officers with Washington were very young

Washington was 45 years old when his army encamped at Valley Forge, yet several of the general’s closest aids and advisors would probably still be in college today had they lived today. They are Marquis de Lafayette, Alexander Hamilton, and John Laurens. Childless Washington considered this triumvirate as the sons he never had.

The Marquis de Lafayette, a national hero in both America and French, commanding American troops in several battles, including the siege of Yorktown, was only 19 years old when he landed on American shores in the summer of 1777 to volunteer his services to the nascent United States. Washington’s chief aide-de-camp Alexander Hamilton, the man who was an influential interpreter and promoter of the U.S. Constitution, and was the founder of the Federalist Party, the nation's financial system, the United States Coast Guard, and the New York Post newspaper, was just 22 when he stood by his commander-in-chief’s side during that miserable winter.

Last but not least, Hamilton’s closest friend John Laurens, another of the commander-in-chief’s adjutants, turned 23 just weeks before the Continental Army limped into Valley Forge. He was an American soldier and statesman from South Carolina during the American Revolutionary War, best known for his criticism of slavery and his efforts to help recruit slaves to fight for their freedom as U.S. soldiers.