OUR+GEROGE+WASHINGTON


 * //__work citedd ..__//**

http://books.google.com/books?id=In2mxwhtWCcC&pg=PA247&dq=george+washington%27s+involvement+in+the+revolutionary+war&sig=njGz6bC_gHEVuO5fcHIgLsa_d24

http://sc94.ameslab.gov/TOUR/gwash.html

http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/aa/wash


 * //__paragraphs straight from the cites!! ..__//**

Washington took command of the troops surrounding British-occupied Boston on July 3, devoting the next few months to training the undisciplined 14,000-man army and trying to secure urgently needed powder and other supplies. Early in March 1776, using cannon brought down from Ticonderoga by Henry Knox, Washington occupied Dorchester Heights, effectively commanding the city and forcing the British to evacuate on March 17. He then moved to defend New York City against the combined land and sea forces of Sir William Howe. In New York he committed a military blunder by occupying an untenable position in Brooklyn, although he saved his army by skillfully retreating from Manhattan into Westchester County and through New Jersey into Pennsylvania. In the last months of 1776, desperately short of men and supplies, Washington almost despaired. He had lost New York City to the British; enlistment was almost up for a number of the troops, and others were deserting in droves; civilian morale was falling rapidly; and Congress, faced with the possibility of a British attack on Philadelphia, had withdrawn from the city. Colonial morale was briefly revived by the capture of Trenton, N.J., a brilliantly conceived attack in which Washington crossed the Delaware River on Christmas night 1776 and surprised the predominantly Hessian garrison. Advancing to Princeton, N.J., he routed the British there on Jan. 3, 1777, but in September and October 1777 he suffered serious reverses in Pennsylvania--at Brandywine and Germantown. The major success of that year--the defeat (October 1777) of the British at Saratoga, N.Y.--had belonged not to Washington but to Benedict Arnold and Horatio Gates. The contrast between Washington's record and Gates's brilliant victory was one factor that led to the so-called Conway Cabal--an intrigue by some members of Congress and army officers to replace Washington with a more successful commander, probably Gates. Washington acted quickly, and the plan eventually collapsed due to lack of public support as well as to Washington's overall superiority to his rivals. After holding his bedraggled and dispirited army together during the difficult winter at Valley Forge, Washington learned that France had recognized American independence. With the aid of the Prussian Baron von Steuben and the French marquis de LaFayette, he concentrated on turning the army into a viable fighting force, and by spring he was ready to take the field again. In June 1778 he attacked the British near Monmouth Courthouse, N.J., on their withdrawal from Philadelphia to New York. Although American general Charles Lee's lack of enterprise ruined Washington's plan to strike a major blow at Sir Henry Clinton's army at Monmouth, the commander in chief's quick action on the field prevented an American defeat. In 1780 the main theater of the war shifted to the south. Although the campaigns in Virginia and the Carolinas were conducted by other generals, including Nathanael Greene and Daniel Morgan, Washington was still responsible for the overall direction of the war. After the arrival of the French army in 1780 he concentrated on coordinating allied efforts and in 1781 launched, in cooperation with the comte de Rochambeau and the comte d'Estaing, the brilliantly planned and executed Yorktown Campaign against Charles Cornwallis, securing (Oct. 19, 1781) the American victory. Washington had grown enormously in stature during the war. A man of unquestioned integrity, he began by accepting the advice of more experienced officers such as Gates and Charles Lee, but he quickly learned to trust his own judgment. He sometimes railed at Congress for its failure to supply troops and for the bungling fiscal measures that frustrated his efforts to secure adequate materiel. Gradually, however, he developed what was perhaps his greatest strength in a society suspicious of the military--his ability to deal effectively with civil authority. Whatever his private opinions, his relations with Congress and with the state governments were exemplary--despite the fact that his wartime powers sometimes amounted to dictatorial authority. On the battlefield Washington relied on a policy of trial and error, eventually becoming a master of improvisation. Often accused of being overly cautious, he could be bold when success seemed possible. He learned to use the short-term militia skillfully and to combine green troops with veterans to produce an efficient fighting force. After the war Washington returned to Mount Vernon, which had declined in his absence. Although he became president of the Society of the Cincinnati, an organization of former Revolutionary War officers, he avoided involvement in Virginia politics. Preferring to concentrate on restoring Mount Vernon, he added a greenhouse, a mill, an icehouse, and new land to the estate. He experimented with crop rotation, bred hunting dogs and horses, investigated the development of Potomac River navigation, undertook various commercial ventures, and traveled (1784) west to examine his land holdings near the Ohio River. His diary notes a steady stream of visitors, native and foreign; Mount Vernon, like its owner, had already become a national institution. In May 1787, Washington headed the Virginia delegation to the C__//**onstit**//__utional Convension in Philadelphia and was unanimously elected presiding officer. His presence lent prestige to the proceedings, and although he made few direct contributions, he generally supported the advocates of a strong central government. After the new Constitution was submitted to the states for ratification and became legally operative, he was unanimously elected president (1789)


