Proclaims this has it all, love, death, and psychodrama. It goes on to describe the life story of richard st. George, the exhibitions starring figure, a wealthy irishman who finds himself on the wrong side of two revolutions in america and ireland, as part dickens with a spritz of yankee doodle. There is no doubt that richard st. Georges story is a cracking good tale, but the story reveals so much more than love my death, and psychodrama. In st. George, we see the complex entanglements of social, cultural, political identities of the time and the connectedness of the American Revolution. In st. George, we find a story of the age of revolution and a story of today, of who we are and how we got here, and what the past means to us as a people or as nations. But in st. George, we also find a detective story. A decades long mystery that started with two relatively obscure paintings, and a mystery that ended with this deal for and moving exhibition featuring 22 works of art depicting or commissioned by richard st. George. Or perhaps the mystery ended, we will find out. One of the greatest joys of the past year, and my job brings me many joys, has been watching this exhibition evolve and witnessing matts unbridled excitement at every new discovery. At every new twist or revelation it revealed, we are reminded that history is a practice and there is always more to know and learn. Matthew skic is a graduate of the university of delaware. He joined the museum staff and 2016 and helped complete the core exhibition prior to the museums opening in 2017. He has since helped to curate two special exhibitions. Matthew is the lead curator of the cost of revolution, and he is here today to tell you a great story of love, death and history. [applause] matthew good morning, everybody. Thank you very much for that kind introduction. It is a pleasure to stand here today to talk about a project that has consumed my life for the last two years. A project that has long roots back to my childhood and i will talk about that a little bit. My presentation today is about curating the cost of revolution, broken into two parts, the detective work in the first half and the story of richard st. George. I would like to again thank the Military Museum and library for sponsoring this conference along with the richard c. Von hess foundation. Next weekend, i have the pleasure to speak at another conference down in colonial williamsburg. My colleague will also be speaking, so i am looking forward to that. I want to make one shout out to the Curatorial Team here at the museum, of which i am a part of, led by dr. Philip mead. My colleagues have pushed me and asked me Great Questions and what has resulted from those questions, and also leadership by scott stevenson, has produced a wonderful exhibition that i am excited that tens of thousands of people will get to see over the next couple of months. And so, lets start with a quote from richard st. George. This quote is an interesting one to start with. Because it said, if i were a prince, my history would interest nations and ages. Now richard st. George was no prince. He was not a nobleman, he was protestant landed gentry in ireland. But his life is of interest to nations and also to a new age, the current age, in which tens of thousands of people will learn about richard st. George. Back in 1792 when he wrote this to a fellow artist and friend, i think he was trying to be a little modest, but trying to show he was a modest man even though sometimes he wasnt very modest at all. But his life is going to be on the forefront of peoples minds who come to this museum and learn more about the International Impact of the American Revolution. And so cost of revolution is all about that. It is about the museums mission to present the dynamic and unexpected stories of the people and events of the American Revolution. That is quite a diverse cast of people. One of the questions we pose to our visitors as they enter this exhibition is, what can a life tell us about an era, and how can one life be a window into the past . Some of the great events of the past, specifically American Revolution. Richard st. George, his life is a window into the entangled histories of the American Revolution of 1776, the events that took place in this very neighborhood, and connecting it to the irish revolution of 1798. We are using this window into this moment not from a person who supported both of those revolutions or fought and died in favor of those revolutions, but someone who opposed them, it is a different angle in thinking about this. What we have been able to bring together is the 22 known, surviving works of art that richard st. George created, that he posed for, or helped to create. For the very first time, all 22 of those works are brought together in the same room, and that is here at the museum. Theyve never before been together. So now we get to look at and examine a life through artwork from the period. What we are left with is a story of one of the most well documented, from a visual point of view, people of the revolutionary era that was not a statesman, not a nobleman, and not a highranking military officer. He never rose above the rank of captain. This is an unusual case. This is not washington, this is not the king, this is not a nobleman in england. He is a wealthy guy, of course, that helps, but this is somebody who is fighting in america and profoundly affected by what happens here. Lets begin with the detective story, one of my favorite stories to tell about this exhibition. The detective story connects the world. It involves wisconsin, it involves melbourne, australia. It