John Trumbull is heralded as the artist who brilliantly recorded the American Revolution and its heroes. Having joined the Continental Army in 1775, and served briefly as an aide-de-camp to General George Washington, he witnessed a number of the events that he would later immortalize. In 1784, he embarked on the first in a projected series of “national history,” recording the Battle of Bunker’s Hill. Two years later, he completed a second work, The Death of General Montgomery, In the Attack on Quebec, 31 December 1775, a stirring composition which dramatizes the shock of an explosion that killed Richard Montgomery and two of his aides as they led the American assault. Trumbull envisioned making his work available to the public and in 1798 as he had The Death of General Montgomery, engraved in London and offered through public subscription. This brilliant impression, with its rich tones, is a rare artist’s proof which predates the engraving’s release to the public.

Benjamin West encouraged John Trumbull to paint subjects from the American Revolution and advised him to work with engravers to produce prints after his history paintings. Trumbull is best known for his series of paintings of the war, which includes this image. Although the British defeated the American revolutionaries’ attack on Quebec in 1775, Trumbull considered General Montgomery’s effort to take the city in the middle of winter a gallant attempt. Taking his cue from West’s death-of-a-hero paintings, Trumbull depicts the dying general surrounded by a group of officers and a Native American, with the battle raging at left.