The military career of George Washington spanned over forty-five years of service (1752–1799). Washington's service can be broken into three periods, French and Indian War, American Revolutionary War, and the Quasi-War with France, with service in three different armed forces: British provincial militia, the Continental Army, and the United States Army.
Because of Washington's importance in the early History of the United States, he was granted a posthumous promotion to General of the Armies of the United States, legislatively defined to be the highest possible rank in the US Army, more than 175 years after his death.
French and Indian War service
Virginia's Royal Governor, Robert Dinwiddie, appointed Washington a major in the provincial militia in February 1753.Anderson (2000), p. 30Freeman, p. 1:268 In that year the French began expanding their military control into the "Ohio Country", a territory also claimed by the British colonies of Virginia and Pennsylvania. These competing claims led to a world war 1756–63 (called the French and Indian War in the colonies and the Seven Years' War in Europe) and Washington was at the center of its beginning. The Ohio Company was one vehicle through which Anglo-American investors planned to expand into the territory, opening new settlements and building trading posts for the Indian trade. Governor Dinwiddie received orders from the British government to warn the French of British claims, and sent Major Washington in late 1753 to deliver a letter informing the French of those claims and asking them to leave.Freeman, pp. 1:274–327 Washington also met with Tanacharison (also called "Half-King") and other Iroquois leaders allied to Virginia at Logstown to secure their support in case of conflict with the French; Washington and Half-King became friends and allies. Washington delivered the letter to the local French commander, who politely refused to leave.Lengel, pp. 23–24
Governor Dinwiddie sent Washington back to the Ohio Country to protect an Ohio Company group building a fort at present-day Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Before he reached the area, a French force drove out the company's crew and began construction of Fort Duquesne. With Mingo allies led by Tanacharison, Washington and some of his militia unit ambushed a French scouting party of some 30 men, led by Joseph Coulon de Jumonville; Jumonville was killed, and there are contradictory accounts of his death.Lengel, pp. 31–38 The French responded by attacking and capturing Washington at Fort Necessity in July 1754.Grizzard, pp. 115–119 He was allowed to return with his troops to Virginia. The experience demonstrated Washington's bravery, initiative, inexperience and impetuosity.Ellis, pp. 17–18The governor promised land bounties to the soldiers and officers who volunteered in 1754; Virginia finally made good on the promise in the early 1770s, with Washington receiving title to 23,200 acres near where the Kanawha River flows into the Ohio River, in what is now western West Virginia. Grizzard, pp. 135–137 These events had international consequences; the French accused Washington of assassinating Jumonville, who they claimed was on a diplomatic mission similar to Washington's 1753 mission.Ellis, p. 14 Both France and Britain responded by sending troops to North America in 1755, although war was not formally declared until 1756.Anderson (2005), p. 56
Braddock disaster 1755
In 1755, Washington was the senior Colonial aide to General Edward Braddock on the ill-fated Braddock Expedition. This was at the time the largest ever British military expedition ventured into the colonies, and was intended to expel the French from the Ohio Country. The French and their Indian allies ambushed the expedition, mowing down over 900 casualties including the mortally wounded Braddock. During what became known as the Battle of the Monongahela, Braddock's troops retreated in disarray but Washington rode back and forth across the battlefield, rallying the remnants of the British column to an organized retreat.Ellis, p. 22
Commander of Virginia Regiment
Governor Dinwiddie rewarded Washington in 1755 with a commission as "Colonel of the Virginia Regiment and Commander in Chief of all forces now raised in the defense of His Majesty's Colony" and gave him the task of defending Virginia's frontier. The Virginia Regiment was a provincial regiment, as opposed to part-time militias and regular British Army units. Washington was ordered to "act defensively or offensively" as he thought best.Flexner, George Washington: the Forge of Experience, 1732–1775 (1965), p. 138 In command of a thousand soldiers, Washington was a disciplinarian who emphasized training. He led his men in grueling campaigns against the Indians in the west; in 10 months units of his regiment fought 20 battles, and lost a third of its men. Washington's strenuous efforts meant that Virginia's frontier population suffered less than that of other colonies; Ellis concludes "it was his only unqualified success" in the war.Fischer, pp. 15–16Ellis, p. 38
In 1758, Washington participated in the Forbes Expedition to capture Fort Duquesne in Pittsburgh. He was embarrassed by a friendly fire episode in which his unit and another British unit thought the other was French and opened fire, leaving 14 dead and 26 wounded. There was ultimately no real fighting since the French abandoned the fort and the British scored a major strategic victory, gaining control of the Ohio Valley. Upon his return to Virginia, Washington resigned his commission in December 1758, and did not return to military life until the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War in 1775.Lengel, pp. 75–76, 81
Lessons learned Washington never gained the commission in the British army that he yearned for, but in these years he gained valuable military, political, and leadership skills, closely observing their tactics, gaining a keen insight into their strengths and weaknesses that proved invaluable during the Revolution. He learned the basics of battlefield tactics from his observations, readings, and conversations with professional officers, as well as a good understanding of problems of organization and logistics. He gained an understanding of overall strategy, especially in locating strategic geographical points. Washington too, learned to organize, train, and drill, and discipline his companies and regiments. He developed a very negative idea of the value of militia, who seemed too unreliable, too undisciplined, and too short-term compared to regulars.Higginbotham (1985), pp. 22–25 On the other hand, his experience was limited to command of about 1,000 men, and came only in remote frontier conditions.Freeman and Harwell, pp. 136–137
Washington demonstrated his resourcefulness and courage in the most difficult situations, including disasters and retreats. He developed a command presence, given his size, strength, stamina, and bravery in battle, which demonstrated to soldiers that he was a natural leader whom they could follow without question. Washington's fortitude in his early years was sometimes manifested in less constructive ways. Biographer John R. Alden contends that Washington offered "fulsome and insincere flattery to British generals in vain attempts to win great favor" and on occasion showed youthful arrogance, as well as jealousy and ingratitude in the midst of impatience.
