Washington at Monmouth

Artist Felix O. C. Darley

Engraver L. A. Bolett

Periodca. 1850 - 1860

MediumEngraving on paper

Dimensions7 × 7.5 in. (17.8 × 19.1 cm)

InscribedInscribed in bottom margin center, "WASHINGTON AT MONMOUTH."

SignedInscribed lower left, "L. A. Bolett." Inscribed lower right, "Darley."

ClassificationsPrints

Credit LineMuseum Collection

Object number2003.500.16

DescriptionHistorical depiction of the moment General George Washington, right center with arm upraised, confronted General Charles Lee, in shadow left. Washington is accompanied by two officers behind him. Lee is surrounded by militiamen, one of which in the foreground has placed his musket over his shoulder. A broken cannon wheel appears in the right foreground, while other troops are depicted in the background.
Curatorial RemarksEn route to Monmouth Courthouse, Washington was informed that Lee’s division of Continentals was pulling back. This engraving after a painting by Felix O. C. Darley depicts the general riding forward to halt his second-in-command at the head of a column of troops, their exchange taking place on a hill near the West Ravine. Washington was angry at the turn of events, but after rebuking Lee and ordering his regiments to return to the battlefield, he forgave Lee and restored him to his command. Lee and his men fought valiantly; indeed, a few days after the battle, he wrote to a letter to Isaac Collins of the New Jersey Gazette in which he acknowledged that although not a complete victory for the patriots, the Battle of Monmouth was a “very handsome check, which did the Americans honor.” However, Lee was stung by his exchange with Washington on the battlefield. Calling his commander’s treatment of him an “act of cruel injustice” (The Life and Memoirs of the Late Major General Lee [1813]), he wrote an inappropriate letter to his superior, demanding an apology. But his strategy failed. Lee was convicted of violating orders, conducting an unnecessary retreat, and insolence towards Washington. Although he had been disinclined to attack the British in the first place, the first two charges were unfounded, having been based more on army politics than on Lee’s actions on the battlefield. But because of his disrespectful attitude, Lee was suspended from his command and resigned. He died in a tavern in Philadelphia in 1782, having spent the previous years trying to clear his name of rumored misconduct at Monmouth. NotesThe confrontation between Washington and Lee took place at the Battle of Monmouth on 28 June 1778.

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