1783
John Trumbull’s painting of Washington resigning his commission to Congress at Annapolis, in the US Capitol rotunda.Image: John Trumbull · Public domainpolitics · Americas
Washington hands back his commission
With the War of Independence won and the British gone from New York, George Washington stood before the Continental Congress in the Maryland State House at Annapolis at noon on 23 December 1783 and resigned as commander-in-chief. ‘Having now finished the work assigned me,’ he said, ‘I retire from the great theatre of action.’ He handed his commission to the president of Congress, Thomas Mifflin, and rode home to Mount Vernon in time for Christmas. A victorious general giving up power of his own accord astonished Europe, and established that the army would answer to elected civilians.
Source: George Washington’s Mount Vernon: resignation of military commission ↗
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