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Demobilization and resignation
Main article: George Washington's resignation as commander-in-chief
General George Washington Resigning His Commission by John Trumbull (1824), a portrait that now hangs in the United States Capitol rotunda
When peace negotiations began in April 1782, both the British and French began gradually evacuating their forces.[225] The American treasury was empty, unpaid, and mutinous soldiers forced the adjournment of Congress, and Washington dispelled unrest by suppressing the Newburgh Conspiracy in March 1783; Congress promised officers a five-year bonus.[226] Washington submitted an account of $450,000 in expenses which he had advanced to the army. The account was settled, though it was allegedly vague about large sums and included expenses his wife had incurred through visits to his headquarters.[227]
The following month, a Congressional committee led by Alexander Hamilton began adapting the army for peacetime. In August 1783, Washington gave the Army's perspective to the committee in his Sentiments on a Peace Establishment, which advised Congress to keep a standing army, create a "national militia" of separate state units, and establish a navy and a national military academy.