What obstacles did General George Washington face?

Washington faced many obstacles. The first was the fact that his Continental Army was typically outnumbered in most engagements, and that the British had the naval power to move troops from one location to the next very quickly. For this reason, Washington fought what he called a "war of posts," trying to avoid open conflict with the British. He preferred to strike smaller forces separated from the main body of the British army, as he...

Washington faced many obstacles. The first was the fact that his Continental Army was typically outnumbered in most engagements, and that the British had the naval power to move troops from one location to the next very quickly. For this reason, Washington fought what he called a "war of posts," trying to avoid open conflict with the British. He preferred to strike smaller forces separated from the main body of the British army, as he did at Trenton and Princeton in December 1776-January 1777. In this way, he hoped to wear down the superior British force.

Another equally formidable obstacle was the fact that Washington struggled to supply his army. This was in part due to the consistent inability of Congress to raise money to support the war. Washington's troops lacked the supplies, especially food, that the British had, and he constantly pressured Congress to provide for his troops. As a result, the Continental Army lived, for most of the war, on the edge of starvation, though the situation improved somewhat with French intervention.

Finally, Washington had access to a relatively small number of trained troops. The militia that would be remembered as the heroes of the war were actually largely ineffective in combat, and Washington in particular held their contributions in very low esteem. His challenge was to provide a raw fighting force with the discipline necessary to trade blows with the British and Hessian mercenaries, some of the most highly trained soldiers on the planet. Partly owing to this gap in training, Washington's men actually won fairly few open engagements with the British.