>>weren’t people shorter in those days generally?<<
Not really: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heights_of_presidents_and_presidential_candidates_of_the_United_States
T.J. and G.W. were 6’+.
Monroe was the shortest ever.
As a short guy who commands great respect, the one thing this list doesn’t measure is the brass % in the gonads :)
Monroe and his regiment crossed over and marched through a Nor'easter snow storm north and then east towards Trenton. Along the way, the soldiers were spotted by a young patriot doctor, John Riker, whose dogs had been awakened in the pre-dawn early morning. Riker volunteered to lend his medical bag to the efforts saying that as many doctors as possible would be needed fearing severe casualties from a clash with the battle-tested German-speaking Hessian professional mercenary soldiers.
Avoiding detection, the Americans approached the center of Trenton from north and south. When the Hessians sounded the alarm, they tried to get several of their artillery pieces in action to pour grapeshot into the Americans marching down towards the homes they had commandeered. Knowing that this would slow the assault, after a volley of artillery fire, Lieutenant Monroe and General Washington's cousin, Captain William Washington and their men rushed to seize the guns before they could fire. Both young officers were severely wounded.
Captain Washington was badly wounded in both hands, and young Lieutenant James Monroe was carried from the field bleeding badly after he was struck in the left shoulder by a musket ball, which severed an artery. It would be the young volunteer doctor, John Riker who clamped the artery, keeping him from bleeding to death and saving the life of a man who would go on to achieve so much in politics both as a Virginian and on the national stage as a future President.[9] The wounded soldier, Monroe was sent home to Virginia to nurse his injuries. The Battle of Trenton would be Monroe's only battle as he would spend the next three months recuperating from his wound.
In John Trumbull's painting Capture of the Hessians at the Battle of Trenton, Monroe can be seen lying wounded at left center of the painting. In the famous painting, Washington Crossing the Delaware, Monroe is depicted holding the American flag.[10][11]