George Washington: The Most Famous Historical Figure In American History

In 1781 general George Washington and his 17,000 troops of the continental army and the army of France entered the city of Yorktown, Virginia. With Lord General Cornwallis he only had 9,000 troops to try to defend the city of Yorktown. This is known as the most important battle in the revolutionary war.

General Washington was respected not just by the rank and file, but also by people in all parts of the colonies. Although he did not inspire his men to fanatical loyalty as Napoleon or Nelson, the troops under his command knew they could count upon his valor, military judgment, and fair justice always. (Morison, p. 314-5) Everyone, from the highest gentleman in Congress to the lowest private in the Army, could depend on George Washington's character at all times.

General Washington and the Continental Army had been routed in the Battle of Long Island and withdrew to the defenses of Brooklyn Heights, which left them confined between Hessian and British troops and the East River. General Washington was able to keep the revolution alive by maintaining the Continental Army in the field.

In August 1781, General George Washington, who was camped in New York, learned that Lieutenant General Lord Charles Cornwallis' army of nearly 9,000 soldiers was encamped near Yorktown, VA (Lengel,

The greatest event of Washington’s military career came on October 19, 1781 when he defeated Cornwall is at Yorktown. Cornwall is surrendered his entire army of more than 7,000 men. The fighting was finally over, although it would still take two years to form a formal peace treaty.

The soldier’s time to serve would be up in just ten days, the British continued to win battles, all hope of winning the war was fading and everyone was ready to put down their weapons and surrender to Great Britain. However, George Washington was not settling with anything less than trying their best. He kept that little flicker of hope that was still left, alive. The Continental Congress did not see much hope in the war either and turned the responsibility of the war to General George Washington. Washington received a message from Congress saying,

The men look to their leaders for guidance and motivation. The people of America looked up to George Washington because of his military knowledge and his keen and sneaky tactics. General George Washington learned that Lieutenant General Lord Charles Cornwallis' army was encamped near Yorktown, VA. After discussing options with his French ally, Lieutenant General Jean-Baptiste Ponton de Rochambeau, Washington decided to quietly move his army away from New York City with the goal of capturing and making a blockade around Cornwallis' force. General Cornwallis. The French and American men are to siege and contain the surrounding area until either death or surrender by the British.

    Later on, in 1775 George was unanimously selected to be Commander-in-Chief of the Second Continental Congress, ("Primary Documents in American History").  Even though Washington was used to commanding a small militia, he had an excellent strategy.  His first move was to occupy Dorchester Heights, where he brought supplies from Fort Ticonderoga and forced the British to evacuate Boston.  Throughout the war for Independence, Washington continued to use his unique strategies.  His strategies he used on the Hessians in Trenton was the surprise attack.  Most of the battles he fought, he planned out very well. He failed sometimes, but that didn’t stop him from fighting.  Washington was well organized, very attentive to details, and expected hard work and effort from his troops.  During every war Washington would visit his home ten times, he stayed in Valley Forge.  During the wars he would also write letters to help his army by giving cattle to his army to feed them.  Then, The Treaty of Paris ended the war for Independence and started The Revolutionary War.  In June of 1775, Congress ordered General Washington to lead the Continental Army in

George was born as the eldest son of this father’s second marriage on February 22, 1732. And during his childhood, George moved with his family to another plantation on a place called Epsewasson, not very far from the Potomac.

The Battle of New York would soon prove to be a disaster. It was Washington's first command on a large scale battle. He and his general officers had not only failed, but they looked like fools from the British point of view. After the battle, troops began to run away in fear. Even Washington's closest friend, Joseph Reed, began plotting behind his back. Washington suffered another bitter defeat at Fort Washington, N.Y. The colonists were intimidated, and surrendered Fort Washington. It was a severe blow to the colonists, 2000 were taken prisoner, 59 killed, 146 cannons lost to the British and Hessians in a matter of hours. It was a humiliating blow. During one particularly disastrous skirmish with the British, Washington saw his own troops fleeing from the enemy, and they were refusing to obey orders. Washington threw his hat on the ground in disgust. And

Leading up the battle of Yorktown, in February, 1781, Major General Marquis de Lafayette was ordered to take his Continental troops to Virginia. About a month later General Cornwallis and his army had entered Virginia believing that if the American forces had resistance, he would have victory against the Americans and the French. Later that year in August on 1-2, 1781 Cornwallis and his army set up at Gloucester point, hoping to use it as a base for supply and weapons. Couple of weeks later, Washington heard about the base and sent a large army to destroy Cornwallis base. A month later on September 14, 1781, French General Rochambeau and General Washington arrived, and sent 400 French soldiers and 400 American soldiers to storm the British redoubt. On October 19, 1781, being taken under heavy from the Americans and the French, Major General Cornwallis realized that he was short of troops and decided to escape Yorktown before surrendering. Making the move to escape, a sudden storm from the Americans and French ruined his evacuation plan and Cornwallis was forced to surrender, due to the lack troops and supplies.

George Washington had not one day respite. What was thought to be the road to independence turned out to be more like the path straight to hell. Americans all around were turning against one another. Five states threatened to secede, American commerce was being destroyed by British blockades, and fires left parts of New York City is ashes while the government was back in Philadelphia helpless without money or power. Since they were without money, the Army was left without any pay which meant the troops were in tatters. Troops in Pennsylvania and New Jersey refused to obey orders, but then they were promised compensations so they followed Washington to Virginia to fight in the last battle of the American Revolution. Washington then left Major General Nathanael Greene to command the forces to defend the Hudson River Valley. For months they remained there loyally without pay, food or proper clothing. Finally, an appeal was made to the states saying “Officers and Men have been almost perishing for want,” but the states were just as bankrupt as

His troops were pushed in a slow retreat across New Jersey into Pennsylvania. Washington struck back on Christmas night 1776, he crossed the Delaware and scattered the Hessians who had taken Trenton. Washington also drove the British from

In the summer of 1781, General George Washington and his army were encamped in the Hudson Highlands. This is where they could monitory the activities of Lieutenant General Henry Clinton and the British army in New York City.

Without George Washington we never would have crossed the Delaware River and gained a major advantage over the British. He was impactful because he took an important part of the Revolutionary War that helped us win it. He was also unanimously elected to be president twice where he then led us to greatness.