Congress rejects a proposal for reconciliation from the North Ministry. Simcoe reaches Woodbridge but is forced to turn back by the militia. Jefferson, governor of Virginia, and other state officials flee to the Shenandoah Valley. Tarleton escapes and is pursued unsuccessfully by William Washington and a company on horseback. Fort Lee, on the west side, is abandoned by the Americans two days later. Washington sends out an expedition under command of General John Sullivan. George Washington to Henry Laurens and Thomas Burke, March 18, 1779 | George Washington to Henry Laurens, March 20, 1779. October 28, Gates's aide, James Wilkinson, had incautiously related the matter over drink in a tavern in Reading, where Stirling was also staying. Congress passes more severe penalties for treason as a result of this case. Montgomery has recently taken Montreal and has replaced Philip Schuyler, then weakened by illness, as commander of the northern army. General Orders, July 4, 1775. Washington writes Anthony Wayne with news of the mutiny of the Pennsylvania Continentals. June 15, Washington is appointed commander in chief of the Continental Army. (William Washington is a cousin of George Washington.). Baron Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin Steuben, a volunteer from Germany, arrives at Valley Forge with a letter of introduction from the President of Congress, Henry Laurens. The Maryland and Delaware Continental regiments sent by Washington have arrived under command of Baron Johann de Kalb. George Washington to Lafayette, December 31, 1777 | George Washington to Patrick Henry, February 19, 1778 | George Washington to Patrick Henry, March 28, 1778, Washington forwards to governor Nicholas Cooke a letter from General James Varnum advising him that Rhode Island's troop quota should be completed with blacks. Washington orders the retreat of the army off Manhattan Island. George Washington to John Laurens, July 10, 1782. Washington calls a meeting of representative officers and staff and delivers a speech and reads an extract from Congress. Washington serves as a delegate from Virginia. The British government sends the Carlisle Commission to North America. The battle brings to a head a long-impending civil war among the nations of the Iroquois League. British General John Burgoyne surrenders at Saratoga, to General Horatio Gates, the new commander of the northern army. Cornwallis offers a white flag and negotiations for surrender begin at Moore House in Yorktown. George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, October 10, 1780, The Battle of King's Mountain in North Carolina. Greene's path avoids engagements that he cannot win, exhausts Cornwallis and his army, and dangerously lengthens their supply lines. Toward the end, he notes that "free Negroes who have served in the Army, are very much dissatisfied at being discarded." British General Henry Clinton, probably reluctant to endorse Tryon's theories of warfare, never gives him an independent command again. Washington writes Henry Laurens, president of the Continental Congress, confidentially, about a plan for a French campaign against the British in Canada that Lafayette very much wants to lead. By mid-December, he is joined by Horatio Gates, John Sullivan, and their Continental Army forces. British General Henry Clinton launches another campaign up the Hudson River. Oneidas and Tuscororas ally with the Americans. Lincoln had been forced to surrender to British General Henry Clinton at Charleston May 13, 1780. George Washington to Congress, October 5, 1775, A British squadron under command of Lieutenant Henry Mowat bombards and burns the Falmouth (Portland, Maine) waterfront after providing inhabitants time to evacuate the area. He withdraws to Boston and later sails for the Caribbean Islands where he attacks British islands. His November 6 general orders note the "disorderly conduct of the soldiers" with passes. His willing resignation of his military powers and his return to private life are considered striking since democratic republics are thought to be especially vulnerable to military dictatorship. After exchanges between Conway and Congress, and Washington and Congress, the Board's Congressional members decide to visit Valley Forge. Washington urges Cooke to give the recruiting officers every assistance. Washington writes Laurens that he would rather wait till the British first raise such regiments before the Americans do so. Congress establishes the northern army under the command of Major General Philip Schuyler, and to prevent attacks from the north, begins planning a campaign against the British in Canada. Washington moves his army to the Hudson above the Highlands of New York. Both forts are on the west side of the Hudson River. Congress gives Washington special powers for six months. George Washington to Anthony Wayne, November 27, 1780 | George Washington, General Orders, November 6, 1780. Lincoln again refuses and the next evening, after further summons by Clinton, the army, according to German mercenary for the British, Captain Johann von Ewald, "shouted 'Hurrah' three times," opened fire, and all the city's church bells rang out in a seeming frenzy of futile resistance. A committee made up of Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Edward Rutledge meet with Howe on September 6. Washington orders readings to the assembled troops from Thomas Paine's The Crisis, with its famous passage, "These are the times that try men's souls." In September 1781, the "Convention Army" is removed to Maryland because of Cornwallis's invasion of Virginia. His acknowledgments of these letters and thoughts on his recently acquired fame can be found in Series 2, Letterbook 11. Neither of these positions are maintained after their capture, but they are morale boosters in a war that has become a stalemate. Sullivan's forces include William Maxwell and a New Jersey brigade, Enoch Poor and a New Hampshire brigade, and Edward Hand and Pennsylvania and Maryland troops. George Washington to Nicholas Cooke, January 2, 1778. The Resolves are presented to the public at the Fairfax County Courthouse. The Commission is made up of the Earl of Carlisle (Frederick Howard), William Eden, and George Johnston, and their secretary. He is one of the last officer casualties of the war. The Articles of Confederation are ratified by Maryland, the last state to ratify, and can now go into effect. George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, December 28, 1780. Washington writes Conway, November 5, tersely informing him of his knowledge of the affair. George Washington to Congress, June 20, 1777 | George Washington to Philip Schuyler, June 20, 1777.

