Photo by: JR P
When I first discovered that our next blog post subject was an art analysis, my heart instantly dropped. I did not know anything about art whatsoever. I had visited a couple of museums while in New York City, but I would normally just look at ancient armor or huge sculptures, completely ignoring the actual information or cultural relevance of the pieces. After accepting that I had to give art a serious try, I took a trip to the NC Museum of Art to try to find a piece of art with which I could really connect. After exploring the museum for about forty minutes, I found an American historical section. I have always had a passion for history, so I figured that I could easily find a piece that I would enjoy studying. I immediately saw First News of the Battle of Lexington by William Tylee Ranney. I found this painting particularly intriguing because of my love for the Revolutionary War. As I studied the painting I quickly knew from the title what was taking place in the painting: a messenger on horseback was relaying to a small town about the battle of Lexington and that the Revolutionary War had begun. I then thought about a famous Revolutionary War messenger that I could maybe connect this piece to, and Paul Revere instantly popped into my head. I then noticed the townspeople’s reactions, which made me realize that Ranney painted this scene to spotlight the common people’s huge contribution to the Revolutionary War effort. Although famous figures like messenger Paul Revere had impacts on contributing to what would become the United States, this particular painting targets the every-day civilian’s huge and typically overlooked contribution to the American Revolution. The people left their ordinary lives at a moments notice and were thrust into the war effort.
It is no shock that Ranney chose a critical American scene for this painting. A native of Hoboken, NJ, he was very well known for iconic American landscapes. He was not well known until the 1960's, when his western scenes brought him into the art conversation ("William"). Southgate says, “His genre paintings took the rapidly evolving American Frontier as their subject.” There is also thought that Ranney painted it to bring support and morale to the Mexican War movement which was occurring at the time. Ranney was very well known for painting the common folk. Southgate said that Ranney paints “the ordinary people who have been interrupted at their daily tasks when battle arrived” (Southgate).
There are numerous features of the painting that show ordinary civilians taking action at a moments notice to assist with the war effort. One example is the blacksmith, who it is implied that he ran out of his shop in the middle of working to hear the news from the messenger. You can also imply from the blacksmith’s clenched fists and grim expression that he is more than ready to take action and was not afraid to take action for the cause. Another man waits in the doorway of the blacksmith’s shop holding a weapon and listening to the messenger. This civilian also just came out of his work to provide support. Behind the blacksmith shop, there are is a man wielding a weapon as he walk out of a general store or saloon of some sort. There are also men on horses ready to provide their assistance. There is even a man ringing the church bell to sound an alarm to the town that their is an issue and a lady hanging out of a window to see what is going on. Needless to say, this small town went into action/chaos mode very quickly to stand up for what they believed in. On the right side of the painting, in the distance, you can faintly see another village. This means that there were countless villages that this messenger had to share news with. This reinforces the point that it was more than just famous messenger Paul Revere and his companion that prepared the country’s civilian militias for war.
Growing up, I heard Longfellow’s 1861 poem “Paul Revere’s Ride” numerous times. We all know the story. British troops were approaching a “rebel” weapon stockpile with an attempt to destroy it, and there were messengers that alerted the colonists of the approaching British forces (Currie). It was only until earlier this week that I discovered that the poem is completely inaccurate. The poem fails to document that Revere was actually supposed to be riding to alert John Hancock and Samuel Adams of approaching British troops. It also does not mention that Revere was actually captured, then escaped (Arnensen). Justin Ewers states that the poem “is inaccurate in almost every way.” Not many people know of the other rider who rode at the same time as Revere, Charles Dawes. Dawes was actually the rider who took the main road, while Revere and another messenger were attempting to sneak across a river to deliver the news (Ewers).
In no way am I attempting to discount the accomplishments of Paul Revere, I am just attempting to inform people of what “Paul Revere’s Ride” actually was and how many ordinary citizens have gone unnoticed with their efforts in the American Revolution. Obviously, messengers were extremely important to the American Revolution. Ewers writes, “ Thanks to the riders efforts, militias from all over the countryside were mobilized to take their revenge, driving the British all the way back to Boston. (Ewers).
The way in which the sky is painted also poses some interesting questions about the battle and the future of the war and what would become the United States of America. While the sky is dark and gray right over the village, there is light on the horizon on the right side of the painting. The darkness in the sky represents the current time, which was the colonists just losing the Battle of Lexington and being very overmatched by the British. The horizon, however, shows hope. While probably unnoticed by the casual viewer, I believe that the light on the horizon shows that if the colonists fight hard and stand up for the unjust treatment that they were receiving, then it would pay off in the end with a victory in the American Revolution and eventually the establishment of a new nation, the United States of America.
On the top of the middle building on the left, the year “1770” is inscribed. Since the painting was created in 1847, Ranney obviously wanted to let the viewer know the relative time period of the painting. However, it is curious that he did not inscribe the exact year of the battle in the building. It is possible that Ranney just wanted the viewer to know the relative time period so that the viewer would somehow connect the relative time period (which was full of unlawful taxation and control) to the situation that was then currently taking place in Mexico in order to increase national morale and support for the then current situation with Mexico.
After extensive analysis of this painting, I have concurred that William Tylee Ranney obviously has a huge interest in both American history and American identity. He likes to show the common people’s roles in situations. While there are several Revolutionary War concepts that can be connected to this painting, (most of which I have pointed out in this post) it is obvious that the main reason that Ranney created this painting was to show the common man’s contribution to the Revolutionary War effort. This was extremely clear to me because of the way he portrays the civilians jumping to action at a moments notice. I then put some thought into the subject and realized that these common people were essentially the backbone of the American Revolutionary War effort, and that they were typically overlooked by a few prominent figures, who did not always actually meet up to the standards that legends made them up to be.
Works Cited
Arnesen, Eric. "The Myth of Paul Revere's Ride." Calliope. July 1, 2011. Accessed November 9, 2015.
Currie, Stephen. "The Battle Of Lexington." Cobblestone. October 1, 2002. Accessed November 15, 2015.
Ewers, Justin. "Rewriting the Legend of Paul Revere." U.S. News and World Report. July 7, 2008. Accessed November 9, 2015.
Southgate, M. Therese. "First News of the Battle of Lexington." The Cover. July 3, 2002. Accessed November 9, 2015.
"William Tylee Ranney East of the Mississippi." American History Illustrated. 1992. Accessed November 11, 2015.
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