Before the War
We last left George Washington in 1758. He had just gone home from the French and Indian War – which he’d sparked – to recover from consumption. He hadn’t done anything remarkable, really. He did serve at a higher position than most Americans, and while he gained the trust and respect of his subordinates, he mostly angered those above him in rank.
During the seventeen years between 1758 and 1775, George moved into Mt. Vernon, courted and married Martha Dandridge Custis, got elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses, experimented with different crops and crop rotations, started a fishing business, loved fox hunts, speculated in frontier land, stayed on top of political news, started a milling business, attended church regularly, and went to and held social balls with his wife Martha.
George Washington, like many of us today, became increasingly frustrated over time as he would read the different newspapers and see the different impositions of the British government. He wasn’t quickly riled up, but six years before the revolution started he was supporting Boston and Philadelphia in their opposition to the different taxes being imposed by the Crown.
He wrote to George Mason, “At a time when our lordly Masters in Great Britain will be satisfied with nothing less than the deprivation of American freedom, it seems highly necessary that something shou’d be done to avert the stroke and maintain the liberty which we have derived from our Ancestors; but the manner of doing it to answer the purpose effectually is the point in question. That no man shou’d scruple, or hesitate a moment to use a—ms [arms] in defence of so valuable a blessing, on which all the good and evil of life depends; is clearly my opinion; Yet A—ms [arms] I wou’d beg leave to add, should be the last resource.”
In the House of Burgesses, which became the Virginia Convention as the Revolution drew nearer, George was not the bold and fiery speaker – no, that was Patrick Henry.
George was not the one drafting and presenting fresh and decisive legislature – no, that was Thomas Jefferson.
What did George do? He built social bridges. He would get to know the members, more often in social events in the evenings than on the floor. These alliances would get practical things done, leading to boycotts and more economic independence. He did this at Mt Vernon as well, as he had stopped growing tobacco to export to England and had started selling wheat, alfalfa, and other crops locally. His focus on connection and practical solutions largely determined the Virginia Convention’s decision to send 43 year old George Washington to the Continental Congress in 1775.
Becoming Commander in Chief
It was John Adams who wanted George Washington as Commander of the Continental Army. He wrote, “I had no hesitation to declare that I had but one Gentleman in my Mind for that important command, and that was a Gentleman from Virginia who was among Us and very well known to all of Us, a Gentleman whose Skill and Experience as an Officer, whose independent fortune, great Talents and excellent universal Character, would command the Approbation of all America, and unite the cordial Exertions of all the Colonies better than any other Person in the Union. Mr. Washington, who happened to sit near the Door, as soon as he heard me allude to him, from his Usual Modesty darted into the Library Room.” John Adams seems to be the first to consider George Washington as indispensable to the war, and therefore the country.
George was picked unanimously.
He told the Congress that he felt “great distress”, hoping he had the skill necessary to live up to the trust he was given. He asked for no pay, but simply that he would keep a track of his expenses to turn in at the conclusion of the war.
First Impressions
Then he headed north to British-occupied Boston and the Continental Army he was to lead.
George had no easy task cut out for him. He led a wannabe army against the grandest army in the world. He had never directed a siege or even a major battle for that matter. Some of George’s first actions as commander were to counter the swearing, drinking and dirtiness in the army. This would become a stark contrast to the British constant swearing, drinking, and whoring. The lack of discipline was so bad in the beginning of the Continental Army that during the winter at that camp, what started as a snowball fight became a brawl involving thousands, kicking and biting. When George Washington rode up, “With the spring of a deer, he leaped from his saddle, threw the reins of his bridle into the hands of his servant, and rushed into the thickest of the melee, with an iron grip seized two tall, brawny, athletic, savage-looking riflemen by the throat, keeping them at arm’s length, alternately shaking and talking to them.
In this position the eye of the belligerents caught sight of the general. Its effect on them was instantaneous flight at the top of their speed in all directions from the scene of the conflict. Less than fifteen minutes time had elapsed from the commencement of the row before the general and his two criminals were the only occupants of the field of action.”
If you desire to know about all eight years of war that George fought, there are a myriad of books and articles, videos and courses on the subject. As we are seeking to learn about the man rather than the war, and have limited space in this article, we will focus on just four, a few of the hardest periods of the war for Washington, but parts where having George Washington as General was simply indispensable.
Trenton. The winter of 1777. Monmouth. Yorktown.
Trenton

Planning and Preparation
A year and a half had passed. George had, through miracles more than skill, liberated Boston. He had, through the same power of “Nature and Nature’s God” escaped the British armies in New York. Then on July 4th, 1776, the convention that had appointed him had distributed a Declaration of Independence. The colonies had become States. The war had become much grander than it was before.
