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Birth
The first child of Augustine Washington and his second wife, Mary Ball Washington. Baby George was born in present-day Colonial Beach in Virginia. -
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French and Indian War Service
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Braddock Disaster
Braddock's force was approximately 1,400 men. The British faced a French and Indian force estimated to number between 300 and 900. The battle, frequently described as an ambush, was actually a meeting engagement, The quick and effective response of the French and Indians led many of Braddock's men to believe they had been ambushed. By sunset, the surviving British and colonial forces were fleeing. Braddock died of his wounds during the long retreat. -
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Mount Vernon
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Married Martha Dandridge Custis
Widowed at 25, she had four children with her late husband. Two of which survived to young adulthood. She brought great wealth to her second marriage with Washington, which enabled him to buy much land and many slaves to add to his personal estate. Was the first First Lady, even though the phrase was not coined until after her death. Was reffered to as Lady Washington. -
Switched Mount Vernon's Crop to Wheat
Previously was tobacco. He did this in order to get out of debt from not taking care of his farm and paying more attention to his personal affairs. -
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American Revolution
Ended with the "Treaty of Paris". -
Victory at Boston
The Siege of Boston was the opening battle of the American Revolution. Colonial militiamen blocked the passage by land for the British Army stationed in the town of Boston. In June of 1775 the British took control of Bunker hill and Breed's hill, although they had taken substantial losses. With 1,000 killed, including 92 officers. Right there is an example of the Continental Army using Guerrilla Warfare. Even after the British's seizing of the hills, they still had no way to access Boston. -
Defeat at New York
British general William Howe saw New York's value as a strategic position becuase of it's incredibly easy access to the Hudson River. In August he sent huge naval and land forces to captue it. Washington was outnumbered and defeated, so he chose to withdrawl and cross the east river. -
Retreat From Yorktown and Fabian Counterattacks
After the defeat of Yorktown, George Washington made his greatest military feat. In the dead of night he retreated across the East River. Astonishingly without loss of any men or any materials. On the night of December 25th Washington called for a supprisng counterattack on a Hessian outpost in New Jersey where he captured over 1,000 Hessians. He then followed with another attack on Princeton. -
Loss of Philidelphia
General Howe landed his troops south of Philadelphia at the northern end of Chesapeake Bay, and turned Washington's flank. After further maneuvers forced Washington to retreat away from the city, British troops marched unopposed into Philadelphia. Washington's failure to defend the capital brought much criticism from Congress -
Valley Forge
Valley Forge was an Colonial camp during the freezing cold winter of 1777-1778. Over six months, historians estimate that anywhere from 2,000 to over 3,000 soldiers died out of the original 11,000, the majority dying from disease. That is a loss of 18%-27% of Washington's men. -
Victory at Yorktown
After a French naval victory (The Battle of Chesapeak Bay) the Americans and French trapped the British army in Virginia. The surrender of Lord Cornwallis and his army at Yorktown on October 17, 1781 marked the end of fighting in the American Revolution. Later the "Treaty of Paris" recognized the independence of the United States. -
Becomes President
The electoral college unanimously voted Washington as the president. He is the only president ever to recieve a 100% vote by the electoral college. -
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Presidency
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Death
After a day of riding in the snow and hail on horseback, George never changed his clothes. He developed a sore throat that worsenned. One morning he awakened barely able to talk or swallow. He then ordered his doctors to practice a form of treatment called bloodletting. The premise of bloodletting is to extract a reasonable amount of blood from your body to get the illness out. This is very dangerous and almost certainly cuased Wahsington's death because of blood loss.
