papers reported the two artists as parting "bitter enemies". Later years After his return to the States, Trego's work received much acclaim from critics. In 1891, noted American art collector Thomas Benedict Clarke wrote of Trego: "In the accomplishment of his work, which is marked by strength, firmness, and force, he has had to overcome physical infirmities that would have made a less brave and earnest character halt at the threshold." Despite these accolades and the prestige of exhibiting in the Paris Salon, Trego found it hard to sell paintings due to the declining in popularity of realistic military artwork. He painted portraits and genre paintings to make money and took on work doing book and magazine illustration. He also tried unsuccessfully to become an instructor at The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. He lived with, and was supported by, his parents during the 1890s. Trego's father died in 1901 and his stepmother died six years later. Trego's increasing financial problems during this time made him take on students including Walter Emerson Baum and his wife, Flora. Trego tried to revive his career by basing a painting on the popular novel Ben Hur with one of his last works, The Chariot Race from Ben Hur (1908). He sent it to the 1909 National Academy of Design exhibition in New York but it failed to spark any interest. William Trego was found unconscious in his studio on June 24, 1909 and was dead by the time the doctor arrived. His obituary in The New York Times reported that he died of "overexertion" due to "excessive heat". The cause of death specified on his death certificate was a supposed suicide by the administration of some unknown poison. The contents of his North Wales studio were left to Walter Emerson Baum. Legacy During his lifetime, Trego had painted over 200 historical and military paintings. These would become so widely published after his death that writer Edwin Augustus Peeples commented: "There is probably not an American History book which doesn't have (a) Trego picture in it". In 1976, Trego's The March to Valley Forge had become such an iconic image of that event that it was reproduced as a souvenir postage sheet issued by the United States Postal Service as part of the observance of the United States Bicentennial. It is currently on loan from the Museum of the American Revolution to Valley