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Showing 11–20 of 649 results for Washington's War Tents

Cost of Revolution: Part 3 Wounded Veteran

Richard Mansergh St. George returned home to Ireland in 1778 physically and emotionally scarred from combat. His traumatic war experience tortured him. St. George’s wound gave him constant pain, made him hallucinate, and caused him to have “fits of insanity.” The death of his wife in 1792, four years into their marriage, magnified his agony. In moments of darkness, St. George used art to manage his “painful remembrances.” An emerging art movement called Romanticism offered St. George a way to express his suffering. As a direct response to the Enlightenment, the growing Industrial Revolution, and the violence of war and revolution, Romanticism emphasized the power of human emotion. Instead of painting realistic landscapes or scenes from the Bible or history, Romantic artists painted love, pain, and fantasy. Such art appealed to Richard Mansergh St. George's wounded heart and soul.
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Picturing Washington's Army: Verplanck’s Point | Washington’s Tent

Take a closer look at General Washington’s tent perched on a hill overlooking the encampment. Nearby, other tents made up the headquarters of the Continental Army. Charles-Louis-Victor, Prince de Broglie, a colonel in the Saintonge Regiment of the French Army, wrote about seeing Washington’s tent at Verplanck’s Point: “I noticed on a little hill which overlooked the camp...the quarters of General Washington.” 

Image: Museum of the American Revolution, Gift of the Landenberger Family Foundation 

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Picturing Washington's Army: West Point | Headquarters

Take a closer look at the buildings and parade ground at West Point. Cadets at the United States Military Academy continue to train on the same ground where the Continental Army encamped during the Revolutionary War. 

Image courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 

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Finding Freedom: Andrew - Revolutionary War Pension Application

On August 15, 1838, Andrew Ferguson told the story of his military service during the Revolutionary War at the courthouse in Monroe County, Indiana. This document records his story and the testimony of people who could verify Ferguson’s claims. Ferguson told his story in order to apply for a veteran’s pension (financial assistance) from the United States Government. Six years earlier, in 1832, Congress passed a law that allowed men who had served at least two years in the Continental army, militia, or navy during the war to apply for lifetime pensions. Following the application requirements, Andrew Ferguson appeared before his local court and described his military service under oath. Ferguson described himself as a “colored man” from Virginia who had served at battles such as King’s Mountain, Guilford Courthouse, and Eutaw Springs. His application was successful, and he began to receive payments the following year.

National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC/Fold3.com

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Among His Troops: Discovery

The Museum of the American Revolution’s newly discovered watercolor of the encampment at Verplanck’s Point is one of two known panoramic views of the Continental Army in camp, both of which army engineer Captain Pierre Charles L’Enfant created in 1782. When the Museum’s curators first saw the watercolor of Verplanck’s Point for sale at auction, they immediately saw similarities to L’Enfant’s panorama of West Point owned by the Library of Congress. An investigation of other original sources—diaries, letters, army orders, and maps—helped date both scenes to a narrow time period of three months, August through October 1782. Further study of the Verplanck’s Point watercolor’s provenance and a small ink inscription on the back confirmed that L’Enfant painted it during the Revolutionary War. The Museum’s discovery provides modern audiences with a glimpse into the highest professional moment of the Continental Army, the artistry of Pierre Charles L’Enfant, and a new eyewitness view of George Washington’s war tent. 



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Cost of Revolution: Battle of Paoli

Painted by Xavier della Gatta, 1782

Richard Mansergh St. George remembered Paoli as a “nocturnal bloody scene” and helped create the detailed painting of the battle reproduced here. The painting merges different moments from the battle into one action-packed view. It provides a rare, eyewitness glimpse into the violence of the Revolutionary War.

Museum of the American Revolution

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Picturing Washington's Army: Map of Verplanck’s Point | Washington’s Tent

As surveyor general of the Continental Army, Simeon De Witt created this map of the encampment at Verplanck’s Point in 1782. The labeled regiments, indicated by their state abbreviations, helped identify the tents depicted in Pierre Charles L’Enfant’s panoramic painting. Washington’s headquarters and the adjutant general’s tent (where L’Enfant stood to paint the panorama) are visible on this map. At the encampment, Thomas Foster, a sergeant in the 7th Massachusetts Regiment, wrote in his journal, “We have here a fine encampment which will furnish the public with a curious map someday or other.” 

Image courtesy of Houghton Library, Harvard University, MS Sparks 158.1 (3) Seq. 9

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Picturing Washington's Army: Map of Verplanck’s Point | Parade Ground

As surveyor general of the Continental Army, Simeon De Witt created this map of the encampment at Verplanck’s Point in 1782. The labeled regiments, indicated by their state abbreviations, helped identify the tents depicted in Pierre Charles L’Enfant’s panoramic painting. Washington’s headquarters and the adjutant general’s tent (where L’Enfant stood to paint the panorama) are visible on this map. At the encampment, Thomas Foster, a sergeant in the 7th Massachusetts Regiment, wrote in his journal, “We have here a fine encampment which will furnish the public with a curious map someday or other.” 

Image courtesy of Houghton Library, Harvard University, MS Sparks 158.1 (3) Seq. 9

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Picturing Washington's Army: Map of Verplanck’s Point | 1st Connecticut Brigade

As surveyor general of the Continental Army, Simeon De Witt created this map of the encampment at Verplanck’s Point in 1782. The labeled regiments, indicated by their state abbreviations, helped identify the tents depicted in Pierre Charles L’Enfant’s panoramic painting. Washington’s headquarters and the adjutant general’s tent (where L’Enfant stood to paint the panorama) are visible on this map. At the encampment, Thomas Foster, a sergeant in the 7th Massachusetts Regiment, wrote in his journal, “We have here a fine encampment which will furnish the public with a curious map someday or other.” 

Image courtesy of Houghton Library, Harvard University, MS Sparks 158.1 (3) Seq. 9

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Picturing Washington's Army: Map of Verplanck’s Point | 2nd Connecticut Brigade

As surveyor general of the Continental Army, Simeon De Witt created this map of the encampment at Verplanck’s Point in 1782. The labeled regiments, indicated by their state abbreviations, helped identify the tents depicted in Pierre Charles L’Enfant’s panoramic painting. Washington’s headquarters and the adjutant general’s tent (where L’Enfant stood to paint the panorama) are visible on this map. At the encampment, Thomas Foster, a sergeant in the 7th Massachusetts Regiment, wrote in his journal, “We have here a fine encampment which will furnish the public with a curious map someday or other.” 

Image courtesy of Houghton Library, Harvard University, MS Sparks 158.1 (3) Seq. 9

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