| Israel Bissell | |
| Birth Date: | 1752 |
| Birth Place: | East Windsor, Connecticut, Connecticut Colony, British America |
| Death Place: | Hinsdale, Massachusetts, United States |
| Occupation: | Post rider, colonial militia officer |
| Spouse: | Lucy Hancock (1784–1823; his death) |
| Other Names: | Israel Bissel |
| Children: | 4 |
Israel Bissell, also spelled Bissel (1752 – October 24, 1823), was a patriot post rider who delivered mail between Boston, Massachusetts and New York.
On April 19, 1775, British fired on colonists in Lexington and Concord, inciting the American Revolutionary War. Bissell was assigned to alert American colonists the news and rally them to assist the Massachusetts minutemen. The Lexington Alarm message was carried by Bissell through eastern Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York City, New Jersey, and ultimately to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The order stated that Bissell was to travel through Connecticut, which he did, traveling along the Old Post Road from Watertown, Massachusetts to New Haven, where the dispatch included an order to take the message to Philadelphia. In New York, General Alexander McDougall added an order to obtain a new rider to convey the message to Philadelphia. According to the Sons of the American Revolution and Elizabeth Norton Hunt, Bissell went the entire way to Philadelphia.
Along the way, Bissell shouted "To arms, to arms, the war has begun", and carried a message from Joseph Palmer asking townspeople to send soldiers to the fight.[1] Benedict Arnold of New Haven, Israel Putnam of Pomfret, and others mustered soldiers and headed for the battlegrounds in Massachusetts.
Israel Bissell was born in 1752 in East Windsor of the Connecticut Colony of the British Colonies. He was the son of Israel Bissell Sr. His family settled in East Windsor after they immigrated from England.
Bissell was a post rider who carried mail between Boston and New York for the British Crown (subject to decisions made by King George III and the British Parliament). When the British fired Benjamin Franklin from the post of Postmaster General for the British Colonies, the Patriots established mail routes. Bissell worked for them,[2] transporting the mail, including dispatches for the Sons of Liberty along the same route. In preparation for a war, the Massachusetts Committee of Safety chose Bissel to carry the call to arms from Watertown when the war began.
On April 19, 1775, Joseph Palmer of the Committee of Safety sent Israel Bissell on a ride through Connecticut to warn colonists that the war with Britain had begun.[3] The purpose of the dispatch was to have militias in five colonies rally to support the minutemen of the Massachusetts militia at the Battles of Lexington and Concord.
Bissell carried the "call to arms" message to Worcester, south and west through Connecticut, and ultimately to Philadelphia. The New York copy of the dispatch stated:[4]
Bissell left Palmer and traveled to Worcester, passing many people walking towards Lexington. Along the way, Bissell shouted "To arms, to arms, the war has begun" and "the war has begun, the war has begun". Townspeople rang church bells and fired cannons to alert neighboring colonists.
Bissell averaged about 69miles per day on the 345mile journey,[5] requiring him to obtain fresh horses along the route. According to tradition, Bissell's horse was exhausted after the first leg from Watertown to Worcester. Bissell said to have made the trip within two hours, crossing a distance of 36miles that was generally one or two days travel for a post rider.
Scheide states that Bissell may have arrived in Worcester in the late afternoon or evening and rested overnight to get to Brooklyn by 11 a.m. on April 20, 1775. The Sons of the American Revolution state that Bissell left Worcester for Connecticut on the morning of April 20, 1775, Monroe Stearns said, "Bissell rode so hard that his horse dropped dead in Worcester that night. The next morning he got a fresh horse, and rode on."
As stated in the notice, Bissell was to ride throughout Connecticut, and yet he delivered the message to New York and ultimately to Philadelphia, where the Continental Congress convened.
Bissell generally had to convince the townspeople that the dispatch was not a false alarm.[6] The dispatch was copied for the town's records, with the original order by Joseph Palmer and attestations of the previous stops. Bissell took a break at some of the stops to get a nap and some food before he took the dispatch for the next stop on his route. Townspeople printed the alarm in broadsides and newspapers. At New Haven, the dispatch was amended to include an order to take the message on to Philadelphia, "We thought it necessary and expedient to communicate by express, expecting your speedy aid to forward the same to the Congress at Philadelphia..." At New York, the dispatch was amended by General Alexander McDougall to obtain a new rider to convey the message to Philadelphia. According to the Sons of the American Revolution, several historians believe that Israel Bissell rode the entire route to Philadelphia. From New York, the message was delivered at stops in New Jersey, before going on to Philadelphia.
