Capt. Henry P. Fleischman
ca. 1825
Medium
Painting-Miniature
Classification
Painting-Miniature
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Mary Elizabeth Spencer
Accession Number
1999.27.5
Tags
About this artwork
The Naval Library has no record of Henry Fleischman (1792-1835) having earned the rank of captain. He was captured once by the British, who had released him upon his oath not to fight against them again. Fleischman went on to serve on the USS Chesapeake under the name William Brown, a midshipman who previously had been posted aboard the ship. Fleischmanâs actions were discovered and he was charged with âun-officer-like conductâ and falsifying his identity. Because of his youth and good rec...
About the Artist
George Catlin · 1796–1872
George Catlin (1796–1872), born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, to Putnam Catlin and Polly Sutton—who had been captured by Native Americans during the 1778 Battle of Wyoming—initially pursued a legal career. Trained at Litchfield Law School, he was admitted to the bar in 1819 but abandoned law after two years to study art in Philadelphia in 1823. Self-taught as a portraitist, Catlin quickly gained ...