What Year Did Washingtion Command the Army Again

George Washington
General of the Armies
Continental Army
February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799

George Washington by Charles Willson Peale, 1776. White House Historical Foundation.

Few figures loom as large in American military history as George Washington. In many ways, he is viewed nigh as a mythical figure and is typically remembered for his momentous achievements. He led the Continental Ground forces to victory in the Revolutionary War, helped create the U.S. Constitution, and served as the first president of the Usa. In detail, his superb leadership qualities allowed him to succeed throughout his life. Though not without faults, he established a precedent of selfless service and moral integrity in the American armed services, a legacy that lives on in the nation he helped create.

Born on Feb 22, 1732, to Augustine and Mary Brawl Washington, the future president grew up in Virginia. His male parent, a justice of the peace, died in 1743, and Washington inherited role of his estate at Ferry Farm near Fredericksburg. Born into moderate wealth, Washington did non attend schoolhouse but received a robust education in mathematics and land surveying. He began working equally a surveyor in 1748 and completed several expeditions to the Shenandoah Valley. By the age of twenty, Washington was a socially-connected, well-educated, wealthy landowner. Still, Washington desired military machine service and received a commission in the Virginia Militia in 1752.

Washington, then a major, inadvertently started the French and Indian War in 1754 when his forces attacked and killed a French officer in a scouting political party in the Ohio River Valley. French and Native American forces retaliated, defeating Washington's militia strength. The following twelvemonth, Washington fought at the disastrous Battle of Monongahela on July ix, 1755, where the French and their Indian allies routed a big British and militia force. He connected to serve in the state of war, leading provincial units until he resigned in 1758. Though the British won the war, Washington's reputation was far from sure. British leadership regarded him as a poor commander, while colonists viewed him as a hero for his bravery and steady leadership in battle.

After the state of war, he returned to Mountain Vernon, which he would inherit from his brother Lawrence in 1761. He wished to make the farm profitable and spent considerable coin to aggrandize the belongings. Using the labor of over one hundred enslaved individuals, Washington successfully developed Mount Vernon into a prosperous plantation. In 1758, he was elected to a seat in the Virginia legislature. The post-obit year, he married Martha Dandridge Custis, a wealthy widow. She and her ii young children joined Washington at Mountain Vernon. As the years went on, Washington grew increasingly interested in politics. By 1771, Washington openly criticized the British for what he viewed as oppressive tax policies towards the colonies. He was elected past the Virginia legislature to correspond the colony at the First Continental Congress in 1774. Afterward the eruption of open conflict in Massachusetts in April 1775, Washington attended the Second Continental Congress. On June 14th, Congress resolved to create a Continental Army. The post-obit day, Washington was selected as the new ground forces's commander-in-main. His personal integrity, military experience, and hero status all contributed to his choice. In many ways, he was viewed as the merely man who could exercise the job.

On July ii, 1775, Washington arrived exterior Boston to have command of the forces gathering at that place and create a regular army out of a ragtag band of poorly equipped militiamen and volunteers. Washington chop-chop organized the Continental Army and selected several officers from the ranks, such as Maj. Gen. Henry Knox. Under Washington'south direction, Knox daringly moved 59 cannons over 300 miles from Fort Ticonderoga, New York, to Dorchester Heights outside of Boston. The plan worked and the British left Boston in March 1776. Though he had won his first major confrontation of the war, Washington and the Continental Army'due south success was brusk-lived. Attempting to capture New York, British full general Sir William Howe decimated the Continental Army in a series of battles. By the end of 1776, Washington's Army was demoralized and shaken. Xc percent of the troops he had commanded in Boston were either killed, wounded, captured, or had left the Regular army. With morale low, Washington launched a surprise assault on Dec 26, 1776 against the British allied Hessian forces camped in New Jersey at Trenton and Princeton. Caught by surprise, the Americans routed the Hessian forces and Washington accomplished an of import victory for his Regular army.

Over the course of the adjacent few years, Washington enjoyed few battleground successes as he was regularly defeated by superior British forces. However, Washington's stalwart leadership, integrity, and nobility held the Army together, presenting a credible threat to the British. After Maj. Gen. Horatio Gates' regular army defeated the British at the battles of Saratoga in September and October 1777, France entered the state of war and centrolineal with the Americans in 1778. This provided Washington with the weapons, supplies, and reinforcements he needed to achieve a decisive victory.