But what George needed now, five months later, was a statement, an action, a victory that would show that the States were able to back up what they said. No opportunities were going to fall in his lap, that’s for sure. It was winter. And things were desperate.
After the loss of New York almost 85% of his army left. The British offered a free and general pardon -if they gave up the fight. George felt doomed. “If I were to wish the bitterest curse to an enemy on this side of the grave, I should put him in my stead in my feelings.” But he still didn’t accept the British pardon. His remaining troops enlistment time would end on January 1st. Morale was as low as the supplies they were receiving: abysmal.
But George made a plan. As he prepared for this attack, in his office, he kept rewriting three words: “Victory or death.”
What a bold plan it was! He was planning a very complicated Christmas gift for the Hessians, who were paid, professional, soldiers brought over by the British. His plan required absolute surprise. He wanted multiple divisions sailing across the river predawn, and meeting up for a unified attack, and than marching on Trenton. If the Hessians knew he was coming, then he’d already lost.
But there was some preparation first. He needed brave and ready men. Thomas Paine’s words came in time. American Crisis was read at the request of George Washington.
Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered;
yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.
What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly:
it is dearness only that gives everything its value.
Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods;
and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.
[…]
‘If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace;’
and this single reflection, well applied, is sufficient to awaken every man to duty […]
for though the flame of liberty may sometimes cease to shine, the coal can never expire.”
Attack and Aftermath
Then the time came. They got to the banks of the Delaware River, and found to their alarm that there were large chunks of ice. Of the two out of the three forces supposed to cross the Delaware, only George’s division was able to do so.
This and other delays meant that by the time they crossed the river, not only was their force smaller than expected, but daylight was coming too soon for them to have surprise. That is, until a winter storm came in against their backs, driving into the eyes of the watchful Hessians. Additionally, the Hessians had faced an attack from an unknown party, unordered by George, that had convinced them that they had beaten the Continental army off and were safe to enjoy their Christmas celebrations.
The troops marched forward, bare feet leaving bloody tracks in the snow. Two men became so lethargic they lied down and died from the cold before they even reached Trenton. But onward George led them.
Even under the cover of the snow, some informer or spy found out about the march and sent a message to Colonel Ralb, the commander of the Hessians in Trenton. As he was playing cards on Christmas morning, he slipped it into his pocket and continued playing.
The charge began around 8am. By 9am, the Hessians had surrendered. But it wasn’t all George had planned.
On New Year’s Eve, George asked the troops to extend their time in the army. They didn’t budge. He understood their desire to go home, deep and close to his heart. He told them, “My brave fellows, you have done all I asked you to do, and more than can be reasonably expected; but your country is at stake, your wives, your houses and all that you hold dear. You have worn yourselves out with fatigues and hardships, but we know not how to spare you. If you will consent to stay one month longer, you will render that service to the cause of liberty, and to your country, which you probably can never do under any other circumstances. “
About half chose to extend. And he performed another miracle at Princeton less than a week later, beating General Cornwallis. It was the shot of vitality that the war needed. Hope filled the States again, and morale soared.
1777-1778

1777 was a big year. Bright from the successes at the close of the last year, the Americans were presented with a new threat: two British armies. General Burgoyne was sent down from Canada. General Howe was to meet him at the Hudson river. The idea was that by isolating the northern colonies, the most active in rebellion, the others would quickly cave. Howe beat Washington at the battle of Brandywine, where Lafayette was shot. General Burgoyne, however, was annihilated and surrendered his army at Saratoga, thanks largely to the efforts of Benedict Arnold. The plan having failed, General Howe decided to occupy Philadelphia instead of pressing against George’s army. This left George Washington to prepare for the winter only 16 miles away, in a place named Valley Forge. This was another desperate time. George faced a lack of adequate clothes and shelter for his army. His army lacked food. George was even losing the trust of the Congress, as those in warmer places grumbled about his defeats at Brandywine and thought others would be better to replace him. Even John Adams feared the mythic persona he was gaining, knowing from history that most generals don’t let go of power.
Valley Forge
But George’s concerns were about his men. Four days after Christmas he sent a letter to the States at large, pleading “It is not easy to give you a just and accurate idea of the sufferings of the Army at large – of the loss of men on this account. Were they to be minutely detailed, your feelings would be wounded, and the relation would probably be not received without a degree of doubt & discredit. We had in Camp, on the 23rd Inst. by a Field Return then taken, not less than 2898 men unfit for duty, by reason of their being barefoot and otherwise naked.”
