George Washington - Crossing the Delaware December 25, 1776

 After driving the British from Boston in March 1776, George Washington then faced the refurbished British in New York City and surrounding areas.  The continentals were handed several humiliating defeats and were then themselves forced to abandon the NYC area, seeking in neighboring New Jersey. 

Washington then devised a daring attack on Hessian mercenaries in winter camp in Trenton, New Jersey set to take place on Christmas day 1776.  The bold move paid off, and Washington's continental forces took the Hessians by surprise in the early morning, winning a resounding, morale boosting victory.

To pull off this attack, Washington's forces had to cross the Delaware River, overnight on Christmas Eve, so very much in winter conditions with ice flows crowding the river making the crossing all the more risky. This event has been dramatically depicted in several highly recognized pieces.

Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

While this painting strikingly shows this crossing, it suffers from many historical inaccuracies. Notably, the boat is of the wrong shape, the craft used were called "Durham" boats which are long, double ended, and canoe shaped.  (Visit the Washington Crossing Historic Park article titled "Where Did Washington Get the Durham Boats Used in the Crossing?" for more information on this type of craft.) The Stars and Strips flagged shown was not yet authorized by Congress. And Washington's cinematic pose would have been impractical given the icy conditions of the crossing.

Source: Museum of Fine Arts Boston

For Clark Kinnaird, the above painting, by Thomas Sully, produced in 1819, is a better representation of this stirring event. Several engravings have been made of this painting as well, shown below.

Source: Library of Congress

Source: Library Company of Philadelphia

Commemorative print after Thomas Sully's 1819 painting "Washington's Passage of the Delaware." Depicts General Washington astride his horse atop the barren bank of the Delaware River. He tips his hat and acknowledges his troops below, who cross the river by barge. To the left of Washington, white men soldiers move a cannon. In the right are several soldiers on horseback, including Prince Whipple, enslaved African American man and bodyguard to Washington Aide, General William Whipple.

George Washington - Mary Ball Washington

There are few primary resources for Mary Ball Washington so it is difficult to get a full sense of who she was and her character other than her motherhood of George Washington.  At best, she is remembered as a strong and independent woman as many recent biographers of her son have described her in much less flattering language. 

Source: New York Public Library

She married Augustine Washington in 1731 and was then widowed in 1743 with responsibility for 5 children and the management of Ferry Farm, Augustine's estate.  Simply said, she had to be strong and independent.

Mount Vernon Ladies Association produced this biographic video of Martha.

Recent biographers of Martha Ball Washington have been uncovered her story and life.  Mount Vernon recently hosted a discussion with these authors.

Martha did live to see George become the first President of the United States.  This engraving, done years later, depicts the last visit between the two of them. It credits George as saying:

All that I am I owe to my mother.

Source: New York Public Library

George Washington - Hero's Journey at 21

At the age of 21 George Washington was charged with delivering an important message to the French in the Ohio Valley from Robert Dinwiddie.  The French were encroaching on territory which the English claimed. Before a military excursion into this territory the English were compelled to warn the French of their claims and give the French an opportunity to withdraw peaceably.  

Washington and a team of 6 others, including Christopher Gist, a surveyor and woodsman familiar with the back country, made this dangerous journey in the late fall of 1753.  Gist has made previous trips in the Ohio Valley at the behest of the Ohio Company, so was well suited as a guide for the younger Washington. 

On this journey Washington encountered several Native American kings including Shingriss (of the Delawares), and the "Half-King" of the Six Nations.  He gained a first hand education on the intricacies of diplomacy with both Native Americans and the French. His message to the French, which was amicably received did not have the desired intent to cause the French to withdraw. This result necessitated a second journey into the Ohio country with greater numbers and a military aura. Washington kept a detailed journal of his experience which is and interesting view into his mindset and learnings.

After meeting with the French, to hasten their return to the Virginia colony, Gist and Washington separated from the other members of the expedition. Gist and Washington made a harrowing attempt at crossing the Allegheny river on a poorly made raft with ice flows and freezing temperatures. Washington was thrown from the raft into the icy waters and he and Gist ultimately sheltered on a small island in the middle of the river, continuing the next day after the river completely froze over.

These two pieces, done many years later, depict there harrowing attempt at the Allegheny River crossing. 

Source: New York Public Library

Source: Mount Vernon Ladies' Association

While returning, Washington found that he must also visit another important Native American leader, 

Queen Aliquippa, which is depicted in this engraving.

Sources:
Library of Congress
New York Public Library

Find out more about this hero's journey of George Washington and Christopher Gist at the Mount Vernon website.

