Officer (America)

My name is George Washington. Im from Virginia. Its the 15 th of

June in 1775, Congress just ordered me to take command of the
Continental Army. We had already fought the British a little. April
19th our Massachusetts militia fought them in Lexington and
Concord. We are fighting against the British in for our freedom
from their tyranny. Ive never really managed such a large group
of soldiers. I tell the men around me, I beg it may be
remembered by every gentleman in the room, that I this day
declare with the utmost sincerity, I do not think myself equal to
the command I am honored with. We only had about 14,500
men. They werent trained very well, but they were brave, active,
and athletic. (Two weeks later) Im in Cambridge, Massachusetts,
working to add our militia to the army. Our army, unlike the
militias, did not fight for one colony, but for all of them, united
against a common foe. I promise to be dedicated, without a
doubt, to our army, their losses are mine, their victories are mine.
No matter the troubles and hardships my men may face, I shall
stay true to my country. I realize that I am the face of the
colonies, an agent of the people. I serve the public, I fight for the
creation of a popular republic. I dig trenches with my men, and I
repeatedly state that I would happily give my position, should the
public ask me. We have a war to win. The first thing I need to do
is train my men, make them good and efficient at fighting. Most of
the statesmen think that an untrained militia is more determined
than an army, so it wasnt easy to get my plan done. This myth
of the militia was fed by an early victory in Bunker Hill. I still
didnt believe it. The best success Ive seen was with trained men,
so I will stand by that. If I am to fight a professional army, by God,
I will have a trained army myself. First, I had to convince the
people to get over their obsession with militia. I had to woo
doubtful recruits and I had to lobby, my men werent staying.
After their enlistment was up they didnt come back. I kept trying
to assure the public that a standing army would not oppress
them, that we were fighting for them. Thanks to the large number

of immigrants, I was able to raise the army I needed. But I had yet
to train them. Once I had my army, I had to find a way to beat the
British. Maybe an all-out attack, to cripple them. The British are a
lot better at that though. They had naval support, and veterans
who could be counted on under fire. I tried to confront them like
that at first, only sheer luck saved us from certain death. I
realized that the only way to win our war, was to not lose. The
British would no doubt slaughter us in any more one-on-one
conflicts, so I need a way to attack without direct confrontation. I
fought small battles I knew I could win. For example, the Battle of
Trenton. My men and I endured a sharp, hard winter, full of death,
in order to win a major fight. We caught them off guard. I knew
they would be drunk, as that was the only day every year they
were allowed to drink on duty, so I took the chance and attacked.
It was a victory. If we won a lot of small battles, we could weaken
the British, and maybe swing the tables enough to give us a major
win. (Months later) My strategy worked! We beat the British in the
North, and convinced the French to fight alongside us. Things are
starting to look up for us! We might win! (Years later) Weve been
fighting for 6 years. Ive heard that General Cornwallis had his
troops in Yorktown. I got the French troops to help us attack and
corner the British. Cornwallis surrendered! Its the 19 th of October
in the year 1781. This should mark the end of the war, though we
havent signed a treaty. (Two years later) Its over. The Treaty of
Paris has been signed. We won.