“To see men without clothes to cover their nakedness, without blankets to lay on, without shoes by which their marches might be traced by the blood from their feet, and almost as often without provisions as with; marching through frost and snow and at Christmas taking up their winter quarters within a day’s march of the enemy, without a house or hut to cover them till they could be built, and submitting to it without a murmur is a mark of patience and obedience which in my opinion can scarce be paralleled.”
Lafayette also recorded, “the unfortunate soldiers were in want of everything; they had neither coats, hats, shirts, nor shoes; their feet and legs froze till they had become almost black, and it was often necessary to amputate them.”
Please take the time to read those statements again, and imagine what it would have been like to be there. What would have kept you going?
What would you do as a leader to encourage them? George did a few things. He stayed with the troops, not in some warm house while they froze, but out with them, comforting them, standing with and for them. They put on his favorite play – Cato, by Joseph Addison.
“But know, young prince, that valour soars above
What the world calls misfortune and affliction.
These are not ills; else would they never fall
On Heav’n’s first fav’rites, and the best of men.
The gods, in bounty, work up storms about us,
That give mankind occasion to exert
Their hidden strength, and throw out into practice
Virtues, which shun the day, and lie conceal’d
In the smooth seasons and the calms of life.”
George put the Prussian Baron Von Steuben in charge of training, and they trained rigorously every day. It was in Valley Forge they learned how to fight in formation.
George inoculated his troops – giving certain groups a small amount of a disease in order to give them immunity – with smallpox too, something he had faced in his younger years.
And above all, George prayed. Both as an army with public days of thanksgiving and fasting and personally, indoors, outdoors, and everywhere. Alexander Hamilton, one of his closest aides, said that “such was his constant habit.”
Speaking of aides, George surrounded himself with high quality men, from different locations and backgrounds, and listened to their advice often. Alexander Hamilton, Lafayette, Henry Laurens, Baron Von Steuben, Nathaneal Greene, Henry Knox, and more were in his command staff. No one was in his command staff because of politics, but because of skill.
As it started to warm up, George and his army received news that the French were finally sending a navy and an army to help. They had a day-long party after receiving that news.
The convention had tried to replace George with a council of war to lead the army. Some even wanted to replace him with another general, in what’s been called the Conway Cabal. Lafayette’s loyalty largely prevented that, as George was the father he never had. If he had been replaced, Benjamin Franklin in France believed that the French would not have joined, at least not when they did.
Though they lost almost one out of every six people who had entered, they left stronger than they entered. They were better trained and ready to fight, with more reinforcements coming in from across the States – and even the French across the ocean.
Battle of Monmouth

The training they received helped them in the battle of Monmouth in June. This was momentous for a few reasons. General Howe had resigned, claiming he wasn’t given the support he needed. General Clinton was now in charge of the British. The Battle of Monmouth would shape Clinton’s first impression on how hard to push against George and his army. George also had to show the Congress that he was still the best man for the job. His soldiers believed it; it was the Congress, and other generals who thought they could do better, that were hesitant. Now that France had joined the war, they could not win just by isolating the North anymore. They started campaigns in the South while also trying to control the North. Clinton was moving his army up from Philadelphia to New York. George chose to hound him, but not to engage in full out warfare. General Lee was offered command of the vanguard, but refused. Lafayette was put in charge. At Monmouth, they struck.
The night before, General Lee told them he’d changed his mind and wanted to command the vanguard. Lafayette graciously let him. Lee attacked with his vanguard of about five thousand men, right as Clinton’s army was starting to move. George was close behind. As soon as the British were attacking back, Lee fell back. George Washington was riding up. With similar fury to breaking up the snowball brawl a few years before, George censured Lee for falling back,and took it in his own hands. Though George “lamented that the foolish and scandalous practice of profane swearing is exceedingly prevalent in the American Army,” seeing what he saw as cowardice, he exclaimed some himself. When Lee blamed lack of intelligence and other circumstances, George told him “”All this may be very true, sir,” he replied, “but you ought not to have undertaken it unless you intended to go through with it.”
He rode ahead and shouted to the retreating troops, “My brave fellows! Can you fight?”
“Then face about, fellows, and charge!”
As he rode and rallied his troops, George did not fear the danger of the front line. Von Steuben’s training came directly into play, as they were able to wheel about rapidly and quickly adapt, and work in formation with divisions they’d never fought alongside before.
