Supreme Commander During The Revolutionary War
Dear succeeding citizenry,
I was born in February 22, 1732 in Westmoreland County, Virginia. I am the oldest child out of 6 siblings. According to Biography. com Editors, we are moderately prosperous members of Virginia’s “middling class”. Fast forwarding to adulthood, I am a Virginia plantation owner and a general/commander in chief of the army during the revolutionary war. Have you guessed it yet? Yours truly is a founding father and stand on the winning side of the revolutionary war as I led an army to triumph during the battle. I am George Washington, the first president of The United States of America but I’m writing this letter to talk about some of my time as a highly ranked commander in the revolutionary war, not as the first president.
Prior to my military career in the revolutionary war, I attended both public (with a mentor, so to speak) and home schooling where I learned various trades and skills. I was later named the head/owner of Mount Vernon in 1752 (due to tragic losses involving family). Mount Vernon is a plantation I take pride in. There is no better career than farming and I have plenty of land to do what I love because I managed to expand in the land I own. Many see my habitual prevail in authoritative roles - which led to my military career. I was given the title and profession of a high ranked military man by the Governor of Virginia, Robert Dinwiddie.
It is true that at the beginning, I did not have a ton of experience in leading large armies but I am a great leader and people look up to me, they follow me. I have exceptional leadership skills. Later, I found that amongst my peers, I was a very experienced commander. The downside to my new role as head of the army in the revolutionary war, I wasn’t prepared to spend so many long, long years in battle before I could return to the land I loved, Mount Vernon, Virginia. Oh, how I longed for the days to go back home. Before any success came great loss.
When I was defending New York and the independence clause, we were nearly destroyed. It was the largest battle in all of the revolutionary wars in regards to the number battling. We were completely flushed out of our position in a place called Gowanus Heights. “Washington’s forced on August 22, 1776, were flanked out of their positions atop the Gowanus Heights (part of today’s modern Brooklyn) and soundly defeated by William Howe’s roughly 200,000 man force on long Island. ”(mounthvernon. org). The British army moved across the way from Staten Island to stop in Brooklyn. Once there, they advanced onward during what was one of the very bloodiest battles of the time. Not only were we fighting in extremely rough terrain, I made the big mistake to split my army up. Sending half to defend New York City and the other half to defend Brooklyn. This was a major loss.
After numerous little defeats with York and many men soon to return to home, we were feeling defeated. We finally caught a break when the Brits stopped during the winter because they hoped the winter or a new spring would seize the rebellion between them. I had a trick up my sleeve, and a good idea. I arranged for my men to ride via boat to gain supplies and surprise the British. We headed across Delaware on Christmas day, of all days, and that’s when we struck. Hessian Garrison at Trenton. Originally, I organized a 3 wing/branch attack but icy river conditions intruded on the plan. Two of my wings/branches were unable to make it through. I was at the front lines, leading only a portion of my army across north Trenton for a whole 10 miles. Once again, I split my army up and placed one commander to attack at the North and another commander to attacked at the west. They were completely taken by surprise of the bold attack that went straight in town. Many were captured, although some did escape Hessian.
Not only did we win, but we also seized a ton of supplies. I lead my troops across that path again, and again over the new few days, concurring in battle and seizing supplies. Supplies were so much needed, as we were extremely short on supplies and that was a huge struggle for our troops at some points during the war. The best part about this portion of our battle, we only had a small handful of soldiers injured, none died. One of the soldiers that was injured was a man named James Monroe (another founding father like myself) who later became the President of the United States of America. Luckily he was only shot in the shoulder and was not killed.
I (and some of my other commanding officers) were considered war heroes. Later in December of 1783, I resigned from the military position of commander-in-chief. I was only retired briefly before taking on the role as the President of the United States which began in 1789 so I only had a 6 year gap between positions and before departing to New York for my new chapter in life. Of course, I spent my first retirement in Mount Vernon, Virginia which is also where I lived after resigning from my presidency. I cannot anticipate when I will die. . . but if I had to guess, I would say it will be at 67 years old (2 years after my resignation from presidency) and the year will be 1799. I want everyone in the future to know that during my presidency, I wrote the U. S. Constitution that contributed to your government and laws. I am a major factor in why you have basic rights and freedom as citizens. I provided a system of checks and balance and to limit the amount of power the government has over individuals.