Washington sets up winter quarters at Morristown, New Jersey, where he spends the next several months rebuilding the Continental Army with new enlistments. George Washington, General Orders, November 1, 1777, At 7pm in the evening, Washington's forces begin the march to Germantown, where Washington hopes to encircle Howe's army. Having sealed the American army in the city, on May 8 Clinton sends another summons to surrender.

Washington assumes command of the main American army in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where it has been laying siege to British-occupied Boston. George Washington to Henry Laurens, November 14, 1778. The "Paoli Massacre" becomes an American rallying cry among Continental troops.

George Washington to Congress, March 27, 1776. Forty Iroquois villages and their extensive farms lands and crops have been destroyed. A small victory, it nonetheless causes Sir Guy Carleton to delay plans for an invasion from Canada. The capture of this city "would give them the Command of the Country and the Communication with Canada."

Laurens has failed in his attempt to get permission from the Georgia legislature to raise a regiment of slaves and Washington attributes this to the "selfish Passion" of the legislature. American troops burn Fort Constitution on the east side of the Hudson River and depart. The Americans and French begin bombarding Yorktown. Prior to the march to King's Mountain, Ferguson sends a threatening message ahead that he will lay waste to the land if its inhabitants do not cease resistance.

De Kalb is mortally wounded, and after heavy fighting Gates is forced to retreat by Lord Rawdon and Cornwallis and their forces. By June 22, the British are in New Jersey, and Benedict Arnold is fast approaching the twelve-mile long baggage train that makes up the end of Clinton's marching army. Washington moves his headquarters to Middlebrook, south of Morristown. In February, the Rhode Island legislature approves the action. Previously president of Congress, he is serving on a committee charged with forming a plan of defense for the south. Washington, angry at the continued communication with the enemy, asks the Committee if the evidence about them does not suggest that the former Colonies and Great Britain are now at war. Washington's army catches up with Clinton's.

