washington,george(1732-1799),first president of the u.s.,commander in chief of the continental army during the american revolution.he symbolized qualities of d**cipline,ar**tocratic duty,military orthodoxy,and pers**tence in adversity that h** contemporaries particularly valued as marks of mature political leadership.
washington was born on feb.22,1732,in westmoreland co.,va.,the eldest son of augustine washington(1694?743),a virginia planter,and mary ball washington(1708?9).although washington had little or no formal schooling,h** early notebooks indicate that he read in geography,military h**tory,agriculture,deportment,and composition and that he showed some aptitude in surveying and simple mathematics.in later life he developed a style of speech and writing that,although not always pol**hed,was marked by clarity and force.tall,strong,and fond of action,he was a superb horseman and enjoyed the robust sports and social occasions of the virginia planter society.at the age of 16 he was invited to join a party to survey lands owned by the fairfax family(to which he was related by marriage)west of the blue ridge mountains.h** journey led him to take a lifelong interest in the development of western lands.in the summer of 1749 he was appointed official surveyor for culpeper co.,and during the next two years he made many surveys for landowners on the virginia frontier.in 1753 he was appointed adjutant of one of the d**tricts into which virginia was divided,with the rank of major.
early military experience.
washington played an important role in the struggles preceding the outbreak of the french and indian war.he was chosen by lt.gov.robert dinwiddie of virginia to deliver an ultimatum calling on french forces to cease their encroachment in the ohio river valley.the young messenger was also instructed to observe the strength of french forces,the location of their forts,and the routes by which they might be re**rced from canada.after successfully completing th** m**sion,washington,then a lieutenant colonel,was ordered to lead a militia force for the protection of workers who were building a fort at the forks of the ohio river.h**ing learned that the french had ousted the work party and renamed the site fort duquesne,he entrenched h** forces at a camp named fort necessity and awaited re**rcements.a successful french assault obliged him to accept articles of surrender,and he departed with the remnants of h** company.
washington resigned h** comm**sion in 1754,but in may 1755 he began service as a volunteer aide-de-camp to the brit**h general edward braddock,who had been sent to virginia with a force of brit**h regulars.a few kilometers from fort duquesne,braddock抯 men were ambushed by a band of french soldiers and indians.braddock was mortally wounded,and washington,who beh**ed gallantly during the conflict,narrowly escaped death.in august 1755 he was appointed(with the rank of colonel)to command the virginia regiment,charged with the defense of the long western frontier of the colony.war between france and britain was officially declared in may 1756,and while the principal struggle moved to other areas,washington succeeded in keeping the virginia frontier relatively safe.
the american revolution.
after the death of h** elder half brother lawrence(1718?2),washington inherited the plantation known as mount vernon.a spectacular r**e in the price of tobacco during the 1730s and?0s,combined with h** marriage in 1759 to martha cust**,a young widow with a large estate,made him one of the wealthiest men in virginia.elected to the house of burgesses in 1758,he served conscientiously but without special d**tinction for 17 years.he also gained political and admin**trative experience as justice of the peace for fairfax co.
like other virginia planters,washington became alarmed by the repressive measures of the brit**h crown and parliament in the 1760s and early?0s.in july 1774 he presided over a meeting in alexandria that adopted the fairfax resolves,calling for the establ**hment and enforcement of a stringent ** on brit**h imports prior to similar action by the first continental congress.together with h** service in the house of burgesses,h** public response to unpopular brit**h policies won washington election as a virginia delegate to the first continental congress in september and october 1774 and to the second continental congress in 1775.
the opening campaigns of the war.
when fighting broke out between massachusetts and the brit**h in 1775,congress named washington commander of its newly created continental army,hoping thus to promote unity between new england and virginia.he took command of the makeshift force besieging the brit**h in boston in mid-july,and when the enemy evacuated the city in march 1776,he moved h** army to new york.defeated there in august by gen.william howe,he withdrew from manhattan to establ**h a new defensive line north of new york city.in november he retreated across the hudson river into new jersey,and a month later crossed the delaware to safety in pennsylvania.
