Michael Thomas Leibrandt: The return of the Durham boats

It’s been 250 years since George Washington arrived in the City of Philadelphia after a five-day journey. He arrived at the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia as a delegate from Virginia. He left Philadelphia as the commander of America’s Continental Army. 

Twelve years later — when then President Washington arrived again in Philadelphia — he was greeted with celebratory cannon fire and jubilation. He was even presented with a white horse in Camden prior to settling into the President’s House on 6th and Market in present-day Center City.

General George Washington may have landed in Trenton, New Jersey on Christmas night of 1776, but his plan to surprise British and Hessian forces by crossing the dark, icy waters of the Delaware River would involve troops from Philadelphia. His plan for attack  — which would be a decisive victory for the Americans — called for Colonel Cadwalader and a combination of more than 1,000 Philadelphia militia and Continental regulars under his command that would cross the Delaware River around Burlington, New Jersey, while another force of militia from Pennsylvania under General James Ewing would also make a crossing. In the rapidly deteriorating weather conditions on the Delaware that Christmas night, only Washington’s force was able to make the crossing.

As Philadelphia approaches the 250th anniversary of the founding of our nation, both the legend of Washington’s Crossing as well as that iconic portrait by Emanuel Leutze that was commissioned in 1851 have survived. Meanwhile, the original Durham boats that Washington’s troops used during the Crossing did not. Each year, reenactors utilize replica Durham boats to recreate the historic event. 

Beginning in 2026, and thanks to the Friends of Washington Crossing Park and the Independence Seaport Museum,  “the Durham Boat Project” will not only use traditional materials and techniques to produce a replica to match the forty-foot boat that was used by Washington and his troops on Christmas night in 1776, but will also make them available to visitors to see and touch. 

Enthusiasts and tourists will be able to step aboard the replica boats starting in 2026, just in time for the 250th anniversary. 

Michael Thomas Leibrandt lives and works in Abington Township, Pennsylvania.