Washington Crossing the Delaware

One of America's most famous images, a painting of George Washington crossing the Delaware River, got much of the story wrong: The American commander wouldn't have stood triumphantly on a rowboat in daylight, but on a ferry bracing himself against a fierce snowstorm on Christmas night.

That's the historic scene depicted in a new painting that goes on display this week at the New York Historical Society museum in Manhattan.

'No one in his right mind would have stood up in a rowboat in that weather,' artist Mort Kunstler said. 'It would have capsized.'

New version: New York artist Mort Kuntsler's painting, titled Washington's Crossing: McKonkey's Ferry, Dec. 26, 1776, debuts on Monday

He told The Associated Press that he's 'not knocking the original' - the well-known 1851 painting by German-born artist Emanuel Leutze, who Kunstler says 'was glorifying Washington using what he knew at the time.' 

But Kunstler said his new piece is aimed at righting the historical mistakes.

Washington and his troops crossed the Delaware from Pennsylvania to New Jersey to mount a surprise attack on Hessian forces at the Battle of Trenton on December 26, 1776. 

The Americans killed 22 Hessians, wounded 98 and captured nearly 900 while losing only three of their own men.

The Hessians were hired by the British to fight against the American rebels in the Revolutionary War.

The original: Emanuel Leutze's famous 1851 painting 'Washington Crossing the Delaware'

It was a daring feat led by the man who would become the nation's first president, and boosted the morale of the fledgling American army.