The timeline of the ride is based on the date and the time of the attestations at Bissell's stops. The attestations meant that the signers understood that the war had begun. The stops were:
Bissell may have traveled with two horses on the Upper Post Road to Worcester.[8] Bissell then rode the Lower Post Road, where he headed south into Connecticut, and crossed the Middle Post road at Pomfret. From there, Bissell traveled a road from Norwich to New London. After his arrival, colonists and people in neighboring towns were alerted by the firing muskets and ringing of church bells that the war had begun.
Samuel Parsons of New London added a note, "You will see, by a Letter to your Committee of Correspondence, the necessity of rallying all your forces immediately... We shall march before noon tomorrow." Answering the call, Benedict Arnold of New Haven, Israel Putnam of Pomfret, and others mustered soldiers and headed for Massachusetts. Putnam assembled men for the Connecticut Militia, commanded them on their march to Boston, and arrived there at dawn. Benedict formed a group of soldiers in New Haven, including Yale College students and soldiers from the Connecticut State Guards, and followed Putnam to battle.
A riot erupted in Manhattan, New York City, with news of the battles in Lexington and Concord. The colonists seized arms at City Hall and supplies destined for Boston. The patriots set two sloops on fire, closed the port, and took possession of the Custom House. Men joined the militia. By the time the news of the Lexington Alarm made it to Philadelphia, 50,000 armed colonists marched for Boston. In Philadelphia, 8,000 people assembled when they heard the ringing of the Liberty Bell.
Bissell returned to Connecticut. Copies of the manuscript were sent to other locations, like Maryland, North Carolina, and other areas. See this notice printed in Baltimore.
Isaac Bissell took a westerly route in Massachusetts, from Worcester, down to Hartford, and then throughout the Connecticut countryside for a total of six days.[9] The dispatch that Isaac carried to Springfield identifies him as the bearer.[10]
Israel Bissell spread the word about the start of the war. His usual mail route was from Boston to New York.[11] The dispatch carried by Israel Bissell through Connecticut and to New York identified him as the bearer.[4] The copy of the call to arms that arrived in Philadelphia identified the bearer as Trail Bisel or Bisiel.
After completing his ride, Bissell returned to Connecticut, where he joined the army alongside his brother, Justis. They both were among the men from East Windsor, Connecticut, who served under Captain Wolcott. His father, Israel Sr. also served in the war. The younger Israel served in June 1775, in Captain Stoughton's company, and, in 1776, he served under Captain Wolcott for one month. His father died in 1776, and Bissell returned to the family home to take care of the farm.
After the war, Bissell moved to Middlefield, Massachusetts, where he became a sheep farmer. Bissell married Lucy Hancock of Longmeadow, who gave birth to four children.[12] Bissell, his wife, and three children moved to a farm in Hinsdale, Massachusetts in 1790. Bissell died there on October 24, 1823, and he was buried in the Maple Street Cemetery in Hinsdale. The Daughters of the American Revolution placed a historical marker beside his grave in 1967.[13] Printed on the marker is "In Memory of Israel Bissell, post-rider from Lexington to Philadelphia alerting towns of the British attack at Lexington April 19, 1775." Isadore Goodman of Pittsfield donated the former Israel Bissell homestead to the Conservation Commission of Hinsdale to be used as a historical memorial.[14]
Hinsdale historian Marion Ransford reported that the Daughters of the American Revolution installed a special marker at Bissell's grave.[15]
In the late 1990s, David Roth artists made paintings for the Union Oyster House of Boston of historical figures including Israel Bissell.[16]
Bissell was the subject of "Ride, Israel, Ride", an epic poem by Marie Rockwood of Stockbridge, Massachusetts.[17]
The remarkable ride of Israel Bissell is a partly fictional account of Bissell's ride written by Alice Schick, Marjorie N. Allen, and Joel Schick in 1976.[18]
Gerard Chapman wrote the poem, "Listen my children and you shall hear of Israel Bissell of yesteryear, a poet-less patriot whose fame, I fear, was eclipsed by that of Paul Revere."
Bissell was portrayed by David Bluvband on the cult public access program, The Chris Gethard Show in the episode "18th Century American Gladiators", which aired in August 2014.[19]
Bissel was mentioned in ABC's show, American Housewife, Season 5 Episode 2.[20]