General Lord Stirling (William Alexander) of New Jersey writes Washington, enclosing a note that recounts General Thomas Conway's criticisms of Washington and of Conway's preference for Horatio Gates as commander in chief of the Continental Army. In a letter to Congress the next day, Washington notes that the militia who had captured Major Andr had been offered a "large sum of money for his release, and as many goods as they would demand, but without any effect." He is less excusing of this mutiny because, as he writes in a circular letter to the New England state governors, Congress has been working to redress the Continental Army's grievances. January - February, Greene and Cornwallis race to the Dan River on the Virginia border, with Cornwallis failing to catch up in time to cut off Greene and Colonel Otho Williams and their forces. Washington has become personally attached to the young Lafayette. Wayne requests a court martial to clear his name of any dishonor, a not unusual request. The ships and troops remain in Newport until June 1781, when they will move toward Washington's encampment in Westchester County, preparatory to a cooperative engagement with the Americans against the British. Eventually Church is tried by several different courts and jailed. He offers amnesty for all who lay down their arms--except for Samuel Adams and John Hancock. Washington detaches General Lachlan McIntosh from Valley Forge to command the western department of the Ohio country where bitter frontier war has erupted. This so angers southern militia that they quickly raise a force and brutally defeat Ferguson and his troops. On June 18, 1776, Arnold will be the last to retreat from Canada and the still undefeated city of Montreal, then commanded by Sir Guy Carleton. Early morning, December 26, the attack begins, with Generals Nathanael Greene and John Sullivan leading the infantry assault against the Hessians, commanded by Colonel Johann Rall. Augusta, the capital of Georgia, falls to British forces. The Crisis had just been published December 23 in Philadelphia. He trains a model company of forty-seven men at Valley Forge and then proceeds to the general training of the army. Tthe Americans and Comte d'Estaing's fleet make a combined assault on British-held Savannah, Georgia. On July 1, 1783, Washington submits to the Continental Board of Treasury his expense account. May 4, Congress ratifies the Treaty of Alliance with France, and further military and financial assistance follows. Throughout the war, the British attempt to lure Washington into committing his whole army to battles he cannot win, or, into weakening it by sending out detachments to meet British incursions. George Washington to Thomas Conway, November 5, 1777, In the wake of his victory over Burgoyne, Horatio Gates, the "Hero of Saratoga," has been appointed by Congress as the head of a reorganized Board of War. General Benjamin Lincoln surrenders Charleston, South Carolina, to British General Henry Clinton. Gates's army marches to Camden in hope of surprising the British there but instead runs into them by mistake. April 13, the British begin bombarding the town, and on April 14, Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton and his Legion and loyalist militia defeat Isaac Huger's troops at the battle of Monck's Corner outside the town. By June, France and England are at war. George Washington to Congress, September 16, 1776 | George Washington, General Orders, September 17, 1776, Washington writes Congress on the obstacles to creating a permanent, well-trained Continental Army to face the regulars of the British Army and describes his frustrations in employing local militia units. George Washington to the Inhabitants of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, February 18, 1778. Cornwallis takes Newark November 28 and pursues Washington and his army to New Brunswick. Congress orders the Board of War to recruit Indians into the Continental Army. Throughout the early winter Washington orders raids on British forces left in New York. Washington addresses a letter to the inhabitants of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, requesting cattle for the army for the period of May through June. A British fleet under command of Commodore Sir Peter Parker with Clinton and his reinforcements approaches the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. The French government assembles troops and another fleet for a return to North America. Congress ratifies the Treaty and ignores the Commission. Washington declares that these robberies "are as repugnant to the principles of the cause in which we are engaged as oppressive to the inhabitants and subversive of that order and discipline which must Characterize every well regulated army." In the course of battle, Wayne and Stephen's men fire upon each other in confusion. Springfield is burned but the British abandon their position there the same day. Washington arrives at Mount Vernon. The Iroquois soon return, resettle, and rejoin the British in an retaliatory invasion in the northwest. South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia begin campaigns to crush the Overhill Cherokees. The British Proclamation of 1763 limited frontier settlement to the eastern side of the Appalachians to prevent incursions into Indian lands and resulting costly wars. Howe allows that Washington probably did not order these depredations but requests that he put a stop to them. Benedict Arnold, now a brigadier general in the British army, departs New York City with 1600 men. George Washington to Congress, August 31, 1776, Howe's army attacks Manhattan at Kip's Bay, where a Connecticut militia unit flees in fear and confusion. British General Henry Clinton takes Newport, Rhode Island. The one-day battle is fought to a stalemate, both armies exhausted by the day's unusual heat. September 28, their combined forces are arranged for battle against British General Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown. Clinton and his army continue on to New York, while Washington establishes camp at White Plains. George Washington, General Orders, April 18, 1783, Washington sends Sir Guy Carleton a copy of the proclamation on the cessation of hostilities. Arnold is commissioned a brigadier general in the Continental Army on January 10, 1776. Congress directs Washington to respond to British, Indian, and loyalist attacks on frontier settlements in New York and Pennsylvania. Washington has "undoubted intelligence" that the British plan to shift the focus of their campaign to New York City. Tryon wants to prosecute a war of desolation against rebel inhabitants. Debate begins in Congress on the appointment of a commander in chief of Continental forces. December 23, at Annapolis where Congress is located, Washington submits his resignation of his military commission as commander in chief. Benedict Arnold, commander of West Point, flees to the British ship Vulture in the Hudson River. With King's Mountain, Cornwallis begins to realize that loyalist sentiment has been overestimated in British plans to subdue the south. Washington formally parts from officers at Fraunces Tavern, New York City. Washington, fearing the total dissolution of the Army, urges severe measures. Clinton receives a note from General John Burgoyne who warns him about Horatio Gates's army, which is growing with additions of militia. Washington attends as a delegate from Virginia.

