George Washington, Determining Factor Of Us Over British
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George Washington: The Determining Factor for the American’s Win Over the British
George Washington, in my mind, was the largest determining factor in the American’s defeat against the overpowering British reign. His leadership, patience, self-discipline, organizing ability, hard work ethics, faith in the eventual success of the struggling fight for independence, and unwillingness to give up; is what made him a great man for the job to be the leader of the Continental Army (Jones 91). He was without a doubt one of the worst strategically minded people to lead an army, but he had generals that he chose and knew that helped him out a lot with that (Jones 89).
Washington was born on February 22, 1732, on a small farmhouse near the Potomac River in Virginia. His father, Augustus, owned a line of plantations making tobacco. So that meant Washington grew up in a very financially stable family. At a young age of 12 Washington had to run one of his father’s plantations because his father died, which was not uncommon at that time (Davis 12). With taking this job, he had to watch over about 50 slaves and a good amount of land at a very young age. This could have been some reasoning why Washington was a very good leader and knew how to give orders. Although running a plantation could help him with leadership, he didn’t get the best education that he could have gotten. He only got elementary schooling but he was a very good student in math (Jones 3). Therefore he went on to further education in mathematics, which would sooner help him with surveying.
Washington’s job as a surveyor would help him no the lands he was treading when he would soon become the leader of the Continental Army, he also made good money (Jones 7).
When Washington came back from taking care of his half brother in the Caribbean, he was appointed as a major in the Virginia militia. Instantly, people that he worked with saw that he had raw commanding skills (Jones 28). In the beginning of his career, Washington lost some battles and won some battles. He soon resigned and then came back, because he applied to be an aid to Gen. Edward Braddock. He soon had to step up big time when Braddock was shot and killed at a battle. Washington, Gen. Forbes, and 5000 troops took Ft. Duquesne from the French without a fight, but then he soon resigned again. He then returned to Mt. Vernon to be a planter once again. But soon after he would be called upon once again.
In May 1775 he was appointed the leader of the Continental Army. He did not have to fight for the position of being the leader; everyone was assured of his leadership abilities (Jones 31). Washington was most definitely not full of himself; he did not promise victory or defeat (Flexner 60). Being leader of this threadbare army, Washington was in one of the worst positions possible. His army consisted of 10,000 untrained, disorderly, and un-supplied men. He had a lot of work to do before him but was not scared by it, and he worked his hardest to get them into a battle shape and mindset. He was always at a huge disadvantage because the Continentals had no navy at the time, while the British had the best navy during the time (Jones 90-91). Throughout his career as the leader he would often send very stern letters to congress asking for more supplies and troops. This would sometimes get him in trouble but he was willing to do it for his troops (Flexner 87). In his first large battle, Washington didn’t do too bad of a job, he was able to
pin the Redcoats back into Boston. He encouraged his army to do their best every time. Washington could somewhat “predict” where the British were going to attack next, that
would help them defend because it gave them more time to set up (Davis 85). One instance of this happening was in August of ’76. He thought that the next attack would be on NYC, so he gathered 27, 000 men and strung them across in a chain to help defend the city. Even though his plan didn’t work he had the correct mindset, the chain was too thin. Washington was always on the lookout for supplies for his army, he would sometimes even force farmers to give up goods to the army (Jones 64). Washington’s first defeats came at Brandywine and Germantown. Even though they lost (due to fog) this was another example of him predicting where the British would come up next, he also did not let his army get done the least bit. He would always keep their heads up because mental toughness played a big part (Jones 68). With Washington as a good leader but not the most strategically imposed person, he chose good generals that would make up for his lack in that area (Davis 68-70). And Washington was completely fine in coming to terms with, that he was not the best strategically minded person (Davis 71). One of Washington’s worst hardships was during the winter of ’77-’78. Conditions were terrible during this time.