The classic image was not exactly contemporaneous; painted in Germany in 1851: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...Delaware_by_Emanuel_Leutze,_MMA-NYC,_1851.jpg Was the ferry operable? IIRC, historic markers at the site state that the Continental Army had seized and hidden all boats north of Trenton, to prevent the British Army from pursuing it across the Delaware. Why, then, would Washington permit the existing ferry to remain in operation? IMO, it seems more likely that locally-made Durham boats were used. They were 40 to 60 feet long and designed for this river. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington's_crossing_of_the_Delaware_River http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durham_boat http://www.durhamhistoricalsociety.org/history2.html
It sounds like he was able to confirm the vessel as a ferry of the sort depicted. I also took ferry as the vessel type, not as some ferry service business. That said, I'm thinking there were likely all sorts of vessels involved -- whatever they could obtain and put into service. Whether Washington was on a ferry of the sort depicted or some other type of boat is likely ultimately conjecture.
Reminds me of the Python skit with the conversation between the Pope and Michelangelo. Some people just want a photographer
