The Death of the Earl of Chatham The Death of the Earl of Chatham The Death of the Earl of Chatham is the title of a 1781 oil-on-canvas painting by Boston-born American artist John Singleton Copley. It depicts the collapse of William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham on 7 April 1778, during a debate in the House of Lords on the American War of Independence. Chatham is surrounded by peers of the realm, and the painting contains fifty-five portraits. Lord Chatham was the architect of the British victory in the Seven Years' War (1757–1763), in which Britain won supremacy in America. Although sympathetic to American grievances and
John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham recalled in disgrace. His appearance before a parliamentary enquiry did him no favours, particularly when it emerged that he had presented the King with a private memorandum which ought to have gone to the Secretary of State for War first. Spencer Perceval's government withdrew its support from Chatham and he was forced to resign from the Ordnance in May 1810. Chatham's political and military reputation was ruined. A poem circulated making fun of his inactivity and the lack of co-operation between the army and navy: Chatham did not serve actively again, but was promoted to full General in January 1812.