involves ireland. It involves england. It involves people here in philadelphia. This is a global detective story that has produced our First International loan exhibition. That detective story in my opinion begins in 1957. In 1957, the Valley Forge Historical society, the museum of the American Revolutions predecessor organization, acquired these two paintings for its collection. These two paintings depict on the left, the battle of the the battle of paoli and the battle of germantown. These were painted in 1782 by an italian artist working in naples at the time. These came into the collection of the Valley Forge Historical society from a gift, but weve easily they had been put up for sale in london and came out of a private english collection. Thats all they knew about where they came from. In 1957, little else was known about them except the artist and what they depicted. But when you look at the details of these paintings, you see a rare depiction of the battle from the revolutionary war with intense detail, with emotion, drama, the campfires, the pennsylvania soldiers being bayoneted. This took place on the night of september 21, 1777 during the British Campaign to capture philadelphia. The other painting is october 4, 1777. What day is it today . Today it is october 4. 242 years ago today, it is amazing we get to talk about this, the battle of germantown. George washington went on the offensive against general William Howes army, part of which was camped at germantown. We see germantown avenue, which you can still ride and walk on today. A strange depiction of a big, stone house, it is a standin. , nowown of bakerstown known as mount area. How would an italian artist know about all of these details . These are inspiring interest in these events in the American Revolution but also inspiring a lot of questions about how an italian artist who lived in naples and had never set foot in america was able to paint these battles with such detail and accuracy. Also, why did he care . Why did he care to paint two battles that from european perspective were relatively obscure battles, relatively small battles . One of the ways i first encountered these works, i wasnt alive in 1958, but i read a book that came out in 1958 called the American Heritage book of the American Revolution. A great book. I remember getting it for christmas from my dad, who was a big used bookstore fan, as im sure many of you are. I got that with the cardboard book sleeve. Its an amazing book. Some of the artifacts in this book are in this building, that is amazing. As a 10yearold, i was looking through the book and i saw the paintings depicted in there. I am really pleased i got to see those. Thats the first time they are ever published, in that book. Meanwhile, across the atlantic, there is another book that comes out a decade later. That is the year of liberty by a great historian, one of the great histories of the 1798 revolution in ireland. In that book, the author devotes about a paragraph to a man named richard st. George, saying he was one of the first People Killed during the irish revolution in 1798. Fastforward to the the 1980s. This is where my friend Stephen Gilbert comes in. He joins uss, today, he was a graduate student and living historian who participated in revolutionary war reenactment. He got really interested in the paintings, who nobody had studied in detail before. He wanted to understand these a bit more. He did a very detailed study trying to pick out who some of these individuals might be. He was able to do that pretty successfully. Two of the key people that are depicted in the foreground of these paintings are shown here, one on the left, martin hunter, a lieutenant in the british 57th light infantry. He is depicted in the painting. He was wounded in the right hand at that battle, one of the reasons stephen could pick out who he was. What do you see there . You can see him bandaging his right hand in the foreground. On the right is richard st. George being carried off the battlefield by a corporal named peacock. At the time, richard st. George was a lieutenant in the infantry company, a comrade of hunter. Stephen gilbert published his findings in the company of military historians journal in 1994, 1995. More people got to learn about them. One of the reasons that stephen was able to learn so much about these Little Details in the paintings was because of a journal that survived, written by martin hunter. The journal was published in 1894 and it covers his time serving in america and participating in and around philadelphia. He went on to serve in canada and i believe he also served in india as well. He had a long life. He wrote about it. He devoted quite a bit of ink for descriptions of the battles that took place here in and around philadelphia but also quite a bit of ink spilled on his buddy, richard st. George. This is one of the ways he described him. St. George and i were great friends. He was a fine, highspirited gentlemen like young man but uncommonly passionate. He also noted that st. George drew caricatures uncommonly well. Hunter described how richard st. George also was a pretty aggressive soldier and officer on the battlefield, that he liked to lead attacks from the front. He also had an armed entourage that followed him as well. Martin hunter made sure he took note of that and recorded it. He said that richard st. George brought with him from ireland a man named bernard, who was a family servant. He brought bernard to america during his service and armed and uniformed bernard and some of the cast off clothing st. George had. He armed him with captured