On December 4, 1783, Washington took leave of his principal officers at New York City's Fraunces Tavern. He'd enjoyed the sweet taste of victory several times, but had also swallowed a few bitter defeats. The general had also pacified his former officers, many of whom had not been paid what they'd been promised. He implored these impatient patriots to back down from their threats of military takeover. As he relinquished command, he pledged further service to his new country to “the utmost of my abilities.”

Washington Irving, in Life of Washington, describes Washington's final farewell to his men as follows: “Having drunk this farewell benediction (a glass of wine), he [Washington] added with emotion, ‘I cannot come to each of you to take my leave, but shall be obliged if each of you will come and take me by the hand.’ “Not a word was spoken. The deep feeling and manly tenderness of these veterans in the parting moment could find no utterance in words. Silent and solemn they followed their loved commander as he left the room, passed through a corps of light infantry and proceeded on foot to Whitehall Ferry.”

Seeking a quiet life, he returned home to his estate at Mount Vernon in Virginia. En route, he stopped at Annapolis, Maryland, where Congress was meeting, to surrender his commission as commander in chief. But in the months and years that followed, others would hold him to his pledge of service.