Picture

Silhouette of Major Hugh Maxwell

Date: 1781
Dimensions: 12 1/4" x 9 1/4"
Creator: Frederick Chapman
About this artifact

This silhouette is of Major Hugh Maxwell, who by 1784 had been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He is wearing his uniform and is on his prancing horse. There is a small section of fence in the background. The image is inscribed in ink at the top of the sheet, "Major Hugh Maxwell of Charlemont / Massachusetts", and signed and dated at the lower right corner, "F.C. Harlem / 1781." "F.C." are the initials of Frederick Chapman who apparently worked in military camps in New York; Harlem, an area in Manhattan, was where the image was drawn. Maxwell was present at the successful attack on De Lancey's Loyalists at Morrisania (now an area of the south Bronx) in January, 1781.


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Courtesy Historic Deerfield, Deerfield, MA