although demoralized by howe抯 easy capture of new york city and northern new jersey,washington spotted the points where the brit**h were overextended.recrossing the icy delaware on the night of dec.25,1776,he captured trenton in a surpr**e attack the following morning,and on jan.3,1777,he defeated brit**h troops at princeton.these two engagements restored patriot morale,and by spring washington had 8000 new recruits.impressed by such tenacity,howe delayed moving against washington until late august,when he landed an army at the head of chesapeake bay.wanting to fight,washington tried unsuccessfully to block howe抯 advance toward philadelphia at the battle of brandywine creek in september.following the brit**h occupation of the city,he fought a minor battle with them at germantown,but their superior numbers forced him to retreat.washington and h** men spent the following winter at valley forge,west of philadelphia.during these months,when h** fortunes seemed to h**e reached their lowest point,he thwarted a plan by h** enemies in congress and the army to h**e him removed as commander in chief.
in june 1778,after france抯 entry into the war on the american side,the new brit**h commander,sir henry clinton,evacuated philadelphia and marched overland to new york;washington attacked him at monmouth,n.j.,but was again repulsed.washington blamed the defeat on gen.charles lee抯 insubordination during the battle梩he climax of a long-brewing rivalry between the two men.
victory.
washington spent the next two years in relative inactivity with h** army encamped in a long semicircle around the brit**h bastion of new york city梖rom connecticut to new jersey.the arrival in 1780 of about 6000 french troops in rhode **land under the comte de rochambeau augmented h** forces,but the weak u.s.** was approaching bankruptcy,and washington knew that he had to defeat the brit**h in 1781 or see h** army d**integrate.he hoped for a combined american-french assault on new york,but in august he received word that a french fleet was proceeding to chesapeake bay for a combined land and sea operation against another brit**h army in virginia,and reluctantly agreed to march south.
washington and rochambeau抯 movement of 7000 troops,half of them french,from new york state to virginia in less than five weeks was a masterpiece of execution.washington sent word ahead to the marqu** de lafayette,commanding american forces in virginia,to keep the brit**h commander,lord cornwall**,from le**ing h** base of operations at yorktown.at the end of september the franco-american army joined lafayette.outnumbering the brit**h by two to one,and with 36 french ships offshore to prevent yorktown from being relieved by sea,washington forced cornwall** to surrender in october after a brief siege.although peace and brit**h recognition of u.s.independence did not come for another two years,yorktown proved to be the last major land battle of the revolution.
washington as a military leader.
washington抯 contribution to american victory was enormous,and analys** of h** leadership reveals much about the nature of the military and political conflict.being selective about where and when he fought the brit**h main force prevented h** foes from using their strongest asset,the professional**m and d**cipline of their soldiers.at the same time,washington remained a conventional military officer.he rejected proposals made by gen.charles lee early in the war for a decentralized guerrilla struggle.as a conservative,he shrank from the social d**location and red**tribution of wealth that such a conflict would cause;as a provincial gentleman,he was determined to show that american officers could be every bit as civilized and genteel as their european counterparts.the practical result of th** caution and even inhibition was to preserve the continental army as a v**ible manifestation of american ** when allegiance to that ** was tenuous.
political leadership.
in one of h** last acts as commander,washington **sued a circular letter to the states imploring them to form a vibrant,vigorous national **.in 1783 he returned to mount vernon and became in the mid-1780s an enterpr**ing and effective agricultural**t.shay抯 rebellion,an armed revolt in massachusetts(1786?7),convinced many americans of the need for a stronger **.washington and other virginia national**ts were instrumental in bringing about the constitutional convention of 1787 to promote that end.elected as a delegate to the convention by the virginia general assembly,washington was chosen its president.in th** position he played virtually no role梕ither formal or behind the scenes梚n the deliberations of the convention;however,h** reticence and lack of intellectual flair may well h**e enhanced h** objectivity in the eyes of the delegates,thereby contributing to the unself-conscious give and take ...