CONTEXT
In early 1778, an alliance between France and the new United States of America forced the main British Army to abandon the rebel capital of Philadelphia to concentrate their forces in New York City. As the British marched across New Jersey, the main Continental Army marched from Valley Forge to intercept them. At Monmouth, a Continental Army attack on the rear of the British column failed, but when the British counter attacked, they were bloodily repulsed. After a 3-hour cannonade – the largest field artillery duel of the war – the British were forced to withdraw. The Continental Army and Washington had won a major psychological victory.
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| “Washington Rallying the Troops at Monmouth” 23 feet by 13 feet Painting by 1857 Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze |
From the Internet... Leutze’s painting is one of those heroic mid-nineteenth century canvases which one can look at again and again without seeing everything. The painter tried to be meticulously accurate with regard to uniforms, weapons, facial types of the soldiers, and i^mtntits of the leading figures. The coni|X)sition is carefully balanced, but packed with action. In the center, Washington, the sunlight shining on his wrathful face, waves aloft his sword as he starts to rally the troops of the advance corps. Hamilton and a bareheaded Lafayette have ridden up with him and arc reining in their horses. Lee sits back in the saddle, his crestfallen face in shadow. In the foreground, exhausted riflemen—and a thirsty dog—scoop water from a spring; farther back, on the left, the soldiers raise a cheer for their Commander in Chief, while some of them have already turned to fire on the redcoats, who can be seen outside Monmoulh Court House, in the distance at upper left. On the hilltop, behind the figure of Washington, American artillery gallops into position to stem the retreat, and at far right the regular ranks of Continentals approach the scene to do battle.
Note: This painting now resides in Freehold, NJ at the Monmouth County Historical Society Museum.