After a large French forcefulness commanded by the Comte de Rochambeau joined Washington'due south forces in 1781, the ii generals planned a pivotal strike. Though Washington favored attacking New York, Rochambeau and the French believed the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia to be the all-time target to isolate and capture an entire British army. After a French armada commanded by the Comte de Grasse successfully blockaded the Chesapeake Bay, the Franco-American forces besieged a large British regular army at Yorktown, Virginia. The British surrendered on October 19, 1781, effectively ensuring victory in war and independence.

Near the finish of war, Washington successfully stopped a coup try by Continental Army officers at Newburgh, New York, in March 1783. Yet again, Washington'south personal qualities and leadership proved invaluable. On September iii, 1783, the Revolutionary War officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. Some believed Washington might non resign his commission and effort to seize power, as he was extremely popular with the troops and the public. However, Washington resigned his commission and returned to Mount Vernon, bowing to Congress in a short anniversary on December 23, 1783, at Annapolis, Maryland. For this deed alone, King George 3 called Washington, "the greatest man in the world."

Initially, Washington intended to enjoy his retirement from public service, content to spend his life as a farmer at Mount Vernon. Even so, his retirement was interrupted when he was once over again called on to serve his country. Washington was a unanimous choice to head the Constitutional Convention in 1787. His stalwart leadership, hero status, and dignified fashion made him perhaps the merely person capable of leading the associates. He worked with the delegates for over a year to create and ratify the Constitution. Washington continued to lead and was unanimously elected the showtime President of the United States.

Washington reluctantly accepted a position of power in one case once again, serving two full terms equally president. His qualities as a natural and dignified leader made him an ideal choice for the job. Working closely with Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, who had served nether Washington in the Revolutionary State of war, Washington created an energetic and centralized federal government, setting a precedent for the new American experiment. He helped constitute a national banking concern, suppressed the Whiskey Rebellion, and established a merchandise relationship with Bully United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland. After eight years in part, Washington again willingly stepped abroad from power, establishing the precedent of American presidents only serving ii terms. He penned an emotional farewell address in 1796, where he warned against the dangers of political parties, foreign influence, and valuing a unmarried state over the entire nation. He retired to Mount Vernon in 1797.

Washington devoted himself to improving Mount Vernon in his retirement. On December 12, 1799, he became ill after riding his horse through rain and sleet. His status speedily worsened and he died on December 14, 1799. At his funeral, Maj. Gen. Henry "Low-cal Horse Harry" Lee stated that Washington was, "First in war, starting time in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." These words accurately summarize Washington's legacy. He was outset in state of war as the commander-in-master of the Continental Army, leading the charge for American independence. He was first in peace as a farmer, a husband, and the first President of the Us. And he was first in the hearts of his countrymen every bit a beloved hero for all Americans. His superb leadership abilities and apprehensive case of giving up power set a precedent for Ground forces leadership that continues to this day.

A.J. Orlikoff
Lead Education Specialist

Sources

"George Washington: The Begetter of the Nation." American Battlefield Trust. Accessed May iii, 2021. https://www.battlefields.org/acquire/articles/george-washington.

Chernow, Ron. "George Washington: The Reluctant President." Smithsonian Magazine, Feb 2011. https://world wide web.smithsonianmag.com/history/george-washington-the-reluctant-president-49492/.

Ellis, Joseph J. "Washington Takes Charge." Smithsonian Magazine, January 2005. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/washington-takes-charge-107060488.
"Biography of George Washington." George Washington'southward Mount Vernon. Accessed May iii, 2021. https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/biography/.

Kladky, William P. "Continental Army." George Washington'southward Mount Vernon. Accessed May 3, 2021. https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/continental-ground forces.

Knott, Stephen. "George Washington: Life before the Presidency." Miller Center. Accessed May iii, 2021. https://millercenter.org/president/washington/life-before-the-presidency.

Boosted Resource

Chernow, Ron. Washington: A Life. New York: Penguin Printing, 2009.

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