The problems which George Washington overcame during the War of Independence are truly incredible and ought not to be forgotten. Washington was highly esteemed in this nation for good reason.

He had to depend upon volunteers (since the Congress had no power to draft) and there were very few at the beginning willing to volunteer (upwards of 40% of the population was pro-British). Those who did volunteer were poorly trained (if trained at all) and would frequently desert because of the conditions that existed. For this reason, George Washington had to fight with an army of between 3,000 and 15,000 men who were poorly supplied and often in desperate straits, against the well supplied British troops which numbered well over 60,000.