Credit: Courtesy of the Library Company of Philadelphia
After Washington's death, Congress set December 26, 1799 as a national day of mourning, and prepared for a formal commemoration in Philadelphia, the nation's capital. This William Birch etching captures the funeral procession on Fourth Street, where a riderless horse is followed by an empty bier topped by swords and a tricorn hat. (In the background one can see the City Waterworks, on the site of present-day City Hall.) As cannon fired in Philadelphia on the 26th, a process of deification began, criticisms were forgotten, and Washington became the greatest of American heroes.