After bitter warfare, McIntosh is forced to abandon the forts in June of 1779. In response, Benjamin Lincoln and the southern army cross into Georgia. (Johann von Ewald, Diary of the American War: A Hessian Journal [New Haven and London: 1979].). On May 30, New York Governor George Clinton orders out the militia. Washington's final draft of his "Address to the Inhabitants of Canada" calls for their support in the war for independence. After a short battle, Washington's army takes Trenton. Washington responds to Henry Laurens's March 16th letter on the possibility of raising a black regiment for the defense of the south. Washington writes Congress with the news of this and of his plans for detaching regiments of the Army in Cambridge to New York under Brigadier General John Sullivan, with the remainder of the Army to follow. Washington's army captures the British garrison at nearby Princeton. To preserve their lands from incursions by either side, the League attempts a policy of neutrality. McIntosh establishes Fort McIntosh on the Ohio River, 30 miles from Pittsburgh, and Fort Laurens, further west, as bases from which to launch campaigns against British and Shawnee, Wyandot, and Mingo allies operating out of Fort Detroit. A British fleet leaves New York harbor to come to the aid of Cornwallis in Virginia. Washington closes his letter to Jefferson with a full history of Benedict Arnold's defection to the British. He is lost at sea on his way to the West Indies. 1774 | 1775 | 1776 | 1777 | 1778 | 1779 | 1780 | 1781 | 1782 | 1783. Washington expresses concerns about the future independence of the American republic should European powers retain a strong presence in North America: a French presence able to "dispute" the sea power of Great Britain, and Spain "certainly superior, possessed of New Orleans, on our Right." These are often considered the last formal engagements of the Revolutionary War. George Washington's Revolutionary War Expense Account. Washington writes the governors of Rhode Island and Connecticut, October 24, enclosing an account of the attack by a Falmouth citizen, Pearson Jones, and severely criticizing the British for not allowing enough time for inhabitants to remove their belongings. Washington has approximately 23,000 troops, mostly militia. Congress finds various reasons for not allowing Burgoyne's army to leave, for fear that its return to England or the Continent will free an equal number of other troops to come to North America to fight. George Washington to Falmouth, Maine, Safety Committee, October 24, 1775. General Henry Clinton in New York receives substantial reinforcements of British regulars and German mercenaries. Congress has fled to York, Pennsylvania. In March, the British continue to raid New Jersey in the so-called "forage wars," keeping American inhabitants and militia in a constant state of emergency. Washington's general orders of November 1, 1777, report the court's favorable decision. George Washington to Massachusetts General Court, September 28, 1775, Washington writes Congress about the treasonous activities of Dr. Benjamin Church. Congress resolves to begin preparations for military defense but also sends a petition of reconciliation, the "Olive Branch Petition," to King George III. William Tryon, former royal governor of New York, and 2,600 loyalists and British regulars on forty-eight ships raid Fairport, New Haven, and Norwalk, Connecticut. After he retires from the scene the officers adopt resolutions affirming their loyalty to Congress. Washington writes Congress about the evacuation and about a forthcoming request from British General William Howe to meet with members of Congress. British forces, concentrated on Staten Island, cross over to Long Island for the war's first major battle. Joseph Brant (Joseph Fayadanega), a Mohawk war chief educated in English missionary schools and an Anglican convert, has significant influence among British government and military leaders. New York City is lost to the British. The British continue to hold sway at Fort Detroit, commanded by Lieutenant Governor Henry Hamilton, and Clark spends the next several years attempting to dislodge him. At the close of the War, Burgoyne's army has dwindled to a mere 1,500 due to escapes, desertions, but most significantly to the number of the troops deciding to stay and settle in America. 1745-1747, Lesson Plan - George Washington: First in War, First in Peace, and First in the Hearts of His Countrymen, Resource Guide - American President: George Washington, Miller Center (UVa), Index George Washington Papers (Washington, D.C., 1964), Papers of George Washington Digital Edition, American Founding Era Collection. Yet, like many members of Congress who still hope for reconciliation, Washington writes that no "thinking man in all North America," wishes "to set up for independency." Nonetheless, Washington intends to send Maryland and Delaware Continental regiments to the aid of the south.

