The mobility necessary to a military campaign dictated that all of General Washington's field accoutrements be portable. Originally this tent would have been equipped with folding camp stools as well as folding camp tables that would have fit into a wagon. (A 1776 invoice lists camp stools purchased for Washington's use.) The tent top would have fit in a canvas-and-leather carrying case. This tent would only have been used for a headquarters or when dining while Washington and the troops were on the move. In a stationary situation, Washington's headquarters would have been housed in a building.

On the eve of the American Revolution, George Washington had been retired from military service for 23 years. Yet, Washington's disillusionment with British treatment of American subjects had become so acute that he was once again ready to assume military command. He had already established a reputation for military leadership that crossed colonial borders, and the colonies needed a military leader who would elicit respect and a sense of unity. In 1775, upon his arrival in Philadelphia as one of the delegates to the Second Continental Congress, he was elected to command the American Continental Army. By the time the war had ended in 1783, Washington had served eight and a half years as Commander in Chief.

As a gentleman, Washington had learned the necessity of establishing oneself in a "uniformly handsome and genteel manner" and the importance of distinguishing among social classes. As a colonel of the Virginia Regiment, he had concluded that the "character and appearance" of officers is important. These lessons from experience, as well as the need to make the ragtag Continental Army appear to the enemy to be a legitimate professional military organization, prompted Washington to demand the deference due a commanding general, and equip himself with the proper accoutrements.

It was almost inevitable that George Washington, one of the most respected men in the colonies and the hero of the Revolutionary War, would be unanimously elected the first president of the United States. Washington was well aware of the importance of the example he was setting for all presidents to come, and performed his duties with this is mind. It was Washington who decided that the president should live in the same place where he worked, his New York lodgings becoming the precursor to the White House; he created the presidential cabinet, with whom he met regularly to go over matters of state; and he helped to select the site and design the city that would become the capital of the new nation. Washington's courage in battle, dignified bearing, and universally admired strength of character earned him the name "Father of His Country," and to this day we recognize the importance of his contributions to the United States.