American Revolutionary War service
In June 1774, with political tensions rising in the colonies, Washington chaired a meeting in Fairfax County, Virginia, at which the Fairfax Resolves were adopted. The resolves called for convening a Continental Congress. In August, Washington attended the First Virginia Convention, where he was selected as a delegate to the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia.Ferling (1998), p. 99 Tensions rose further in 1774, and he assisted in the training of county militias in Virginia and organized enforcement of the boycott of British goods instituted by the Congress.Lengel, p. 84Ferling (1998), p. 108
Boston
After the Battles of Lexington and Concord near Boston in April 1775, the colonies went to war. Washington arrived at the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia wearing a military uniform, signaling that he was prepared for war.Lengel, p. 86 Congress created the Continental Army on June 14, 1775. He was nominated by John Adams of Massachusetts, who chose him in part because he was a Virginian and would thus draw the southern colonies into the conflict.Bell (1983), p. 52Ferling (2010), p. 85Lengel, pp. 87–88 Congress appointed George Washington "General & Commander in chief of the army of the United Colonies and of all the forces raised or to be raised by them", and instructed him on June 22, 1775, to take charge of the siege of Boston. At that point, the prospect of victory seemed far-fetched, as such Washington was concerned about the reaction from his wife Martha and he did not write to let her know about his appointment until days later.
Washington assumed command of the colonial forces outside Boston on July 2, 1775, during the ongoing siege of Boston. His first steps were to establish procedures and to fashion what had begun as militia regiments into an effective fighting force.Lengel, pp. 105–109
When inventory returns exposed a dangerous shortage of gunpowder, Washington asked for new sources. British arsenals were raided and some manufacturing was attempted. A barely adequate supply of about 2.5 million pounds was obtained by the end of 1776, mostly from France. In search of heavy weapons, he sent Henry Knox on an expedition to Fort Ticonderoga to retrieve cannons that had been captured there.McCullough, p. 84 He resisted repeated calls from Congress to launch attacks against the British in Boston, calling war councils that supported the decisions against such action.McCullough, pp. 53, 86 Before the Continental Navy was established in November 1775 he, without Congressional authorization, began arming a "secret navy" to prey on poorly protected British transports and supply ships.Nelson, p. 86 When Congress authorized an invasion of Quebec,Ferling (2010), p. 94 Washington authorized Benedict Arnold to lead a force from Cambridge to Quebec City through the wilderness of present-day Maine.Lengel, p. 113
As the siege dragged on, the matter of expiring enlistments became a matter of serious concern.Lengel, p. 114 Washington tried to convince Congress that enlistments longer than one year were necessary to build an effective fighting force, but he was rebuffed in this effort. The 1776 establishment of the Continental Army only had enlistment terms of one year, a matter that would again be a problem in late 1776.Ferling (2010), p. 98Lengel, p. 175
Washington finally forced the British to withdraw from Boston by putting Henry Knox's artillery on Dorchester Heights overlooking the city, and preparing in detail to attack the city from Cambridge if the British tried to assault the position.Flexner (1968), pp. 73–75 The British evacuated Boston and sailed away, although Washington did not know they were headed for Halifax, Nova Scotia.McCullough, pp. 91–105 Believing they were headed for New York City, which was Major General William Howe's eventual destination, Washington rushed most of the army there.Schecter, pp. 67–90
Defeated at New York City
Washington's success in Boston was not repeated in New York. Recognizing the city's importance as a naval base and gateway to the Hudson River, he delegated the task of fortifying New York to Charles Lee in February 1776.Lengel, p. 179 Despite the city's poor defensibility, Congress insisted that Washington defend it. The faltering military campaign in Quebec also led to calls for additional troops there, and Washington detached six regiments northward under John Sullivan in April.Johnston, p. 63