Plate I. The Battle of Lexington, April 19th, 1775

Engraving on copper; colored. First advertised for sale in New Haven, Connecticut, on 13 December 1775. New York Public Library, New York, NY.

The four famous engravings executed by Amos Doolittle are the best documentary evidence we have of the Battle of Lexington / Concord. Doolittle, a Connecticut militia man, was not present during the battle, but he went there two weeks later and interviewed people who were present at the successive skirmishes.

Ralph Earl, a painter just starting his career and interested in landscape views, also visited Lexington and Concord. He probably created the preparatory drawings and may have colored some of the prints. Where Earl leaves off and Doolittle takes over can only be surmised — but Doolittle certainly created the engravings himself since that was his expertise.

John Adams was inaugurated as second president on March 4, 1797. Washington had preceded him to the hall and sat on the dais with Jefferson the Vice-President-elect, as Adams spoke. When the new President finished and left, Washington motioned to Jefferson to go next. The two Virginians had known each other since 1769, when Washington had been thirty-seven years old and Jefferson only twenty-six. From long habit and lingering respect, Jefferson now held back. But Washington gestured again, in a manner not to be ignored. The younger man was now Vice-President and must go first.

— Richard Brookhiser

Founding Father: Rediscovering George Washington (1996)