Credit: Library of Congress
Washington's defeat of the dreaded Hessian mercenaries at the Battle of Trenton on December 26, 1776, demonstrated that the Continental Army could hold its own against Europe's finest soldiers. In 1786 John Trumbull painted the surrender of Hessian commander Johann Rall, who stands mortally wounded, to Washington, who offers his hand in assistance. This was one of a series of historical paintings Trumbull completed to memorialize pivotal events of the American Revolution.
