The Forcing of the Hudson River Passage, October 9th, 1776
Thomas Mitchell was both a painter and shipwright to the Admiralty. He was a Builders' Assistant at His Majesty's Dockyard, first at Chatham, in 1771, and then Deptford, where he was based from 1774 and was later appointed Assistant Surveyor of the Navy. Like John Cleveley the Elder (c.1712-1777), whom he must have known well, he was also an artist and exhibited large battle pieces at the Free Society of Artists from 1763-80 and the Royal Academy from 1774-1789. Paintings by Mitchell are in the collection of the National Maritime Museum and the British Museum also holds a large collection of his watercolours and drawings which depict the main dockyards and harbours of southern England.