President George Washington, born on February 22, 1732, was the eldest son of Augustine Washington's second marriage. When he was eleven, his father died, and the hopes of his mother were to take him to England to pursue education but the wish never came true. George's half-brother took the young teen to Lord Fairfax where he got employed among groups of sixteen boys to survey the lord's land. George was strong, handsome and good in mathematics. When he was seventeen, his brother fell sick of tuberculosis that led to his death. Before his death, Lawrence was the leader of a militia group and after his death, George took over the responsibility. With no prior military training, George took over the position, and that marked the beginning of his military life that would see him being declared as the continental army commander in 1775.
His first military expedition was in Ohio where he led a group of poorly untrained 150 men to combat the expansion of the French. They attacked the group and killed ten French soldiers and a French envoy. However, Native Americans who had collaborated with the French attacked them, and they later released after he signed a treaty that that he admitted breaching military protocol. The French spread propaganda of their victory in America but the British did not react in any way. Consequently, George was upset with the British failure to protect his honor, and he resigned from the military. The need to send a troop with an experienced aide to the army commander, General Edward Braddock necessitated the call for George back to the army. In 1755, Edward and Washington attacked the French at Fort Duquesne. He warned the general of the native and French war tactics, but the general failed to follow the advice and the died in the course of the war. As a reward for the war and the approval of his leadership qualities, he was made the commander of all the Virginia forces. He learnt how to train, raise, lead and protect an army at the age of 22.
In the revolutionary, Washington and his troop suffered defeat to England commander sir William Howe who overtook New York forcing Washington to retreat northward where he faced another loss at White Plains. With the British thinking that the congress would seek peace got a surprise when Washington attacked the unsuspecting British army at Trenton forcing it to surrender and then crushed the opposition troops at Princeton causing huge losses to the British. Washington ensured the British troops in New York were contained in the island as he dealt with those on land till the British the day he resigned his position as an army leader. Washington’s success tactic in the revolution war was to maintain his troops and to make calculated attacks so that he would not drain his manpower supply. It was the biggest achievement to defeat such a reinforced, well equipped and highly trained army such as the British army which had much experience.
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