american accoutrements, a long rifle, a sword, a brace of pistols, and a nice long sword. Martin hunter also noted how richard st. George also had two runaway, formally enslaved africanamerican men following him as well. Three men who were following st. George. St. George decided to arm and equip and uniform those two africanamerican men, seeking their freedom with the british army. We dont know exactly when and where they joined richard st. George, maybe during the philadelphia campaign. It is possible. He has these men with him in battle, fighting alongside him in battle in and around philadelphia. Another cartoon was also known to exist that Stephen Gilbert did some study of, a view of america in 1778, published on august 1, 1778 in london by matthew and mary, accomplished print sellers in london. This print was examined alongside the paintings and there were some interesting similarities going on, such as british light infantry man in the center pointing with his hand up. There are also some hunting shirts depicted, the linen fringed garment. You see it in the paintings and here. It was a little enigmatic at the time. Lets cross back over the atlantic again. In the 1980s and 1990s, and irish art historian was undertaking a study of this aging, a painting of richard st. George painted about 1796. In 1992, this painting was sold to the National Gallery of ireland from the third greatgrandson of richard st. George. It was sold in 1992 and now graces the exhibit downstairs. But before it arrived to us, it was on display in the hall of the largest portraits of the National Gallery of ireland collection. Stephen undertook a study of what the message was. What this painting is about is in 1792, richard st. Georges wife passed away and this painting was commissioned by him of him a at his wifes tomb with the latin phrase, not forgotten, at the top. He was trying to understand the symbolism of what this painting could mean. It is interesting there is parallel interest in richard st. Onrge, but unknowingly going on both sides of the atlantic at the same time. More,orward a little 2005, and melbourne, there is a painting on the wall that you can see downstairs. Prior to 2005, it was known as officer of the fourth regiment afoot, by Thomas Gainsborough in about 1776. It was purchased by the National Gallery of victoria in 1921 and entered their collection in 1922 as an unidentified officer. Greg erwin, if you could raise your hand. He will be speaking this afternoon. He chronicled it in an email images,lled red coat all about encouraging people to discover more about portraiture of british officers and soldiers from the revolutionary era. This was chronicled by him. In 2005, a british art historian, the head curator currently at the tate in london, got interested in the story of richard st. George and about this painting. He knew that richard st. George briefly served in the fourth in 1776 and came to america with that regiment. This is a young officer in that regiment, st. George was an ensign and this is an ensign. He also started to study some of st. Georges surviving correspondence, which revealed that richard st. George had a portrait of himself done by gainsborough when he was a younger man. That got martin thinking even more. He compared this painting to the george mourning at his wifes tomb and there is a facial resemblance. He was able to reidentify this portrait as st. George just before he leaves for america in 1776. That is another bit of evidence in this building story of this interesting officer. Two years later, a big moment, came out of the blue. I was 15 years old. [laughter] matthew sothebys in new york auctioned off these four watercolor sketches. They are extremely rare, surviving, eyewitness works of art from the revolutionary war. They depict scenes from the perspective of a light infantry officer during the philadelphia campaign, that also have service in new york. On the back of these sketches, there is also written inscriptions. The scene on the right is particularly important. Notice the inscription at the bottom here, it says my triumphant entry into philadelphia. We see there being carted into philadelphia probably an officer, surrounded by other british troops, but he has a head wound. On the backside of the sketch is a written inscription of the battle of germantown. We have a head wound, germantown, there is a guy being carted off the battlefield. In the painting, that is richard st. George. Are these richard st. Georges cartoons that he did that hunter mentioned in his journal . Indeed they are. These are the four surviving caricatures that st. George did during the revolutionary war while he was on campaign in america. They came up randomly for auction but they were part of the collection of a collector and artist in bucks county, pennsylvania, who had done some traveling in england and europe in the 1920s and 1930s. I will get back to that a little later. But that was all that was known about their provenance. As historians started to examine them, and i was kind of watching this as a 15yearold teenager interested in the American Revolution, watching from the sidelines of the internet and emails and that sort of thing, reading articles produced by john reese, a great mentor of mine. Comparing them to the view in america cartoon. On the right is myself conversing with prisoners sketch. We see another detail in the view of america of the fort in the background, there is a fort in the background here. You see infantryman captured. You see the light infantryman pointing at captured prisoners. There are a lot of connections here. Is the view