1776
May 23: Mrs. Washington is inoculated in Philadelphia to protect her from smallpox, which is threatening the American army.

May 19: John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress, commissioned Charles Willson Peale to paint companion portraits of George and Martha Washington for his home. The Washingtons ordered miniature copies for themselves (those miniatures are now at Mount Vernon).

Mid-June: Martha Washington leaves New York for Philadelphia when the British began arriving in New York Harbor on June 30. She is in Philadelphia when the Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th.

August 21: Martha Washington becomes a grandmother for the first time with the birth of her eldest surviving granddaughter, Eliza Parke Custis, at Mount Airy Plantation in Maryland.

1777
March: Martha Washington leaves Mount Vernon for her husband's winter quarters in Morristown, New Jersey.

December 31: Martha Washington's second granddaughter, Martha Parke Custis, who will be known as "Patty," is born at Mount Vernon.

1778
Late January: Martha Washington leaves Mount Vernon for the army's winter quarters at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania; she arrives in early February.

Early November: Martha Washington leaves Mount Vernon for Philadelphia where her husband joins her on December 22nd. They spend Christmas together for the first time in four years.

1779
February 2: George and Martha Washington leave Philadelphia on their way to his winter quarters at Middle Brook, New Jersey.

March 21: Martha Washington's becomes a grandmother for the third time with the birth of Eleanor Parke Custis, who will be called "Nelly."

November: Martha Washington sets out from Mount Vernon for Philadelphia; she stays in the city until just around Christmas when she moves to the army's winter quarters at Morristown, New Jersey.