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George Washington as a Military Commander

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AMERICAN MILITARY UNVERSITY

GEORGE WASHINGTON AS A MILITARY COMMANDER

Brian Mann
HIST 101: American History to 1877
30 Nov 2011

George Washington was born 22nd February 1732 in a wealthy Virginia family. He was one of ten children. He was well educated and enjoyed learning. At the age of 16 he met Lord Thomas Fairfax, whom owned a large piece of large north of the Virginia colony. Lord Fairfax also gave him his first job as a surveyor for the Shenandoah Valley. He earned enough money by the age of 21 to begin buying his own land. In 1752 his older brother died leaving the Mount Vernon. In 1752 Governor Dinwiddie appointed him district adjutant general of the militia with the rank of Major. As Adjutant General he oversaw the militia. ("Toward Fact: A Biography " )
In 1753 Governor Dinwiddie sent Major Washington to the French Commander with a letter. The French were told to leave British lands. Washington left Williamsburg, Virginia on October 31, 1753, and completed the round trip of more than 1,000 miles by horse, foot, canoe, and raft in about ten weeks. ("Journal of Major George Washington (1754)" )
He was accompanied by an explorer/surveyor, an Indian interpret and a few other men to help with the bags and to use as guards. During his journey to see the French Commander he kept a journal. He kept records of French troops and the size of their force. He even interview French deserters. Not only did he deliver a letter to the French he made sure the Indian stayed allied with England. ("Journal of Major George Washington (1754)" )
In 1754 he was promoted to Colonel and was given the command of the entire Virginia Militia. Governor Dinwiddie tasked him on protecting the Ohio trading Company on the Mississippi by setting up a fort for their defense. As Commander of the Virginia Militia he wanted a more flexible system than that of the British Army.
In June of 1775, George Washington became the Commander and Chief of the American Army. This is the first time the American colonies has ever had an organized Army. The colonies have been fighting wars for the pas s century and a half. Even in the French and Indian War the colonies made up temporary call-ups of militias, or citizen-soldiers, to meet emergencies, from Indian attacks to French raids. There was no common organization. His first general Orders cause a great deal of pain for the newly formed American Army. He named his major generals. He wanted an account of all supplies on hand. He court martial the quartermaster because of unaccountable supplies and held a funeral for a Colonel. His last order caused a stir. He ordered all his officers to fix the latrine issue to prevent them from being unhealthy. This was important because of the amount of men he had at the time. An unhealthy Army was not good to have when trying to win wars. (Lengel, Edward 2005;)
As a visionary leader, Washington developed an organizational culture with one goal of winning wars. As Commanding General his primary focus was as an organizer and an administrator and his secondary focus was a tactician. Both military and civilians followed him into victory even when he faced tough decisions. He faced many impossible situations. His men only had six year enlistments. Once that is up the men went home to their families. There were desertions, the men were poorly equipped and he faced a newly elect Congress that did not want to give up money. Then there were those that were still loyal to the king. (Stazesky )
An example of his Leadership was the after the famous crossing of the Delaware in 1776. Many Soldiers wanted to leave. Washington knew he needed these men stay. He appealed to them asking them to stay and fight for Independents. The majority of the Soldiers decided to stay and fight for not only Independents, but also to fight for General Washington. Another example was in 1778 during the battle of Monmouth. Gerenal Cornwall’s army was set to defeat the American Army. Washington took control and forced the British army to retreat. Lafayette said that "his presence stopped the retreat" and Hamilton also wrote "Other officers have great merit in performing their parts well, but he directed the whole with the skill of a master workman...I never saw the General to so much advantage." The British retreated to New York. (Brookhiser, Richard 2009;)
In conclusion General Washington was considered one of the greatest leaders of all time. He went from being a land owner to leading a successful American army. He though only of his men and never try to take advantage of his power that was granted to him. “His Soldiers love him. The American people love him. People listen when he talked. A leader must know who he is, and who he is dealing with; and then he must lead.” (Stazesky)

Select Bibliography

Brookhiser, Richard. 2009. George washington on leadership. New York, NY, USA: Basic Books.

Lengel, Edward. 2005. General george washington : A military life. Westminster, MD, USA: Random House, Incorporated.

Stazesky, Richard. "George Washington, Genius in Leadership." Accessed November 30, 2011. http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/articles/stazesky.html.

University of Virginia, "Toward Fact: A Biography ." Accessed November 26, 2011. http://xroads.virginia.edu/~cap/gw/gwbio.html.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln, "The Journal of Major George Washington (1754)." Accessed November 26, 2011. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/etas/33/.

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