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Large painting by J. Alden Twachtman, depciting the routes of General George Washington during the American Revolution.

The artist (J Alden Twachtman) apparently painted this map as a very young military officer (infantry). Twachtman would go on to have a distinguished career as an Archictect in New Haven, CT and the founder of the Greenwich Historical Society.

His father, John Henry Twachtman, was an important American Artist, active in the second half of the 19th Century. Twachtman is named for his father's good friend, J. Alden Weir, another artist of note and West Point trained military officer.

John Henry Twachtman was part of the Cos Cob Art Colony, a group of artists and writers who were members of the first Impressionist art colony in Connecticut (1880s-1920s). The Cos Cob art colony played a major role in the development of American art because it was here that the leading American Impressionist artists gathered to discuss their work and to teach. Among the early members were Childe Hassam, Ernest Lawson, Theodore Robinson, John Henry Twachtman and J. Alden Weir.

The first documented arrival of artists was in 1892 when John Henry Twachtman and J. Alden Weir taught summer classes in Cos Cob for the Art Students League in New York. In 1896 Elmer MacRae came to the Holley House as a student.

Julian Alden Twachtman was the oldest son of John Henry Twachtman. An artist in his own right, he studied with his father John Henry Twachtman as well as at the Yale School of Fine Arts and the École des Beaux Arts, Paris. A 1906 graduate of the Yale School of the Fine Arts, J. Alden Twachtman won the Winchester Prize for study abroad and attended the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. Early in his career, J. Alden Twacthtman worked for the top New York architecture firms of the day, McKim Mead & white and Carriere and Hastings.

Durring World War I, he was a colonel with the 103d Field Artillery, 26th division of the Army, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal and the Distinguished Service Cross. The official statement of the award states "As Battalion and later Regimental Commander, in the Aisne-Marne, St. Mihiel, and Meuse-Argonne offensives, Colonel Twachtman was conspicuous for his courage, marked ability, and leadership qualities. At all times he displayed superior tactical judgment and knowledge of artillery, and by his devotion to duty, great resourcefulness, and high military attainments he rendered the maximum support to the Infantry to which he was attached, thereby contributing in a large measure to their success."