 * washington led his army against the british and there comammander sir william howe || [[image:http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:00K3Sy7q2FGTsM:http://www.solarnavigator.net/history/explorers_history/american_war_independence_george_Washington_and_lafayette_at_valley_forge.jpg width="120" height="86" link="http://www.solarnavigator.net/history/explorers_history/american_war_independence_george_Washington_and_lafayette_at_valley_forge.jpg"]] ||
 * "the shot heard around the world" was fired at lexington in 1774 and the war began || [[image:http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:jEMqUfJ0GKdNwM:http://www.oneshotfirearms.com/freedom/Mvc-818x-flag.jpg width="125" height="119" link="http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.oneshotfirearms.com/freedom/Mvc-818x-flag.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.oneshotfirearms.com/freedom/index.html&h=392&w=412&sz=22&hl=en&start=5&tbnid=jEMqUfJ0GKdNwM:&tbnh=119&tbnw=125&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dthe%2Bshot%2Bheard%2Baround%2Bthe%2Bworld%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX"]] ||
 * washington took command of the troops surrounding british- occupied boston on july 3rd || [[image:http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:AlNaLEgETptf4M:http://www.myrevolutionarywar.com/images/780628a.jpg width="114" height="86" link="http://www.myrevolutionarywar.com/images/780628a.jpg"]] ||
 * on chirstmas night, 1776, washington crossed the delaware river and surprised the predominantly Hessian garison || [[image:http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:4ib0NK9eAA-4QM:http://www.rsar.org/military/tpriver.gif width="135" height="78" link="http://www.rsar.org/military/tpriver.gif"]] ||
 * Wahsinton acted quickly, and the plan eventually calasped due to lack of public support as well as to washingtons overall superiorioty to his rivals || [[image:http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:cmjBT4HRbuNdFM:http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en-commons/thumb/f/f1/275px-General_George_Washington_Resigning_his_Commission.jpg width="114" height="76" link="http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en-commons/thumb/f/f1/275px-General_George_Washington_Resigning_his_Commission.jpg"]] ||
 * wahsington resigned as a commander and retired to his estate || [[image:http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:AnE4__yLMc72yM:http://www.ourmarylandfamilies.com/gwash3.jpg width="69" height="86" link="http://www.ourmarylandfamilies.com/gwash3.jpg"]] ||
 * after the war washington returned to mount vernon || [[image:http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:hewbUzgtLr2JLM:http://www.fhsclassmates.com/images/lafayettegw.jpg width="103" height="86" link="http://www.fhsclassmates.com/images/lafayettegw.jpg"]] ||
 * Preferring to concentrate on restoring Mount Vernon, he added a greenhouse, a mill, an icehouse, and new land to the estate. || [[image:http://www.watson-palacios.org/photos/2006-england/CIMG2541.jpg width="175" height="130"]] ||
 * He experimented with crop rotation, bred hunting dogs and horses, investigated the development of Potomac River navigation, undertook various commercial ventures, and traveled (1784) west to examine his land holdings near the Ohio River. || [[image:http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:oyeRWBhsQG9rfM:http://untamedartists.mosaicglobe.com/files/image/Hunting_Dog__African_Wild_Dog_.jpg width="108" height="100" link="http://untamedartists.mosaicglobe.com/files/image/Hunting_Dog__African_Wild_Dog_.jpg"]] ||
 * In May 1787, Washington headed the Virginia delegation to the constitutional Convension in Philadelphia and was unanimously elected presiding officer || [[[][|http://untamedartists.mosaicglobe.com/files/image/Hunting_Dog__African_Wild_Dog_.jpg|][]|]][[image:http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:BrNKiGSgA8sqUM:http://www.charlottesville-area-real-estate.com/George_Washington.jpg width="106" height="119" link="http://www.charlottesville-area-real-estate.com/George_Washington.jpg"]] ||