Captain Robert Orme

The year before Reynolds painted this, Captain Orme had been in the disaster that opened Britain's war with France in North America. In July 1755 General Braddock marched on the French fort at the forks of the Ohio and was ambushed in the forest, his column shot to pieces. Braddock was killed. Orme, his aide, was wounded carrying orders, and had ridden alongside a young Virginian officer named George Washington, who came through untouched. Reynolds shows him at 31, one hand on his horse, a dispatch in the other, red coats just visible among the dark trees behind. No one had ordered the picture. Reynolds painted it on spec, hoping the drama would draw in new sitters.