[94] As tensions rose in 1774, he helped train county militias in Virginia and organized enforcement of the Continental Association boycott of British goods instituted by the Congress.[95]
The American Revolutionary War began on April 19, 1775, with the Battles of Lexington and Concord and the Siege of Boston.[96] The colonists were divided over breaking away from British rule and split into two factions: Patriots who rejected British rule, and Loyalists who desired to remain subject to the King.[97] General Thomas Gage was commander of British forces in America at the beginning of the war.[98] Upon hearing the shocking news of the onset of war, Washington was "sobered and dismayed",[99] and he hastily departed Mount Vernon on May 4, 1775, to join the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia.[100]

Commander in chief (1775–1783)
See also: American Revolutionary War § American strategy
Further information: Military career of George Washington and Washington's aides-de-camp
General Washington, Commander of the Continental Army, a 1776 portrait by Charles Willson Peale
Congress created the Continental Army on June 14, 1775, and Samuel and John Adams nominated Washington to become its commander-in-chief. 