George Washington after the Battle of Princeton

Charles Willson Peale painted this portrait of George Washington for Elias Boudinot of New Jersey, a fellow officer and friend of Washington.

The battle, fought on January 3, 1777, marked the first time in open combat that American troops broke a British line. Washington himself rode at the front of his troops, in direct fire, seemingly invincible. Peale knew Washington’s leadership at Princeton well, as he served in the battle and saw fire at Princeton. Here, he portrayed the victorious general standing at ease with Princeton's Nassau Hall in the background. His stance and bearing express unshakable confidence in America's cause.

This portrait shows George Washington in military uniform as commander in chief and was painted in 1780. He wears a navy blue coat with buff-colored facings, gold buttons and gold epaulettes decorated with three silver stars, with a buff-colored waistcoat and a white shirt ruffle. A bright blue silk sash is worn diagonally across his body from over his proper left shoulder. At Washington’s left is an officer in a navy blue coat with red collar and facings holds the bridle of a chestnut brown horse with a white star. A navy blue battle flag with a circle of 13 white stars flies just above their heads, and the tips of several bayonets appear between the figures. In the background is also a dozen figures-- Continental soldiers guarding British soldiers -- marching toward the center of the image. Behind them are a group of six buildings, the central and largest of them representing Princeton University's Nassau Hall. 

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