George Washington: First Commander-In-Chief Of The Continental Army

George Washington is well known for what he accomplished during the American Revolution. Selected as the first Commander-In-Chief of the Continental Army, the choice of Washington was an easy decision, due to his mere size and stature, but also his prior military experience. The outbreak of the American Revolution started with the Battle of Lexington and Concord that took place in Massachusetts. This lead to the Olive Branch Petition attempted by the Second Continental Congress, which did not work. After the failure of the Olive Branch Petition, the Continental Army pushed out the remainder of the British troops in early 1776, opening the way for July 4th, 1776 our Independence Day. In what arguably Washington’s most important portion of the war, was the training and strategic control over the army. A group of thirteen individual colonies coming together to form one massive army was a tall task at that time. All the colonies had vastly different sizes, population, views, and currency. To make matters worse most of the colonists were uneducated in the concepts of war, a
These two moments are two of my favorites from this timeframe. The crossing of the Delaware took place during the winter of 1776, eight months into the war. The interesting part of this, was the fact that it was December, the water was freezing, and if any of the ships capsized, death would await the soldiers in the water. Some might consider Washington’s actions crazy, but to me it shows bravery and courage. Knowing the risk of what would happen if a ship would sink, Washington pressed on knowing the importance getting across the river quickly, instead of wasting weeks and possibly months moving around the river. This was an example of Washington’s strategical leadership, understanding time was