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He fortunately never joined the British army. He remained a colonial officer in the Virginia militia.

I"m not an expert in British military law, but the Brits didn't worry about what something might be called when they set out to kill you.

Back in England Parliament was split between a PRO AMERICA faction and a PRO BRITAIN faction ~ they were not about to hang each other ~ although the Crown would have if they'd had the chance.

There were several other wars taking place within the broader framework of the Revolution. For instance France and England continued some of their old disputes ~ which meant the French Navy helped the US with a blockade and the French Army actually landed troops. Spain had its own grievances against England and their forces in America were deployed to aid the American side ~ to the extent possible. We respected the Mississippi as their boundary in respect for their being our allies. French "bittereinders" in the Green River Valley (Western Kentucky) and along the Wabash resumed their part of the earlier war (we call the French and Indian War). French Acadians had their own set of grievances and began settling them.

Scandinavian settlements had their own grievance against Britain that had to do with their long term alliance with the Swedish ruling clique.

Then there was the civil war in South Carolina. Throughout the war the Brits continued to send highlanders to that colony to fight highlanders already there. Some ancient clanwars were rekindled.

It was far from clear that Great Britain had ever been anything other than a distant colonial power as far as most Americans were concerned. Even George Washington had years before gotten into raising his own hybrid wheat to cut him free from English flour supplies ~

George Washington was a British subject. He took up arms and led an army against King George. Was he a traitor?

Of course he was a traitor by British law! Stupid question.

The American colonies launched a revolution, which is by definition a revolt against an existing political and legal system, using (again by definition) illegal or at least non-legal means.

Revolutionists are heroes if they win, and traitors if they lose.

“Treason doth never prosper: what's the reason? Why if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”