Editing Frederick County, Virginia (section)

=== Colonial era ===
As [[commanding officer]] of the new Colonial Virginia regiment in 1754, [[Colonel]] [[George Washington]] located his headquarters in Winchester before and during the [[George Washington in the French and Indian War|French and Indian War]]. He resigned from military service in 1758. He represented Frederick County in his first elective office, having been elected to the [[House of Burgesses]] in 1758 and 1761.

Seventeen years later, on June 15, 1775, the Continental Congress "elected" George Washington as [[commander-in-chief]] of the yet-to-be-created [[Continental Army]]. He accepted the appointment the next day.<ref name="loc">{{cite web|url= http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/amrev/contarmy/accepts.html |title=Creating a Continental Army|work=The American Revolution 1763-1783|publisher=Library of Congress |date=n.d.|access-date=August 26, 2020}}</ref> This preceded the Congress's declaration of independence and the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War.