Plate III. The Engagement at The North Bridge in Concord
PrintmakerEtched by
Amos Doolittle
(American, 1754 - 1832)
After a work byAfter a work by
Ralph Earl
(American, 1751 - 1801)
Date1775
MediumEngraving; printer's ink and watercolors on laid paper
ClassificationsGraphics
Credit LineGift of John C. Parsons
Object number1844.10.3
DescriptionBritish troops on the right exchange fire with colonial soldiers on the left across an arched wooden bridge over a small river. Fields are in the foreground. Stone walls line the road on which the British soldiers are marching. Frame buildings, including a large house, trees, and fields surrounded by rail fences are in the background.
Label TextAmos Doolittle's etching of The Engagement at the North Bridge depicts the conflict between the British troops and the colonial militia that took place in Concord, Massachusetts on April 19, 1775. This print is one of the most important contemporary views of the beginnings of the American Revolution. Doolittle traveled to Lexington and Concord from his home in New Haven, Connecticut, shortly after the battles in order to view the sites and obtain eyewitness accounts of the action.
NotesHistorical note: Amos Doolittle and Ralph Earl purportedly visited the battlefields and Lexington and Concord shortly after the events of April 15, 1775. Doolittle's four plates accurately depict the sites and of the battles and reflect the accounts of eyewitnesses interviewed by the two artists. Together with Paul Revere's print of the Boston Massacre, they are the most important early American prints depicting contemporary events. Such prints were extremely uncommon in the eighteenth century.Dimensions Note: Print is matted, framed and glazed. Platemark and the edges of the sheet are not visible. Image size was estimated through glass and may not be precise. Print should be remeasured when removed from frame.
Status
On view
