{"data":{"description":"Washington Crossing the Delaware is one of the most famous images to come out of the American Revolution yet it contains at least one inaccuracy.","title":"Washington Crossing The Delaware","post_type":"page","content":"\u003ch3 class=\"firsth1\"\u003eWhat's Wrong With This Picture?\u003c/h3\u003e\r\nDELAWARE RIVER, December 25, 1776. Facing disaster, Washington takes a desperate chance, crossing the Delaware in a surprise attack on the Hessian encampment at Trenton. This painting, \u003cstrong\u003e\"Washington Crossing the Delaware\"\u003c/strong\u003e by Emanuel Leutze, is one of the most famous pictorial images to come out of the American Revolution. Nonetheless, it contains at least one glaring historical inaccuracy. Study the painting and see if you can detect the error.\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"imgctr\"\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003ca href=\"/earlyamerica/early-america-review/volume-1/washington-crossing-delaware/delaware\"\u003e\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-4389 size-full\" src=\"/images/earlyamerica/delaware.jpg\" alt=\"Washington Crossing The Delaware River\" width=\"612\" height=\"425\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cp\u003e George Washington Crossing The Delaware River, December 25th, 1776\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cstrong\u003eErrors Found In Famous Painting of Washington Crossing the Delaware\u003c/strong\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"imgctr\"\u003e\r\n\u003ch3 class=\"firsth1\"\u003e\u003c/h3\u003e\r\n\u003ca href=\"/earlyamerica/early-america-review/volume-1/washington-crossing-delaware/strsnstrpsflag\"\u003e\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-4391 size-full\" src=\"/images/earlyamerica/strsnstrpsflag.jpg\" alt=\"Stars and Stripes flag\" width=\"216\" height=\"168\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cp\u003e The Stars and Stripes Flag\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u0026nbsp;\r\n\u003ch3 class=\"firsth1\"\u003eThis is What's Wrong With This Picture!\u003c/h3\u003e\r\nLEUTZE'S PAINTING of Washington Crossing the Delaware contains three errors often discussed by historians. The most egregious, since it involves an out-and-out historical inaccuracy, is the flag being carried. Notice that it is the flag commonly referred to as \"The Stars and Stripes.\" This flag did not exist at the time Washington made his famous crossing.\r\n\r\n\u0026nbsp;\r\n\r\n\u003ca href=\"/earlyamerica/early-america-review/volume-1/washington-crossing-delaware/grandunionflag\"\u003e\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-4390\" src=\"/images/earlyamerica/grandunionflag.jpg\" alt=\"Grand Union Flag\" width=\"216\" height=\"164\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cp\u003e The Grand Union Flag\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe flag in Leutze's painting was not adopted until June 14, 1777, six months later.\u003c/strong\u003e Leutze should have shown the Grand Union flag, officially hoisted by Washington himself on January 2, 1776, at Cambridge, Massachusetts, as the standard of the Continental Army and the first national flag. The other errors, albeit minor in nature, are the \u003cstrong\u003eboat\u003c/strong\u003e — it's the wrong size and shape; and \u003cstrong\u003eWashington's standing position,\u003c/strong\u003e while heroic, would likely have resulted in his drowning on that stormy night. Despite these flaws, the painting has endured down through the years as a symbol of the American spirit.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003c/div\u003e","menu":[{"path":"lives-early-america","title":"Famous Lives","submenu":[{"path":"lives-early-america/autobiography-benjamin-franklin","title":"Autobiography of Ben Franklin"},{"path":"lives-early-america/ramsays-life-washington","title":"Ramsay's The Life of Washington"},{"path":"lives-early-america/adventures-col-daniel-boone","title":"The Adventures of Col. 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