''General George Washington at Trenton'' is a large full-length portrait in oil painted in 1792 by the American artist

John Trumbull John Trumbull (June 6, 1756November 10, 1843) was an American artist of the early independence period, notable for his historical paintings of the American Revolutionary War, of which he was a veteran. He has been called the "Painter of the Rev ...

of General

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. This is the night after the Battle of the Assunpink Creek, also known as the Second Battle of Trenton, and before the decisive victory at the

Battle of Princeton The Battle of Princeton was a battle of the American Revolutionary War, fought near Princeton, New Jersey on January 3, 1777, and ending in a small victory for the Colonials. General Lord Cornwallis had left 1,400 British troops under the comman ...

the next day. The artist considered this portrait "the best certainly of those which I painted." The portrait is on view at the Yale University Art Gallery in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

, an 1806 gift of the

Society of the Cincinnati The Society of the Cincinnati is a fraternal, hereditary society founded in 1783 to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. Membership is largely restricted to descendants of military officers wh ...

in Connecticut. It was commissioned by the city of

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

, but was rejected by the city, resulting in Trumbull painting another version.

Commission

The work was commissioned by the city of

, in 1792 to commemorate President Washington's visit there in May 1791 during his Southern Tour. Trumbull had visited Charleston earlier, in February 1791, to paint portraits of several leaders, including

Charles Cotesworth Pinckney Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (February 25, 1746 – August 16, 1825) was an American Founding Father, statesman of South Carolina, Revolutionary War veteran, and delegate to the Constitutional Convention where he signed the United States Constit ...

. Trumbull took the commission from

William Loughton Smith William Loughton Smith (1758December 19, 1812) was an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat from Charleston, South Carolina. He represented South Carolina in the United States House of Representatives from 1789 until 1797, during which time ...

, a representative of South Carolina and representing Charleston, ''con amore'' (with love), to paint Washington "in the most sublime moment ... the evening previous to the battle of Princeton".

Description

General George Washington is in full military uniform, a blue coat over

buff Buff or BUFF may refer to: People * Buff (surname), a list of people * Buff (nickname), a list of people * Johnny Buff, ring name of American world champion boxer John Lisky (1888–1955) * Buff Bagwell, a ring name of American professional wr ...

waistcoat and pants. He holds a spyglass in his right hand and a sword in his left hand. Behind him is Blueskin, his spirited, light-colored horse, restrained by a groom. Further in the distance is the bridge over the Assunpink Creek and nearby mill, along with artillery and campfires.

Charleston version

Washington at the City of Charleston by John Trumbull

After Smith rejected the painting, Trumbull painted a similar, but different version for the city, entitled ''Washington at the City of Charleston''. It was now set at Charleston, with the city in the background, the Cooper River and boats in the middle ground, and local plants in the foreground. Washington is shown as Smith wanted, "calm, tranquil, peaceful." He wears gloves on both hands, holds a hat in his left hand which is shown resting on his sword, while holding a

walking stick A walking stick or walking cane is a device used primarily to aid walking, provide postural stability or support, or assist in maintaining a good posture. Some designs also serve as a fashion accessory, or are used for self-defense. Walking sti ...

with his right hand. The painting is now on view in the Charleston City Hall.

Other versions

Trumbull painted a much smaller version ( x ), entitled ''George Washington before the Battle of Trenton'', –94, likely for his friend Charles Wilkes, a New York banker. It is similar to the original, but with changes in the background and a

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

horse. It was bequested to the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

in 1922 and is on view there. In 1794, Trumbull went to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

as secretary of legation for

John Jay John Jay (December 12, 1745 – May 17, 1829) was an American statesman, patriot, diplomat, abolitionist, signatory of the Treaty of Paris, and a Founding Father of the United States. He served as the second governor of New York and the first ...

during the negotiations of the Jay Treaty. He had made a small version of this portrait and later supervised its engraving by Thomas Cheesman, entitled ''George Washington'', in 1796. It was noted by historian

