'Angelica Peale Crowning Washington', (1877). George Washington, the first President of the United States, is crowned with a flower garland at Gray's Ferry, near Philadelphia. The general of the Continental troops during the Revolutionary War, Washington (1732-1799) was hailed as a hero as he travelled to his inauguration in New York City. From "Our Country: a Household History for All Readers, from the Discovery of America to the Present Time", Volume 2, by Benson J. Lossing. [Johnson & Miles, New York, 1877]