He stood on a hill to get a better vantage point, and the British launched a cannonball so close that it threw dirt over George’s face and clothes, but George simply continued to give orders. The officers were more worried than George was at the risk.
Tactics tell us that it was more of a stalemate than victory. But when we look at it objectively, Clinton had reached none of his objectives. George had gotten his. George Washington had turned the route into a victory. He had led his troops in a way that was simply indispensable. No other general who was there, or who could’ve been there, would’ve been able to turn them around. George was the only one who could. No other attempts were made to replace or diminish his power.
Clinton was so impressed he avoided a major battle with George for years, worrying more about maintaining New York than advancing against him. George was still struggling to have enough money to continue the fight, since the Continental Congress had no power to tax the states. Thus, he could not field a large enough army to break Clinton’s hold on New York.
Yorktown
Planning and Preparation
The war dragged on for long years. The North campaign was largely a stalemate, but both armies were losing morale and funding. The decision, the victor, was approaching. In the south however, things had been moving. Using a series of maneuvers and skirmishes, Lafayette had baited Cornwallis right where he wanted him: in a coastal town named Yorktown. George had a vital decision to make: Continue battling for New York, or bring his armies to Virginia, to Yorktown. He couldn’t let Clinton follow them down, as he couldn’t beat both at once. His decision was made with such secrecy that even when they were marching, troops in his army were making bets as to which it would be: Clinton and New York, or Cornwallis and Yorktown. George sent letters, orders, and missives that were entirely false. Most of the letters explained he was going to attack Staten Island. He had men building easier roads leading that way, and some of the French building giant ovens, as if they were coming to fight. Clinton acquired the letters, took the bait, and dug in. And George took his chance. He darted his army southward, surprising even his own Generals in the South.
Clinton already had plans of his own. He was sending his navy to go pick up Cornwallis’ troops. Cornwallis even retreated from the outermost redoubts in order to be able to load up faster. But the British fleet ran into the French fleet, and for the first and only time in all of the 1700s, the French navy won. There would be no escape by sea.
Now George was in position. His plans had been revealed so many times before. This time, he had used that weakness as a strength, scaring Clinton into nonaction and surrounding Yorktown with the full force of the Continental Army and their French allies. George helped dig the trenches, chatting with the soldiers as he did. When the charge commenced, George again terrified his aides by climbing the highest, most exposed section of the American defenses to observe what was proceeding. When his aides forced him down a couple times, as the embankment on left and right of him were being destroyed by enemy fire, George severely reprimanded them, and stayed up there for longer than ten minutes. He was determined and confident. And he would win.
As the Americans advanced, Cornwallis huddled inside Yorktown, wondering where the fleet was, and when it would get there. The British fleet had regrouped and was on its way again. This time it was stopped not by the French fleet, but by a sudden and powerful thunderstorm, that smashed some of the ships into each other. They were forced to return and repair the ships before moving along. Cornwallis decided to have his army sneak northward out of the city at night and march up to New York that way, much as George Washington had done in 1775 at the beginning of the war. But whereas at that time George had a sudden wind pushing his ferries along, and a thick fog hiding his movements from the British, Cornwallis got a different story. While it was calm when they started crossing, another storm suddenly appeared, forcing the ferries backward across the river and drenching them to the bone. Both storms were necessary to keep Cornwallis in Yorktown, to give the Americans the decisive victory they needed.
Surrender
And thus it was.

October 19, 1781. Cornwallis pleaded that he was sick and sent a lower General to surrender the sword, and therefore the Army. George therefore let his lower General receive the sword.
George had listened to the advice of his soldiers and subordinates, and that is what had led them to Yorktown. George had used the devastating problem of leaked intelligence and leveraged it to halt Clinton. George had made decisions about how he was to use his limited resources of men, supplies, and most importantly time, and it had paid off. Later George and Cornwallis toured the defenses together, and afterward Cornwallis held a dinner for the officers and even toasted George. America still has a strong precedent to give respect and even aid to their defeated foes, with a desire to become friends.
The next day George issued another general order, asking all troops not on duty to go to religious services “with that seriousness of deportment and gratitude of heart which the recognition of such reiterated and astonishing interpositions of Providence demand of us.”
The peace treaty took a couple more years, but there were no more major battles. Clinton was replaced and eventually peace was final. Other General’s may have been able to lead individual battles better. But there was no other General who could’ve led the war better, led the people better, in a way that applied not just to the war they were engaged in but looked forward to the future that he hoped to see.
Of course, the challenges were not over yet – not by a long shot. George will prove his indispensability again and again. But that’s a story for another day.
Trackbacks/Pingbacks