in america cartoon one of st. Georges cartoons as well . There was a theory about that in the 1980s because of a quote from hunter. We were able to find more cartoons by richard st. George. If you look in the righthand corner of a cartoons, you see initials for richard st. George mansergh. That is his birth name. Prior to 1774, and these cartoons are from 1772 and 1773, that is what he was known as, richard st. George manserghst. George. A relative passed away and he stood to inherit land in ireland. Following a tradition of the period, he took on his mothers surname. These are st. Georges prewar cartoons, they are also published by matthew and mary darley. That is an interesting connection there. When you compare them, on the right is timothy callow and his wife going to the hall on a sunday. One of st. Georges cartoons from 1772 and 1773. Look at the horse and the cart, look at the horse and the cart in my triumphant entry into philadelphia. You compare that to the scene in the painting. There is a lot of similarity. Is richard st. George the reason why the paintings exist . The answer to that question is yes. That is the reason why, and i will get back to that in a little bit. But, meanwhile, across the atlantic, ruth, can you raise your hand . Ruth published an article in 2010 with this sketch, the only time it had been published before. Ruth got wind of the sketch in a private collection in cornwall, england, and went to study it in the early 2000 and published it in the journal of irish Origin Society in 2010, listed as a private collection. So i contacted ruth and we talked about it a little more. Depicts as a of richard st. George after the revolutionary war and it is signed on the back by himself. He is depicted in this melancholic landscape with the robes he was known to wear after the war to cover the silver in his headas put because of the wound he received at the battle of germantown. This is the only known postwar artwork by richard st. George. At about the same time, there emerged another portrait of st. George, him in his black silk cap. It was sold to a private collector in the early 2010s, less than a decade ago. It is an incredible portrait of a veteran of the revolutionary war and what he looked like after the war. All of this coming together, all of this artwork has never been thought about together before but now it is being thought about together. At the center of it is this man, richard st. George. Lets take a step back and find out who he is, what his origins are. Lets learn about his life and death. Because his life is the reason all of this artwork survived. To give you a rundown, he is born in 1752. Life at heah of his dford. He also had property in england near bristol. He was a published cartoonist in london in the 1770s. He joined the british army in 1775, purchased a new commission as an officer in 1776, and served with the army until 1778, returned home in 1778 as a wounded veteran, and as a veteran, traveled to a variety of different places. He was a widower. His wife passed away four years into his marriage, but then he was killed at the beginning of the irish revolution in 1798. The portraits of him as a young british officer and then later in life as an officer, 1796, sort of the alpha and omega portraits of his life. These portraits are now downstairs and serve to signal both his life and death and in america and ireland. Richard st. George was descended from people who had settled in ireland in the mid1600s. His grandfather on the left rose to the rank of Lieutenant General in the british army. The irish establishment of the british army. It was his daughter, mary st. George, that was his mother. There was a harp tune name for her. Richard st. George inherited quite a bit of land. It accumulated to 12,000 acres of land. On the right, one of those plots in a 1775 land book, a document that some of the land he owned. 12,000 acres of land is quite a bit. That is the size of manhattan island. He was a pretty wealthy individual. Here are his 10 known surviving cartoons he published as a College Student at Trinity CollegeCambridge University in england. They make fun of the new rich in england and ireland. They poke fun at macaroni fashion. They poke fun at one of his professors at cambridge, which he called the old macaroni critic. These were published in 1772 in 1773. Soon after that, he joins the british army and that is when he commissions this portrait by Thomas Gainsborough right before he ships up to america. He probably posed for it right before he left. There was a narrow period of time from 1776 when he was commissioned, then left for america. There is that reference to him talking about this portrait when he was older after the war. Then he goes on to fight in some of the most intense campaigns of the early years of the revolutionary war, in and around new york, but then joins the excursion to capture philadelphia, which we have the pleasure to be in today. He fights in the major battles of the campaign. At the battle of brandywine, he is part of the second battalion of light infantry. The previous year, he had switched regimens, purchasing a commission in the light infantry company. He purchased commission as a lieutenant. That commission is downstairs in the exhibition. At the battle of brandywine, richard st. George endured some of the most difficult fighting, fights that some of us got the chance to tour yesterday in the footsteps of richard st. George. The night after the battle, st. George wrote a letter on september 11, 1777, and described there was a most infernal fire of cannon and musketry, smoke, inclined, halt, charge. This