Major General Charles Lee

This caricature shows Lee standing in profile in a landscape wearing a military uniform and accompanied by his dog. Lines of soldiers are represented in the background. The print reproduces an engraving by James Neagle that appeared as a frontispiece in Thomas Girdlestone's "Facts Tending to Prove that General Lee, was Never Absent from this Country, for any Length of Time, During the Years 1767, 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772, and that he was the Author of Junius" (London: Printed for P. Martin, 1813). Ritchie's print illustrated George Henry Moore's "The Treason of Charles Lee" (New York: Charles Scribner, 1860), where it appears following page eighteen. Ritchie identified himself as the engraver and, at lower left, attributed the original work to B. Rushbrooke.

This satirical image was inspired by Lee's turbulent military career. He served in the French and Indian War, married a Mohawk woman and was subsequently adopted into the Mohawk tribe but his erratic temperament led the Native Americans to nickname him “Boiling Water.” In 1773, Lee returned to America and established a residence in Virginia. At the outbreak of the Revolution, Lee he resigned from the British army and joined the Continentals. His hopes to be appointed Commander-in-Chief were dashed when the Continental Congress chose George Washington for that position, but made Lee second in command and head of the Southern Department. His resentment resurfaced throughout the war. After helping to successfully defend Charleston, South Carolina in 1776, he wrote letters attempting to undermine his superior, efforts disrupted by his capture by the British in December 1776. He was relased in 1778 following the American victory at Saratoga. Leading troops at the Battle of Monmouth, Lee disobeyed a direct order from Washington in the field and was relieved of his postiion and court-martialed. Idle for a year he continued to criticize Washington. In 1780, Lee resigned from the Continental Army and retired to Philadelphia, where he died in 1782.