Mount Vernon - Digital Encyclopedia - Allegheny Expedition
Mount Vernon - Digital Encyclopedia - Christopher Gist

Mount Vernon - Digital Encyclopedia - The Journal of Major George Washington

George Washington - First Cabinet

The U.S. Constitution did not stipulate that the President have a cabinet.  George Washington established the first cabinet upon taking office and realizing that he needed trusted advisors to support him in his new role and in the formation of the executive branch of government.

Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky discusses the formation of the first cabinet in this White House Historical Association produced video.

Source: Library of Congress

The above depiction was produced and published in 1876, and shows from left to right:

1. President, George Washington
2. Secretary of War, Henry Knox
3. Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton
4. Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson
5. Attorney General, Edmund Randolph

An American historical painter, Alonzo Chappel, produced a painting of the first cabinet in 1879.  The picture below is from the Knox Museum, where it is on display.

Sources
Knox Museum Facebook Page
Museum of the City of New York

George Washington - Alexis Coe - You Never Forget Your First

Alexis Coe authored a re-examination of George Washington in the book titled "You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington". She surveyed recent biography of Washington and found that a fresh perspective was needed based on how the source material was interpreted and presented by the likes of Ron Chernow, Richard Brookhiser, Joseph Ellis and other male historians. Her book is meant for a wide audience and I have been enjoying listening to the audio book.

She participated in a talk about her book via a Mount Vernon live stream.

 

Find more background on Alexis Coe in this article from the newsmagazine of the American Historical Association.

George Washington - Hunt Spoils at Mount Vernon

George Washington as a man of his era was a renown sportsman, particularly for his horse back riding expertise and for his love of dogs. The scene in the below engraving tells much of a tale about himself, his family and his times, but through the lens of the mid-nineteenth century.

Source: Library of Congress

The title of this piece is "Mount Vernon in the olden time. Washington at 30 years of age", its title and depiction is a romanticized view of Washington and his environs.  This depiction indicates that he is age 30 years of age, so the year is intended to be about 1762. By that year a structure had existed on the property along the Potomac for roughly 28 years, so it hardly seems an "olden time" for Mount Vernon. George had resided there since late 1754, or about 8 years. Initially he rented it from his late half-brother's widow Anne, who died in 1761 when it then came fully into his possession. I suppose it is "olden times" relative to when the engraving was produced in 1856, and not to the age it represents for the estate or George.

The Encyclopedia Virginia provides a meaningful description of the scene.

This mid-nineteenth-century engraving depicts a post-hunting scene in an outbuilding at Mount Vernon, the Fairfax County plantation then owned by thirty-year-old George Washington. The future president, dressed in buckskin with a powder horn strung across his chest, sits after a successful hunt. Washington's dogs are at his feet, as well as part of the bounty of the day—several birds, a duck, and a hare. At the back of the room, an enslaved man wearing a head scarf weighs a large dead stag. At bottom right, an enslaved boy sits next to a wicker carrying basket. At right, George Washington's wife, Martha Custis Washington, wears a fine gown and pearls in her hair as she brings in two goblets and a refreshing drink for Washington and his hunting companion. Martha is accompanied by a well-dressed girl and boy—her two surviving children from her previous marriage to Daniel Parke Custis. The columns of the Mount Vernon mansion can be seen through the open doorway.

The engraver Henry Bryan Hall blatantly appears to borrow from John Wollaston's portrait of a young Martha Washington which was painted in 1757 (or 5 years earlier).

Sources
Museums at Washington and Lee University: Online Exhibits
Mount Vernon Ladies' Association

George Washington - Mount Vernon

While recently browsing the Facebook page George Washington's Mount Vernon recently posted watercolor painting of a view from Mount Vernon, I was struck by the natural beauty of the view.  It's no wonder George Washington missed his home while he was away for so many years during the American Revolution and his Presidency.

Source: Maryland Center for History and Culture

Here is part of the description provided by The Maryland Center for History and Culture:

Watercolor on paper of "View to the North from the Lawn at Mount Vernon", 1796, from the Latrobe Sketchbooks, by Benjamin Henry Latrobe. This view, looking north from Mt. Vernon shows both Little Hunting Creek and the Potomac River on July 17, 1796. Today, the land across the water is part of Alexandria, Virginia.

Additionally, the National Gallery of Art includes this watercolor and several other pieces by Latrobe in its history of Mount Vernon and landscape design.

For even more background on Mount Vernon and its landscape design, the Mount Vernon website provides a thorough overview.

