George Washington risked his money, his prestige and even his life to be on the forefront of the American revolution. After independence was declared, he assumed the command of the Colonial army. The men were largely untrained and came from all the different colonies and had to whipped into a fighting unit. Many enlisted for only a short time and so constant replacements were needed. Moreover, supplies were scarce. The colonial government found it hard to collect taxes and the colonies often did not provide their share of supplies. But Washington did what had to be done, kept the army together, kept after the suppliers, borrowed money and won the long war over the well-trained and well-equipped British army and its mercenaries.
