The Attack on Chew's House during the Battle of Germantown, 1777

Edward Lamson Henry · 1878

Medium

Oil on canvas

Original size

63.5 × 107 cm (25 × 42 1/8 in.)

Currently held

Art Institute of Chicago

Movement

Realism

Few paintings capture the chaos of the American Revolution with the immediacy of Edward Lamson Henry's depiction of Continental soldiers storming the stone walls of Cliveden during the fog-shrouded Battle of Germantown. Henry was among the most meticulous historical painters of nineteenth-century America, renowned for his obsessive research into period dress, architecture, and material culture. He frequently visited historical sites, collected antique objects, and consulted primary sources before setting brush to canvas — habits that give his battle scenes a credibility rare for the era. Painted a century after the event itself, this work reflects the post-Civil War appetite for revisiting Revolutionary history, lending it both a commemorative and almost elegiac quality. The assault on Chew's House is well-documented as a pivotal and ultimately costly blunder for Washington's forces, as the stone manor proved impervious to musket fire, and the prolonged attack disrupted the broader American offensive that day. Our hand-painted oil reproduction is executed on premium canvas by skilled painters working directly from high-resolution reference of the original, preserving Henry's layered brushwork, the muted smoke-filled palette, and the precise human drama that has made this canvas a landmark of American historical painting.