George Washington at Dorchester Heights

Dorchester heights overlooks the Boston Harbor, and it was this very spot that General Washington seized, claiming victory and forcing the British fleet in the spring of 1776 to leave Boston and eventually capitulate in the Revolutionary War. The Union League Club Chicago purchased this grandiose full-length portrait of our first President work early in its history—around 1887 or before. Since that time, the  Club has celebrated with great pomp the birthday of George Washington, and it remains one of the Club’s most important and longest-running annual events.

This painting is by an unknown artist who based his work on the original by Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828) now in the collection of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Commissioned by Samuel Parkman in 1806, thirty years after Washington’s victory, it was first hung in Boston’s Faneuil Hall.

In the painting Washington’s horse Blueskin appears to be riding off as if heading into battle, but his owner confidently reigns him in, and Blueskin twists his neck backwards to acknowledge his master. Blueskin was retired to Mount Vernon after he had served General Washington for years in hunt and war. In the distance on the left, the Boston harbor is visible. Clouds of smoke hover in the background, signaling that a battle was being fought.