After that he never wavered, but he was not a sudden or a shallow clamorer for Independence.

He believed that the sober second sense of the British would lead them to perceive that they had made a mistake.

When at length the Colonies had to provide themselves with an army and to undertake a war, he was the only candidate seriously considered for General, although John Hancock, who had made his peacock way so successfully in many walks of life, thought that he alone was worthy of the position.

Who shall describe Washington's life as Commander-in-Chief of the Colonial forces during the Revolutionary War?
What other commander ever had a task like his?
For a few weeks the troops led by Napoleon--the barefooted and ragged heroes of Lodi and Arcola and Marengo--were equally destitute, but victory brought them food and clothes and prosperity.

Whereas Washington's men had no comfort before victory and none after it.
Some of the military critics to-day deny Washington's right to be ranked among the great military commanders of the world, but the truth is that he commanded during nearly eight years and won one of the supreme crucial wars of history against far superior forces.