Washington and His Staff at Valley Forge by Veron Fletcher and Edward Moran

This print was created in Philadelphia in the tumultuous years leading up to the Civil War. Revolutionary War scenes are often used to convey patriotism. George Washington and five of his officers are featured in a scenic, snowy landscape. Valley Forge was headquarters for the Continental Army in 1777 and 1778 during the Revolutionary War and is infamous as the place where 2,500 American soldiers died during the winter from exposure and starvation. Based on the artist L. Veron Fletcher’s painting, which was exhibited at the Smithsonian in February 1855, the print was drawn on stone by Edward Moran, brother of noted artist Thomas Moran. The print came with a two-page key that included a biography on each of the soldiers and was meant to be educational. This scene highlights the heroic officers rather than depicting the gruesome hardships of war. The officers on horseback are the Marquis de Lafayette, Nathaniel Greene, Anthony Wayne, and Henry Knox. Standing in the background on the right is Col. John Brooks. It should be noted that Alexander Hamilton is not depicted though he was present at Valley Forge during the period. The building on the viewer's left was the headquarters, which was still standing at the time the print was drawn according to the key on the original sketch. Thousands of Americans had prints of Washington in their homes prior to the Civil War. But given the size and $15.00 cost- based on the advertisement by Hensel & Urwiler of Philadelphia- this chromolithograph was marketed for use in public buildings, well off schools, colleges, libraries, businesses such as an eating establishments, or by a wealthy individuals.

The original artist for this image was Veron Fletcher, a portrait painter, active in Philadelphia between 1848 and 1870, who was most probably Lewis Veron Fletcher (1820-1871), son of silversmith and merchant Thomas Charles Fletcher (1787-1866) and his wife Melinda Degrasse Veron (1798-1874) of Philadelphia.

The lithographer, Edward Moran, (1829-1901) was an English immigrant who came to the United States with his family in 1844. Edward was the elder brother to artists Thomas Moran and Peter Moran as well as a father, uncle, and mentor to an artistic dynasty. Trained by John Hamilton, Edward is most recognized for a set of 13 paintings which represented the history of marine life in the United States, however he also was a printmaker/lithographic artist like his brother, painted landscapes and historical portrait paintings that were exhibited at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

The publisher was Herline, a company base out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Lithographer/engraver, Edward Herline, was born in 1825 in what is now in Bavaria, and immigrated to the United States with his brother Gustav in the 1840s. They settled in Philadelphia, and founded Herline & Company, a lithography firm. In 1857, lithographer Daniel Hensel joined the company and the name of the company changed to Herline & Hensel until 1964 when the company obtained another partner and became known as Thurston, Herline & Company.

Where this page came from

This page was imported from Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Released by the Smithsonian Institution under CC0 through Smithsonian Open Access.

Nobody has written it yet — it is the source material at a new address, which is why search engines are asked to skip it and why no one earns from it. It is up for grabs: take it on, and it is yours to rewrite and to earn from.