George Washington gained his first military experience during the French and Indian Wars, where his bravery and leadership made him a hero. When discord between the American colonies and the British Crown broke out in 1775, he was chosen to lead the Continental Army. He commanded 11,000 ill-trained and poorly equipped men for eight years, and at times it seemed only his will held the army together. Combining forces with French allies, Washington defeated the British army at Yorktown, Virginia, on October 19, 1781, ending British dominance in the former colonies. Washington also lived as a Virginia planter, inheriting Mount Vernon from his brother's family and actively farming the estate in the interludes between public service. Mount Vernon was his favorite home, and he sustained his family from its products, including tobacco, wool, dried fish, wheat, and other grains, despite poor soils and heavy debt on the property. He was a slave owner who profited from the system, though he was never entirely comfortable with it, and upon his death in 1799, his will directed that his slaves be freed.