is the intensity of the battle, but he is writing it the night after. At that battle, richard st. George was hit in the heel by some shot and had trouble walking in the days following, so he had to ride on a horse. Hes probably sitting there writing this letter the night after the battle. Then just under two weeks later, another intense battle, and nighttime attack by the british tavernnfantry near paoli on september 20, september 21, 1777, richard st. George added to that letter saying this moment was a dreadful scene of havock. He described it as a nocturnal, bloody seen. Bloody scene this is described in that letter he added to on october 2. It stuck in his mind and he had trouble sleeping afterwards because of the brutality of the battle. But on october 4, 1777, his life changed. That is the day he received his devastating head wound at the battle of germantown. He was carried off the battlefield by Corporal George peacock, rescued from the field and brought into philadelphia for emergency surgery that may have taken place at a place like pennsylvania hospital. He underwent a procedure in which a disc of his skull was removed to relieve pressure on the brain. His skull seemed to have been fractured, rather than shot through the head with a musket ball. He had an intense concussion that had to be relieved, so a silver plate was put over that out and livedcut the rest of his life with that silver plate in his head. Germantown and the memories of paoli gave him a new perspective. This is what he looked like after the revolutionary war. He wore this black cap to cover that silver plate in his head a , black robe as a sign of mourning, and went around seeking relief for his wounds, but was not successful finding relief. Eleanor butler in 1788 after she meets richard st. George wrote how he was dressed in the deepest mourning and went to visit the most eminent surgeons and physicians in europe, but was not finding relief. What was being prescribed was a tincture of opium, wine, snuff to manage the pain, but in reality that only made his pain worse and contributed to delirium and hallucination. He wrote in 1792 that i am daily visited with convulsive attacks, three this very day, melted down by hallucinations, dreadful visions, and suggestions. This selfportrait could be one of those dreadful visions put to paper. This is veteran artwork, for a veteran of the revolutionary war is extremely rare to have survived. This is a veteran expressing himself after he received a devastating wound, and how did that affect his life . You see in the distance two demonic figures peering at him, i hope more art historians, along with ruth and i, military historians, even physicians and doctors can look at this painting and maybe we can learn more from it and see new perspectives on it. Im hoping this exhibit will inspire that. This is a veteran dealing with a traumatic brain injury. One of the things richard st. George does to deal with that wound is an important detail to the beginning of the story. Richard st. George traveled to italy, and he did that in the 1780s. 1782, those paintings, that was when there were those paintings. Richard st. George went on a grand tour. He went to france, germany, rome, but also naples, and what is in naples . Archaeological sites. Richard st. George went to those. He told stories about them to others. I bet many of you have not seen that painting on the right. That is a painting of grand ts of those archaeological sites in naples. He painted that in the 1780s. There are some tiny figures there. I wonder if one of them is richard st. George. The artist was working in naples at the time. This painting is of his views of one the bay of naples, done in 1780, two years before the paintings of the battle of paoli and germantown. Richard st. George traveled back and forth between ireland, england, and europe in the 1780s. St. George later wrote that when he was in naples, he worked with other artists in the city, commissioned one or two portraits of himself. Unfortunately, we dont know where those are yet, but hope to find them. He seems to have worked with the artist to paint two really important moments in his life. We dont yet have the receipt left of richard st. George paying him for these works, but we know they were there at the same time. We know st. George was a veteran of both battles and had a reason for commissioning these works. We know he is depicted in the foreground of the germantown painting. We know his friend is depicted in the foreground of the paoli painting. These are works of art that may be helping st. George manage the memories of his service in america, a really harrowing time that really changed his life. New understandings of that. St. Georges relationship with art after the war this is not a one off, an anomaly for his life. He is also encountering and befriending some of the early artists of the romantic era, the budding romantic era of art, in which new ways of expressing emotion, grief, love, pain or put to campus and paper in the canvas and paper in the form of poetry. He befriends several people. Anna seward wrote a famous poem. She is writing about his death in 1780 as the result of hangmans noose of Washingtons Army after consorting with benedict arnold. Anna seward also wrote poetry about richard st. George. She wrote the epistle to colonel st. George. It seems to have been a sign of respect, because he never reached the rank of colonel. She described how like andre, st. George needed to be venerated as a veteran of war. She has a bit of antiwar sentiment in her poetry. She says that although andre died