Lincoln's and Prevost's forces move back and forth between Georgia and South Carolina in an attempt to engage each other, but eventually summer heat and illness bring both armies to a standstill. Having arrived too late, the fleet hovers about the area for a few days and returns home October 28-30.

A timeline of George Washington's military and political career during the American Revolution, 1774-1783.

In October 1777, Clark puts before Virginia governor Patrick Henry a plan to capture several British posts in the Illinois country, of which Kaskaskia is one. In this letter to Henry Knox, Washington writes about the heavy burden of correspondence this attention has generated. Washington writes Congress requesting that it order Benedict Arnold to join Philip Schuyler in halting British General John Burgoyne's invasion of New York from Canada, which began on June 23. At Washington's urging, Major General Stirling crosses the ice with 3000 men to attack the British force on Staten Island, commanded by General Wilhelm von Knyphausen. Something of a "celebrity" after the war, Washington receives letters of approbation from England and Europe as well as from people within the newly formed United States. Of the approximately 4,000 American troops, only about 700 are left to rejoin Gates at Hillsboro. Washington's army finishes crossing the Delaware, with the British close behind. Washington writes Congress, reporting on intelligence he has received about movements of further British troops south. In the Battle of Bennington, where Burgoyne has sent a detachment to forage for much needed supplies, the American Brigadier General John Stark and local militia kill or capture nearly 1,000 of Burgoyne's 7,000 troop invading army, further slowing British invasion plans. The "Convention of Saratoga," negotiated by Gates, allows Burgoyne's army of 5,871 British regulars and German mercenaries to return to England and Europe on the promise that they will not fight in North America again. General Henry Clinton remains in command in New York City with British and loyalist forces. Henry Laurens's son, John Laurens is appointed to raise the regiments. Campbell and his troops land at Savannah in late December.

In December 1782, representative officers from each state's Continental line had sent a petition to Congress insisting on immediate payment and suggesting the substitution of lump sums for pensions. George Washington to William Maxwell, April 17, 1777. The reprimand recognizes Arnold's "distinguished services to his Country" but describes his conduct in one of the two charges for which he was found guilty "peculiarly reprehensible, both in a civil and military view." George Washington to Guy Carleton, April 21, 1783, In Washington's Farewell Orders to the Continental Army, he writes that the "disadvantageous circumstances on our part, under which the war was undertaken can never be forgotten." Washington acknowledges these extraordinary powers, assuring Congress that he will use them to its honor. Washington sends six brigades ahead and on June 21 he crosses the Delaware River with the rest of the army. British General Henry Clinton begins to move the main part of the British army from Pennsylvania to New York via New Jersey. In 1778, he is allowed to go into exile. Benedict Arnold and 900 Continentals arrive, forcing St. Leger to retreat back to Canada. Washington believes he has come "principaly to satisfy his Curiosity." The Battle of Oriskany, British Colonel Barry St. Leger and Seneca Indians and loyalists ambush patriot German militia and Oneida Indian allies under command of General Nicholas Herkimer.