The ''Surrender of Lord Cornwallis'' is an

oil painting Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest of ...

John Trumbull John Trumbull (June 6, 1756November 10, 1843) was an American artist of the early independence period, notable for his historical paintings of the American Revolutionary War, of which he was a veteran. He has been called the "Painter of the Rev ...

. The painting was completed in 1820, and hangs in the rotunda of the

United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

The painting depicts the surrender of

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Lieutenant General Charles, Earl Cornwallis at

Yorktown, Virginia Yorktown is a census-designated place (CDP) in York County, Virginia. It is the county seat of York County, one of the eight original shires formed in colonial Virginia in 1682. Yorktown's population was 195 as of the 2010 census, while York Cou ...

, on October 19, 1781, ending the

siege of Yorktown The Siege of Yorktown, also known as the Battle of Yorktown, the surrender at Yorktown, or the German battle (from the presence of Germans in all three armies), beginning on September 28, 1781, and ending on October 19, 1781, at Yorktown, Virgi ...

, and virtually guaranteeing American independence. Included in the depiction are many leaders of the American troops that took part in the siege.

Commission

Artist

(1756–1843) spent the early part of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

as a soldier, serving as an aide to both

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

and

Horatio Gates Horatio Lloyd Gates (July 26, 1727April 10, 1806) was a British-born American army officer who served as a general in the Continental Army during the early years of the Revolutionary War. He took credit for the American victory in the Battles ...

. After resigning from the army in 1777, he pursued a career as an artist. In 1785 he began sketching out ideas for a series of large-scale paintings to commemorate the major events of the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

.Architect of the Capitol. After spending a time in England, he returned to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1789, where he sketched a number of dignitaries whose portraits he intended to use in these paintings.Weir, p. 19. In 1791 he traveled to

, where he sketched the landscape of the surrender site. Self Portrait by John Trumbull circa 1802

Upon his return from Britain after the end of the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

, he promoted this idea to the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

. On the strength of his application and the successful exhibition of ''

The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker's Hill, June 17, 1775 ''The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker's Hill, June 17, 1775'' refers to several oil paintings completed in the late 18th and early 19th century by the American artist John Trumbull depicting the death of Founding Father Joseph W ...

'' and ''

The Death of General Montgomery in the Attack on Quebec, December 31, 1775 ''The Death of General Montgomery in the Attack on Quebec, December 31, 1775'' is an oil painting completed in 1786 by the American artist John Trumbull. It depicts American general Richard Montgomery at the Battle of Quebec during the invas ...

'', as well as studies for other proposed paintings, the Congress in 1817 voted to commission four large paintings from him, to be hung in the

United States Capitol rotunda The United States Capitol rotunda is the tall central rotunda of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. It has been described as the Capitol's "symbolic and physical heart". Built between 1818 and 1824, the rotunda is located below the ...

.Weir, p. 36. The price was set at $8,000 per painting, with the size and subject matter to be determined by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for hi ...

. A size of twelve by eighteen feet (370 cm × 550 cm) was agreed, as was the subject matter for the four paintings: the ''

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the ...

'', the ''

Surrender of General Burgoyne The ''Surrender of General Burgoyne'' is an oil painting by John Trumbull. The painting was completed in 1821 and hangs in the United States Capitol rotunda in Washington, D.C. The painting depicts the surrender of British Lieutenant General Jo ...

'', the ''Surrender of Lord Cornwallis'', and ''

General George Washington Resigning His Commission ''General George Washington Resigning His Commission'' is a large-scale oil painting by American artist John Trumbull of General George Washington resigning his commission as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army on December 23, 1783 to th ...

''. Trumbull spent the next eight years executing the commission, completing this painting in 1820. It was displayed in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, and

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

before coming to Washington, D.C., and Trumbull supervised its hanging in the Capitol rotunda in late 1820. It has remained there since. Trumbull himself cleaned and varnished the painting in 1828, and it has been periodically maintained since. In 1971, damage from a penny that was thrown hard enough to pierce the canvas was repaired. All of the Rotunda paintings were most recently cleaned in 2008.

Description

The subject of this painting is the surrender of the British army at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781, which ended the last major campaign of the Revolutionary War. The blue sky filled with dark clouds and the broken cannon suggest the battles that led to this event. In early September, entrenched with a force of 7,000 men, Cornwallis had hoped for rescue from the sea, but the British vessels were repelled by a French fleet. Within weeks General Washington had deployed a much larger army, and his artillery bombarded the British positions in early October. After American and French troops overran two British strongholds, Cornwallis surrendered on October 19, 1781. In the center of the scene, American General

Benjamin Lincoln Benjamin Lincoln (January 24, 1733 ( O.S. January 13, 1733) – May 9, 1810) was an American army officer. He served as a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Lincoln was involved in three major surrender ...

appears mounted on a white horse. He extends his right hand toward the sword carried by the surrendering British officer, General Charles O'Hara, who heads the long line of troops that extends into the background. To the left, French officers appear standing and mounted beneath the white banner of the royal Bourbon family. On the right are American officers beneath the Stars and Stripes; among them are the

Marquis de Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revoluti ...

and Colonel Jonathan Trumbull, the brother of the painter. General

, riding a brown horse, stayed in the background because Cornwallis himself was not present for the surrender. The

Comte de Rochambeau Marshal Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, 1 July 1725 – 10 May 1807, was a French nobleman and general whose army played the decisive role in helping the United States defeat the British army at Yorktown in 1781 during the ...

is on the left center on a brown horse.

Notes

References

* * *

External links

Architect of the Capitol
Web page on the painting {{United States Capitol Complex, state=expanded Paintings about the American Revolution 1820 paintings New York (state) in the American Revolution Paintings by John Trumbull Paintings in the United States Capitol Flags in art Horses in art Cultural depictions of military officers Cultural depictions of British men George Washington in art

Commission

Description

See also

Notes

References

External links