George Washington - Visualizing His Likeness - Part 2

Most Americans can conjure up Washington's appearance thanks to the $1 bill and the classic Lansdowne Portrait. James Thomas Flexner, whose biographies of Washington were published in the 1960s and 70s, wrote an article titled "What Washington Really Looked Like" for the New York Times published on February 19, 1956. His piece featured some lesser known portraits of Washington done from life, which  challenges the iconic images of Washington and humanizes him. 

What I also find interesting is the Flexner story appeared 9 years prior to his first biography of Washington which was published in 1965. I'd like to think that writing this piece was part of what inspired Flexner!

Source: New York Public Library Digital Collections

Source: New York Public Library Digital Collections

To me the most striking portraits are those which show Washington in his latter, mature years.  He was a legend and myth in his own time, and to me these show the burden this placed on him.

Rembrandt Peale, in 1795 at the age of 17, produced this painting of Washington.

Source: National Portrait Gallery

The National Portrait Gallery includes a humorous anecdote:

In 1795, the Philadelphia artist Charles Willson Peale persuaded President George Washington to pose for his seventeen-year-old son Rembrandt, who wanted to paint the president’s portrait. Upon learning that Rembrandt was joined in the painting room by his father, his brother Raphaelle, and his Uncle James (all artists), Gilbert Stuart quipped that the president was in danger of being “Pealed all around.”

The NYT article shows a reproduction that Rembrandt produced 29 years later, which I find ironic since the article claims to show Washington's true likeness and yet one portrait included is a reproduction of an earlier painting!

Source: Museum of Fine Arts

Finally, here is the last live drawing of Washington.

Source: New York Public Library Digital Collections

The description from the Flexner NYT article:

This tragic image, by Charles de St. Memin, reveals the decline of a once heroic physique. Age 66.

George Washington was flesh and blood, and hopefully these portraits show he was human like all of us.

George Washington - First Inauguration

This morning I was leafing through my copy of "The Glorious Burden" by Stefan Lorant and came across a mid-19th century depiction of George Washington's first inauguration. This led me down a quick rabbit hole of finding the source image, which then brought me to several other fantastic sources.

Source: Library of Congress

This was published as an engraving by Henry S. Sadd, the Library of Congress provides this additional note:

Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1849 by John Neale, in the Clerk's Office of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

See if you can identify who else is in this scene, I'll give you some clues:

• Member's of the first cabinet
• The first Vice President
• Key Members of the first Congress
• The governor of New York
• Even a bishop

Below you will find a key to who is depicted. In addition, the publisher, John Neale, included the full text of Washington's inaugural address.

Source: Library of Congress

While using google image search to dig more sources I also come upon a representation of Washington receiving word that he had been elected as the President. 

Source: New York Public Library

This drawing shows Charles Thomson, the Secretary of the Congress, who was sent to inform Washington of his election.  While it may not of occurred this way, it is fun to think it may have!

Finally here is a key to the print of Washington's delivery of the first inaugural address.  How may did you find?

Source: Library of Congress

George Washington - James Thomas Flexner Interview

James Thomas Flexner wrote a 4 volume biography of George Washington generally considered the definitive biography of Washington.  Flexner also produced a single book abridgement of his 4 volumes, which has been sitting on my bookshelf for sometime now, just waiting to be read.

I was happy to recently find this interview by Bill Moyers with Flexner regarding Washington and his writings. Seemingly, it was done in connection to the televised mini-series about Washington which aired on CBS in April 1984. I did try watching the mini-series however I did not make it far since I have been spoiled by the high production quality of the HBO mini-series on John Adams.

Nonetheless, it is fascinating to listen to Flexner and his thoughts on Washington.

George Washington - Visualizing His Likeness - Part 1

George Washington sat for several portrait artists during his lifetime. Charles Willson Peale and Gilbert Stuart produced arguably the most well known paintings of the first president. Mount Vernon Ladies' Association nicely summarizes all life portraits of Washington. 

My favorites are Charles Willson Peale's first and last portraitures, as they show the confidant man of 1772 and the aged, mature man of 1795.

Source: Museums at Washington and Lee University

The 1772 portrait is rich with symbols that show the importance Washington had already achieved during the French and Indian War and colonial period.

The "Museums at Washington and Lee University: Online Exhibits" has an excellent analysis of the symbols and context for this portrait.

 

Source: New-York Historical Society

The 1795 portrait comes halfway through his second term as the first President of the United States. It shows a man with steely determination yet wearied by the burdens of the Presidency. At the time of this portrait Washington had led the nation through the ratification of the contentious and unpopular Jay Treaty.