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Art and paintings of the
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ISRAEL BISSELL |
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Available for collection This print of the painting "Israel Bissell's Ride" is only for sale here. The painting was featured in the HBO special ASSUME THE POSITION WITH MR. WUHL also in the TimeLab 2000 Series on the History Channel.
(please click for other prints of the of the American Revolutionary War) |
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| Click to see the actual letter carried by Bissell |
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To order by check:
Click here
Please allow up to three weeks for delivery. |
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This print includes the following text
from the letter carried by Israel Bissell from Watertown to Philadelphia: “Watertown, To all friends of American Liberty be it known that this morning before break of day a Brigade consisting of about 1,000 or 1,200 men landed at Phip’s farm at Cambridge and Marched to Lexington, where they found a company of our Colony Militia in Arms, upon whom they fired without provocation, and killed six men and wounded 4 others. By an express from Boston we find that another brigade is now upon their march from Boston, supposed to be about 1,000. The bearer, Israel Bissell, is charged to alarm the country quite to Connecticut, and all persons are desired to furnish him with fresh horses, as they may be need.” |
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Who was Israel Bissell? Heard of Paul Revere's ride? Same thing, but much, much more... It's the difference between 20 miles and 345 miles. Israel Bissell was a 23-year old, little known post rider who carried the "call to arms" from Watertown, Massachusetts to the City Hall in Philadelphia. He alerted the colonists along the way ofthe British attack on April 19, 1775 in Lexington. He rode day and night for four days, six hours and some minutes covering 345 miles and roused citizens in tiny hamlets, towns and cities shouting of the impending danger that started with the "shot heard round the world" for American independence. "To arms to arms, the war has begun" he warned. Sleeping little, eating sparingly, changing horses, he persevered and sounded the alarm. The exhausted and disheveled Bissell delivered the message which was to change the course of this country. The rest is history. His body lies in a tiny cemetery in Hinsdale, Ma., a few miles from his home site that is marked by a simple boulder where the memory of his heroic ride is carefully preserved. Text © by Dorothy W. Chapman (modified) |
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