History, Politics And Current Affairs

The well-known painting of Washington crossing the Delaware to bayonet a few Hessians in their sleep has James Monroe in the boat behind Washington, but Monroe and a small team were already inland.

Leutze’s painting is glorious—and wrong in almost every detail. The river resembles the Rhine more than the Delaware; the boat is too small and of inaccurate design; there is too much light for what was a night crossing; Washington did not cross standing up; the Stars and Stripes had not yet been adopted by the Continental Congress; and James Monroe was not holding the flag, not in the boat, and not even present with the army.

He was already across the river, and he was busy