[Alberta's Child]

. . . since George Washington set the example for national above state loyalty among the military several generations earlier.

That's a good point. I would make the case, though, that Washington's attitudes about "national above state loyalty" were very much influenced by the fact that he had once served in the British army, and not in a colonial militia.

[Ditto]

That's a good point. I would make the case, though, that Washington's attitudes about "national above state loyalty" were very much influenced by the fact that he had once served in the British army, and not in a colonial militia.

Washington never served in the British Army. He asked for a commission after Braddock's defeat but was rejected. He served out the rest of the French and Indian War as a member of the Virginia Militia.