and lost his life for his king and country, richard st. George survived, and survived as of a failedic conflict, the loss of 13 of the american colonies. Now seward and the other two, one famous for his painting the nightmare, spectators wrote shocking, and you will see why in the next slide. That is the nightmare on the left, painted by henry fuseli. This is not gainsborough, reynolds, this is his mind depicting a nightmare. But these three individuals, one known as the roving baronet, a poet and friend of rousseau, they actually hosted a medieval costume party. What does that sound like . In 1783, in the woods of st. Georges property near bristol, st. George orchestrates a grand medieval pageant that seward, boothby and fuseli attend. Fuseli is dressed as the great painter. Meanwhile, boothby is dressed as a knight in armor. They go out in the woods and rescue fair maidens and battle demons, and seward is there writing poetry as they are doing this, really wild. I wonder if this is st. George expressing himself in a theatrical way. Theater was an interest of his throughout his entire life. Also, helping to make his memories of, deal with his memories of the war and maybe fight a war the way he wanted it to be fought. I am curious about that. He continues his friendship with fuseli. On the right there is another one of his works. Penelope boothby was his fiveyearold daughter who passed away suddenly. He had fuseli commission that painting of her apotheosis into heaven. This richard st. Georges wife, stephanie st. George, and their oldest son. This is painted in 1782. While this was still on the easel in london, st. George passed away in august of 1792. There are notices that her death in british newspapers. She died on that estate near bristol. Richard st. George now coupling with his wartime memories, now an even more tragic moment in his life, the loss of his wife, leaving him as a widower with two young sons. He writes to henry fuseli to commission work. St. George seems to have never sent that letter, though. He commissioned another work of him mourning his wifes tomb. Meanwhile, things are changing in ireland. Richard st. George had returned to ireland in 1778, the year of the French Alliance between the united states, with the united states. What that sets off is the rise of the Irish Volunteers movement, which leads to legislative independence for irish parliament, celebrated in his flag on loan to the museum from ireland. What later comes about because of rising revolutionary movement, partly inspired by the American Revolution and the french revolution, and that is led by the united irishmen, who use a harp as their symbol. In the 1790s, these united irishmen were advocating for total irish independence and equality for all irishmen. To contextualize this story, we have partnered with the National Museum of ireland and Northern Ireland to bring some of irelands great treasures from that revolutionary moment to philadelphia for the first time. The pocketbook, the ribbon, the coat worn at the battle, membership certificates and the society for the united irishmen signed, really great artifacts, downstairs in the exhibition. Here is something many of you have not seen before, never published, never exhibited. This is discovered by myself and another person when we went to ireland in december of 2018 to secure these loans, also to walk on the property of where richard st. George lived. We got a tip from the irish architectural historian. He said when i met him in october for the first time, he said i think i know of another portrait of richard st. George in ireland. I said, i will believe it when i see it. I dont believe you yet. I asked for pictures. He never sent me pictures, but going to ireland anyway to see it. We happened upon this in the drawing room of a descendent, in the home of one of the descendents of richard st. George. This is an interesting portrait because of the inscription on the backside that is added onto the frame, it says the late m st. George esquire murdered in his house by the rebels in 1798 by hamilton 1800. What happened to richard st. Was in february, he went to county court because he heard there was a rebellious activity, people cutting down of trees, perhaps influenced by the united irishmen. St. George goes down to check on this activity and try to stop it and stands before his tenants disclaiming against rebellion and says to them i will be staying without an armed guard at the home of one of my agents, and if you dare try me, go ahead, and they do. The night of february 9, 1798, a group of tenants broke into the house and murdered richard st. George and his agent that night. He was one of the first People Killed in 1798. That brief mention in his history of the irish revolution, we know much more about it now. Newspapers in ireland and england carried the story, and then a large funeral takes place on february 22, 1798, and thanks to one person here as well, he found this reference to st. Georges funeral in the Chester Chronicle from march 23, 1798. I was able to find the sermon that was preached on that day, february 22, which is a sermon we have reproduced downstairs calling out the demon of rebellion, the violent influence of france. This is a document that suggests the impact of the American Revolution and french revolution on ireland. It is an amazing primary source that has never been published or studied before, until now. Then in 1998, fastforward 200 years to the bicentennial, mark will be the closing keynote for this conference. In 1998, there was a monument dedicated on the site where richard st. George was killed