George Washington's Commission as Commander in Chief
The Continental Congress commissioned George
Washington as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army
on June 19, 1775. Washington was selected over other candidates
such as John Hancock based on his previous military experience
and the hope that a leader from Virginia could help unite
the colonies. Washington left for Massachusetts within days
of receiving his commission and assumed command of the Continental
Army in Cambridge on July 3, 1775. After eight years of war,
Washington resigned his commission as Commander in Chief on
December 23, 1783.
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A
Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation
The Journals
of the Continental Congress reports that George Washington
was unanimously selected as Commander in Chief of the
Continental Army on June
15, 1775. In a speech given to the Continental Congress
on June
16, Washington accepted the commission and requested
that he not receive a salary for his service, only that
his expenses be paid at the conclusion of the war. On
June
17, the Continental Congress drafted Washington’s
commission as commander in chief.
The Letters
of Delegates to Congress contains a letter that George
Washington wrote to Martha Washington on June 18,
1775, after receiving word of his commission as Commander
in Chief. Washington announced that the "whole army
raised for the defense of the American Cause shall be
put under my care, and that it is necessary for me to
proceed immediately to Boston to take upon me the Command
of it. You may believe me my dear Patsy, when I assure
you in the most solemn manner, that, so far from seeking
this appointment, I have used every endeavor in my power
to avoid it." The Letters of Delegates to Congress
also contains a letter
that John Adams sent to Abigail Adams stating, "I
can now inform you that the Congress have made Choice
of the modest and virtuous, the amiable, generous and
brave George Washington Esqr., to be the General of the
American Army, and that he is to repair as soon as possible
to the Camp before Boston."
Search
this collection to find additional information on
the George Washington and the Continental Army.
George
Washington Papers at the Library of Congress
In his acceptance speech to the Continental Congress
on June 16, 1775, Washington declined to receive a salary
for his service as Commander in Chief. Instead, he asked
only that his expenses be reimbursed at the end of the
war. On July 1, 1783, Washington provided the Continental
Board of Treasury with his Revolutionary
War Expense Account.
George Washington issued his
farewell order to the Continental Army on November
2, 1783. In an address to the Continental Congress on
December 23, 1783, Washington
resigned his commission as Commander in Chief of the
Continental Army and returned to private life at Mount
Vernon.
Search
Washington's Papers to find additional material related
to Washington's tenure as Commander-in-Chief during the
American Revolution.
Jump
Back in Time: Commander in Chief George Washington Resigned,
December 23, 1783.
American
Treasures at the Library of Congress - Washington's Commission
as Commander-in-Chief
George Washington, a leader of the revolutionary movement
in Virginia, a former commander of Virginia's frontier
forces, and a British colonial army officer, was commissioned
"commander-in-chief of the army of the United Colonies
of all the forces raised and to be raised by them"
on June 19, 1775, by the Continental Congress.
American
Memory Timeline: The American Revolution - Creating a Continental
Army
Contains an essay on the creation of the Continental
Army and links to related documents.
December
23, 1783
George Washington resigned his commission as Commander
in Chief of the Continental Army in the senate chamber
of the Maryland State House in Annapolis, where the Continental
Congress was meeting on December 23, 1783.
Mount Vernon,
Mount Vernon Ladies Association
The Papers of George
Washington, University of Virginia
Rediscovering
George Washington, PBS
The Writings
of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources,
1745-1799, Edited by John C. Fitzpatrick (1931-44),
University of Virginia
Buchanan, John. The Road to Valley
Forge: How Washington Built the Army that Won the Revolution.
Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, 2004. [Catalog
Record]
Ellis, Joseph J. His Excellency: George
Washington. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004. [Catalog
Record]
Flexner, James Thomas. Washington:
The Indispensable Man. Boston: Little, Brown and
Co., 1974. [Catalog
Record]
Freeman, Douglas Southall. George
Washington: A Biography. 7 vols. New York: Scribner,
1948-1957. [Catalog
Record]
McCullough, David G. 1776.
New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005. [Catalog
Record]
Patterson, Benton Rain. Washington
and Cornwallis: The Battle for America, 1775-1783.
Lanham, Md.: Taylor Trade Pub., 2004. [Catalog
Record]
McGowen, Tom. The Revolutionary War
and George Washington's Army in American History.
Berkeley Heights, N.J.: Enslow Publishers, 2004. [Catalog
Record]
Marrin, Albert. George Washington
& the Founding of a Nation. New York: Dutton
Children's Books, 2001. [Catalog
Record]
Osborne, Mary Pope. George Washington:
Leader of a New Nation. New York: Dial Books for
Young Readers, 1991. [Catalog
Record]
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