# General John Cadwalader

- By: Charles Willson Peale (born Queen Anne's County, MD 1741-died Philadelphia, PA 1827)
- Date: ca. 1788
- Medium: watercolor on ivory
- Classification: Paintings
- Dimensions: sight 1 1/2 x 1 1/4 x 1/4 in. (3.9 x 3.2 x 0.5 cm) oval
- Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Mary Elizabeth Spencer
- Museum: [Smithsonian Institution](https://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=38359)
- Rights: [CC0 (Smithsonian Open Access)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/web/aac90bcc7689e077ced086d1cf5b482d.jpg
- Who can see it: Teens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

During the Revolutionary War, General John Cadwalader (1742-1786) commanded troops at the battles of Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, and Princeton. He was much admired by his close friend General George Washington, who referred to him as "a military genius." Washington offered Cadwalader the position of Continental brigadier general, but his friend declined, preferring to become a state legislator in Maryland after the war. When Charles Willson Peale painted Cadwalader's likeness, it was intended to ornament a woman's bracelet, and in fact the original fittings for an ornamental band---similar to today's watchbands---are visible along the sides of the miniature's case.