This Week in History

December 23, 1783, General George Washington resigned his commission as Commander and Chief of the Continental Army. The resignation took place in the Senate Chamber of the Maryland State House in Annapolis, Maryland where the Continental Congress was meeting.

Washington left Annapolis having bid farewell to his officers on December 24th. His distention was his plantation on the Potomac River in Virginia. He arrived late afternoon on Christmas Eve, now a private citizen for the first time in nearly nine years.

Source(s): Library of Congress

Compiled by Bob Valen