By George, he keeps crossing!

Trivia about George Washington’s epic crossing of the Delaware in 1776 and every year since 1952

There will be the usual large crowd gathered on the Delaware River shore in Upper Makefield in December. This year’s annual re-en- actment of George Washington’s legendary crossing the Delaware on Christmas 1776 marks the 72nd time an actor playing him has crossed over.

If the weather cooperates, Washington played by Langhorne Police Chief John Godzieba accompanied by re-enactors in uniform in three, 60-foot-long Durham boats will reincarnate the original crossing idealized in the painting by Emmanuel Leutze in 1851. The flotilla will launch from Washington Crossing Historic Park in Upper Makefield to a landing in Washington Crossing State Park on the opposite side of the river in Titusville, N.J.

Having observed several crossings and participated in one, I’ve learned much. Here’s a bit of trivia I’ve gathered:

• More than one George: Five people have played George Washington in the 70-year history of the re-enactment. The first was Broad- way actor St. John Terrell who conceived the event in 1952 and crossed the river as the general for 25 years. Jack Kelly, brother of the late Princess Grace Kelly of Monaco, succeeded Terrell and played the part until 1985. In 1986, James W. Gallagher assumed the role through 1996. The following year Chief Godzieba became the new Washington and will be the one donning a white wig, black tri-corner hat and 40-pound costume on Sunday.

• A slave aboard: It’s believed a black oarsman accompanied George Washington in the 1776 crossing. He’s depicted in Emmanuel Leutze’s iconic oil painting digging deep into the current with his oar in front of the commander. The oarsman has been identified as Prince Whipple, an African American slave owned by Gen. William Whipple, one of the signers of the Declaration of Inde- pendence.

• George almost canceled the attack: One soldier confided the weather “blew a perfect hurricane” delaying the crossing three hours. Landing on the Jersey shore, Washington pondered turning back as his army struggled amid sleet and ice on the river. The commander-in-chief brooded over the matter while sitting on a crate near a bonfire on the Jersey side. To re-cross to Bucks County in daylight would certainly doom the army, he concluded. “As I was certain there was no making a retreat without being discovered and harassed on repassing the River, I determined to push on at all Events.”

• Famous boat mates: Soldiers on the 20 Durham boats with Washington in his fabled crossing included James Monroe (future U.S. president), John Marshall (future Secretary of the Treasury) and Arthur St. Clair (president of the Continental Congress and governor of the Northwest Territory).

• One soldier lived long enough to be photographed: Conrad Heyer was a 27-year-old Massachusetts farmer who enlisted in the Continental Army and reportedly crossed the Delaware with Washington for the Battle of Trenton. He’s considered the earliest born American to have his photo taken at age 103 in 1852.

• Why not a national park? Washington Crossing parks on both sides of the Delaware are state parks connected by a bridge. The two are considered too small to qualify as national parks, according to officials I’ve talked to. To me, an exception should be made given the significance of what happened there. The feds have taken a baby step by listing them as Washington’s Crossing National Historic Landmark.

• Follow the money. In 1999, the U.S. Mint produced New Jersey State quarters with the image of Washington Crossing the Del- aware. A follow-up 2021 state quarter had the same image on its reverse side. Geez! Bucks County is where Washington plotted out the attack on Trenton and gathered his army, horses, artillery and boats needed to succeed. Where’s the Pennsy coinage to make note of this?

• Not exactly: Artist Leutze’s masterpiece is one of the most famous in American history. But he could only imagine the Delaware. He was a German in Germany. Historical errors include the fact the Stars and Stripes flag didn’t exist at the time of the crossing. Also the boats used were much longer, flat-bottomed Durham vessels. The river is not as wide as pictured in the painting. Leutze used the Rhine and its mountainous shore for his ideal. Some historians also believe it’s more likely the commander crossed the

river on a barge with his artillery. But does all of this really matter? Leutze to his great credit captured the spirit of the moment when the war for independence from Britain was in its greatest peril and in a need of a hero to step forward. George Washington.

• Brits bombed the painting. The Christmas re-enactment will mimic Washington’s heroic pose in an over- crowded rowboat in the Leutze painting. That canvas hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. What’s little known is the painting is a copy of the original belonging to the Kunsthalle Bremen art muse- um in northern Germany. British warplanes destroyed the painting in a bombing raid on the city in 1942. Irony. 

The 72nd annual Christmas Day crossing re-enactment is set from noon to 3 p.m. on December 25 at Washington Crossing Historic Park in Upper Makefield. The actual crossing (weather permitting) begins about 1 p.m. Admission is free. An earlier dress rehearsal and practice crossing at the park is on Dec. 8 from 10-3 p.m. More details on the web at www.washingtoncrossingpark.org/cross-with-us/

Carl LaVO can be reached at carllavo0@gmail.com