february 9, 1798. That plaque, however, does not honor richard st. George. On it are the names of the three men hanged for the murder of st. George, but martin, a descendent of richard st. George went to help dedicate that monument, and martin delivered a really important speech in his career. I have read a lot of your speeches, martin. He said i am not here to defend an ancestor. I am here to promote peace and reconciliation in ireland. Just a couple of months later, martin was one of the political advisors that helped to negotiate the good friday agreement in 1998, so the relevance of st. Georges story during the bicentennial, it was still relevant then, and still relevant today as we are in this climate. Brexit and now i have a bit of a charge for us all. This is incredible. This is recently found. I am sorry i am running a little bit long. I get excited. [laughter] matthew this was a photograph sent to me by richard st. Georges grandson, the son of the man who sold the portrait to the National Gallery of art. What it says is in this box or trunk are the shirts, hats, and clothes my dear son had on him when he received a wound to the head was action with the rebels at germantown, five miles from philadelphia. That note survives, but where is the trunk . The next great detective story is queued up. The note is on its way to be included in the exhibition and it will be here later this month, just going to export licensing and that sort of thing. What this exhibit has brought forth is a resurgence in interest, and i hope it will continue, to think about the entangled histories of ireland and america, also the story of a andly interesting fascinating family, descendents of which were here last thursday night to celebrate the opening of the exhibition. There is phil at the ruins of the castle, or a lot of his artwork used to hang. This is still real and present for people. This will be chronicled in the upcoming catalog that will become available november, preorder your copy now. Preorder sheets are available on the back table outside the conference room. Then we brought richard st. George to life with a Theatrical Program i know some of you have seen already, but they will be showing throughout the weekend. I encourage you to check out some talented actors bringing richard st. Georges story to life. Thank you very much. [applause] 12 27, i know i was supposed to finish q a at 12 30, but we can get a couple of questions. Any questions . I am sure it has occurred to you that if richard st. George was at the battle of paoli and he described the battle to the italian artist, he is probably somewhere in the picture. Do you have any idea where he might be . Matthew he could be in there because there are other officers shown, but it is hard to say. Among the foreground officers, and we could talk about this as well, it seems we could really pick out martin hunter, the light infantry captain killed at the battle, the only officer killed at the battle, british officer killed at the battle, but there is a chance he is in there, but we just dont know where he is. Yeah . One second. Go ahead. When was that destroyed . Matthew 1880s, then in 1906 there was a really massive fire. That was the end there. Yes . Clearly this has taken a lot of time and effort for you. I am wondering, what is the most interesting thing you found from your research . Matthew one thing, man. [laughter] i am intrigued by that note, that box. I want to find that now. I have some people working on that, some family members asking all the cousins, what you have in your attic and that sort of thing. So we are hoping to find that, especially so late in the game, philadelphia connections, but also one of the most significant moments in his life. If that uniform that hat is found, that is one of the greatest surviving collections of artifacts from the revolutionary war that i know about. Yeah . I will be brief. I want to thank you and on and are mostly enormously well researched, adventurous exhibition, and i think it is a very great achievement, and although i dont identify with his politics, nonetheless, it is very gratifying to have two sides brought out, but also somebody who left significant artistic and written record of what happened, and so and congratulations again to the museum. Matthew thank you. [applause] matthew last one. Go ahead. I am intrigued by the selfportrait of richard st. George. It is almost impressionistic because of the dream sequence. Is there information in the literature talking about the psychological effects of the experience following it . Matthew not much. There is still wrestling with what this is about. Is it acting . Is it real . There are a lot of misprescribed, medicating, that sort of thing, but what im hoping is it will encourage scholars to dig deeper into that question to find out more, because none of this we dont know everything yet. That really goes to show thats what we here at the museum of the American Revolution are all about. We dont know everything yet. We are on the hunt to find more and more about a topic, the American Revolution come up that there is more to learn, more to discover. Thank you. [applause] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2019] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] American History tv is on social media. Follow us at cspan history. Next on American History tv, historians discuss life in occupied cities during the revolution. Life of the soldiers and her workers and families. Library andnd richard c von hess von hess d richard c hosted this event. Part of any job is taking the incredible work of the team and