George Washington's Commission as Commander in Chief

The Continental Congress commissioned George Washington as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army on June 19, 1775. Washington was selected over other candidates such as John Hancock based on his previous military experience and the hope that a leader from Virginia could help unite the colonies. Washington left for Massachusetts within days of receiving his commission and assumed command of the Continental Army in Cambridge on July 3, 1775. After eight years of war, Washington resigned his commission as Commander in Chief on December 23, 1783.

Library of Congress Web Site | External Web Sites | Selected Bibliography

Digital Collections

A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875

George Washington Papers

America's Library

Exhibitions

American Treasures at the Library of Congress - Washington's Commission as Commander-in-Chief George Washington, a leader of the revolutionary movement in Virginia, a former commander of Virginia's frontier forces, and a British colonial army officer, was commissioned "commander-in-chief of the army of the United Colonies of all the forces raised and to be raised by them" on June 19, 1775, by the Continental Congress.

The Teachers Page

American Memory Timeline: The American Revolution - Creating a Continental Army Contains an essay on the creation of the Continental Army and links to related documents.

Today in History

December 23, 1783 George Washington resigned his commission as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army in the senate chamber of the Maryland State House in Annapolis, where the Continental Congress was meeting on December 23, 1783.

External Web Sites

Selected Bibliography

Buchanan, John. The Road to Valley Forge: How Washington Built the Army that Won the Revolution. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, 2004. [Catalog Record] Ellis, Joseph J. His Excellency: George Washington. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004. [Catalog Record] Flexner, James Thomas. Washington: The Indispensable Man. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1974. [Catalog Record] Freeman, Douglas Southall. George Washington: A Biography. 7 vols. New York: Scribner, 1948-1957. [Catalog Record] McCullough, David G. 1776. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005. [Catalog Record] Patterson, Benton Rain. Washington and Cornwallis: The Battle for America, 1775-1783. Lanham, Md.: Taylor Trade Pub., 2004. [Catalog Record]

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