 In another step that may have been calculated to clip the young colonel's wings, Dinwiddie reorganized the Virginia Regiment into separate companies, with no ranks above captain; Washington resigned rather than accept a demotion.In 1755, as part of the British military escalation, Major General Edward Braddock arrived in North America with a force of British Army regulars to head a major effort against the French in the Ohio Country.Washington wanted to serve on the expedition, but refused to do so as a provincial officer, since he would be outranked by even junior officers in the regular army establishment.