Justin Winsor Justin Winsor (January 2, 1831October 22, 1897) was an American writer, librarian, and historian. His historical work had strong bibliographical and cartographical elements. He was an authority on the early history of North America and was elec ...

as the best engraving of Trumbull's paintings and was used as the basis for several other engravings. In 1845, William Warner Jr. engraved ''Gen. Washington''. Illman & Sons engraved a version ''George Washington - On the Great Occasion of our Presidential Election'' in 1858. Alfred Daggett engraved a version, ''Washington at Trenton, New Jersey, January 2d, 1777'', that was published in ''Historical Collections of New Jersey, Past and Present'' by John W. Barber and Henry Howe in 1868. An engraving entitled, ''General Washington at the Bridge Over the Assunpink Creek'', was published in the 1898 book, ''The Battles of Trenton and Princeton'', by historian William S. Stryker.

Critical reception

Trumbull described the thinking of Washington after seeing the superiority of the enemy at Trenton: Historian and painter William Dunlap after viewing it in the Trumbull Gallery at Yale said: "This is, in many respects, a fine picture, and painted in the artist's best days."

Gallery

File:George Washington before the Battle of Trenton by John Trumbull at The Met.jpg, ''George Washington before the Battle of Trenton'', by

, –94 File:George Washington, engraving by Cheesman, after Trumbull.jpg, ''George Washington'', engraving by Thomas Cheesman, 1796 File:Gen. Washington, engraving by Warner, after Trumbull.jpg, ''Gen. Washington'', on the battle field at Trenton, engraving by William Warner Jr., 1845 File:George Washington - On the Great Occasion of our Presidential Election, Trumbull, Illman.jpg, ''George Washington - On the Great Occasion of our Presidential Election'', engraved by Illman & Sons, 1858 File:General Washington at the Bridge Over the Assunpink Creek, engraving after Trumbull.jpg, ''General Washington at the Bridge Over the Assunpink Creek'', published by William S. Stryker, 1898 File:Washington on the Eve of the Battle of Princeton, Detroit Publishing Co.jpg, ''Washington on the Eve of the Battle of Princeton'', photo by

Detroit Publishing Co. The Detroit Publishing Company was an American photographic publishing firm best known for its large assortment of photochrom color postcards. History The Detroit Publishing Company was started by publisher William A. Livingstone and photographer ...

, 1912

Legacy

The

United States Post Office The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U. ...

has issued several

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...

s of George Washington from the portrait detail in this painting. The first was issued in 1860 with a ninety-cent value. This stamp was revised and issued the next year, 1861. In 1931, the

Battle of Yorktown The Siege of Yorktown, also known as the Battle of Yorktown, the surrender at Yorktown, or the German battle (from the presence of Germans in all three armies), beginning on September 28, 1781, and ending on October 19, 1781, at Yorktown, Virgi ...

commemorative with a two-cent value included this portrait. A stamp with a six-cent value was issued as part of the

Washington Bicentennial stamps of 1932 The Washington Bicentennial stamps of 1932 are postage stamps issued by the United States government in 1932 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of U.S. President George Washington's birth. Twelve stamps were issued as a collection, with each on ...

. Finally, the Army and Navy Commemorative Series included a stamp with one-cent value in 1936. File:Washington 1860 Issue-90c.jpg, File:Washington 1861 Issue-90c.jpg, File:Yorktown 1931 Issue-2c.jpg, File:usps711.jpg, File:Washington Green2 Army Issue 1937-1c.jpg, On February 21, 1915, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' published a full-page image of the painting with the caption "''General Washington'', painted from life by his staff officer and friend, Col. John Trumbull", in the Picture section, the first time in Rotogravure.

References

External links

* Owner: Yale University Art Gallery * {{George Washington 1792 paintings 18th-century portraits George Washington in art Horses in art New Jersey in the American Revolution Paintings about the American Revolution Paintings by John Trumbull

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