what war was george washington president during?
American Revolutionary War
entailment
 Washington 's Continental Army , also newly funded by $ 20 @,@ 000 in French gold , delivered the final blow to the British in 1781 , after a French naval victory allowed American and French forces to trap a British army in Virginia , preventing reinforcement by Clinton from the North . The surrender at Yorktown on October 19 , 1781 , marked the end of major fighting in continental North America . Cornwallis failed to appear at the official surrender ceremony , and sent General Charles Oharrow as his proxy ; Washington then assigned his role to Benjamin Lincoln of equal rank . 

entailment
 Washington 's activities from late 1778 to 1780 were more diplomatic and organizational , as his army remained outside New York , watching Sir Henry Clinton 's army that occupied the city . Washington strategized with the French on how best to cooperate in actions against the British , leading to ultimately unsuccessful attempts to dislodge the British from Newport , Rhode Island and Savannah , Georgia . His attention was also drawn to the frontier war , which prompted the 1779 Continental Army expedition of John Sullivan into upstate New York . When General Clinton sent the turncoat General Benedict Arnold to raid in Virginia , Washington began to detach elements of his army to face the growing threat there . The arrival of Lord Cornwallis in Virginia after campaigning in the south presented Washington with an opportunity to strike a decisive blow . Washington 's army and the French army moved south to face Cornwallis , and a cooperative French navy under Admiral de Grasse successfully disrupted British attempts to control of the Chesapeake Bay , completing the entrapment of Cornwallis , who surrendered after the Siege of Yorktown in October 1781 . Although Yorktown marked the end of significant hostilities in North America , the British still occupied New York and other cities , so Washington had to maintain the army in the face of a bankrupt Congress and troops that were at times mutinous over conditions and pay . The army was formally disbanded after peace in 1783 , and Washington resigned his commission as commander @-@ in @-@ chief on December 23 , 1783 . 

entailment
 In the early years of the war Washington was often in the middle of the action , first directing the Siege of Boston to its successful conclusion , but then losing New York City and almost losing New Jersey before winning surprising and decisive victories at Trenton and Princeton at the end of the 1776 campaign season . At the end of the year in both 1775 and 1776 , he had to deal with expiring enlistments , since the Congress had only authorized the army 's existence for single years . With the 1777 establishment of a more permanent army structure and the introduction of three @-@ year enlistments , Washington built a reliable stable of experienced troops , although hard currency and supplies of all types were difficult to come by . In 1777 Washington was again defeated in the defense of Philadelphia , but sent critical support to Horatio Gates that made the defeat of Burgoyne at Saratoga possible . Following a difficult winter at Valley Forge and the entry of France into the war in 1778 , Washington followed the British army as it withdrew from Philadelphia back to New York , and fought an ultimately inconclusive battle at Monmouth Court House in New Jersey . 

entailment
 As the leader of the first successful revolution against a colonial empire in world history , Washington became an international icon for liberation and nationalism . The Federalists made him the symbol of their party but for many years , the Jeffersonians continued to distrust his influence and delayed building the Washington Monument . After Yorktown , his service as Commander in Chief brought him election as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences . 

entailment
 General Washington essentially assumed three roles during the war . First , in 1775 – 77 , and again in 1781 he provided leadership of troops against the main British forces . Although he lost many of his battles , he never surrendered his army during the war , and he continued to fight the British relentlessly until the war 's end . He plotted the overall strategy of the war , in cooperation with Congress . 
