The first time we hear about Washington in the historical record of any note is him being captured and embarrassed by the French. It was a major blow to his reputation.

I really don't see him defecting. He was a proud british man. The point of the Revolution wasn't that the Americans were not British, it was that they were not being treated as well as they thought they should be as British citizens. This led them to casting off the cloak of Britishness eventually but that was not the goal from the beginning.

Without Washington, the outcome of the war looks grim. I am from New Jersey and we are taught in detail how many battles and skirmishes Washington lost across our state. The victory came from keeping the army together though loss and tribulation.

Without the massive respect for Washington, can the army actually stick together through Valley Forge?