Tuesday, May 31, 2022

Washington Chasing the Guide at the Battle of Brandywine





I found this picture at the yesteryearnews website. It is entitled:

Washington and his Staff Following a Guide Across Country at the Battle of Brandywine, September 11, 1777.

 It shows Washington madly chasing the guide who is leading him to where the British outflanked the American line. It was created by Arthur E. Becher as an illustration for the 1910 book,  On the Trail of Washington; a Narrative History of Washington's Boyhood and Manhood, Based on His Own Writings, Authentic Documents and Other Authoritative Information, by Frederick Trevor Hill. 

Below is how I described this scene in my novel The Riddle of Penncroft Farm:



Squire Cheyney handed me Daisy’s reins with a warning to waste no time, then rushed away with the aide. By this time the gunfire was quickening, making Buttercup as skittish as an unbroken filly. I was still trying to get up on her when General Washington himself emerged from the house, calling for a guide to lead him to Birmingham Road.

I half hoped and half feared that I would be that guide, but instead his aides brought up an elderly man from the neighborhood, Mr. Joseph Brown. Old Mr. Brown made every possible excuse not to go, but in the end was convinced at swordpoint where his duty lay. When he protested his lack of a horse, one of Washington’s aides dismounted from his own fine charger.

As Brown reluctantly climbed into the saddle, Washington sat impatiently on his own beautiful white horse. The instant the frightened farmer was in place, Washington snapped a whip at the rump of the reluctant guide’s horse, which leaped into a gallop. The general followed, spurring his own mount until its nose pushed into the leader’s flank like a colt suckling its mother. “Even this didn’t satisfy Washington, who cracked his whip and shouted, “Push along, old man, push along!” Spellbound, I watched the two race up the hill across the golden fields, jumping the fences as they came to them. I had never seen such horsemanship—superb on the part of the general, dreadful on the part of Mr. Brown. Behind them ran a ragged line of soldiers, rucksacks bobbing as they sped over the uneven ground.


Excerpt From: Dorothea Jensen. “The Riddle of Penncroft Farm.” Apple Books. 


I would like to point out that the fence in the picture appears to be a stake-and-rider fence, mentioned elsewhere in the story. The rider behind Washington on the left side has red hair, so I choose to believe it is supposed to be Lafayette. Mr. Brown, does not look old enough to be an accurate depiction of the reluctant guide, however!



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