An Early Account by J. F. Ryder
The conception and purpose of the artist and his adviser cannot be better interpreted than in Mr. Ryder’s own words, written many years ago.
“The idea of the artist in painting the picture was to concentrate all the determination and enthusiasm possible in a few figures. No field afforded a better subject than the Revolution, with its determined old heroes and the air of ‘Yankee Doodle’ to rouse them to the highest pitch of enthusiasm.
“The three chief figures meet all the requirements of the situation and are in true keeping with the surroundings. Over them lower the clouds of smoke from a battle-field toward which they are marching. Behind them a few brave Continentals struggle up the hill, while by the side of a dismantled cannon lies a wounded soldier who raised himself on his elbow to give a last cheer to the stirring strains of ‘Yankee Doodle.’ The lines have evidently been forced back. The dying soldier and the broken cannon show where the line has stood. The other soldiers have been retreating. But the three musicians advance, and the sound of their music thrills the retreating troops with new courage. Hats are in the air; the flag has turned; the threatened defeat is about to become a victory. The dying man raised himself to cheer. The trio of homespun musicians are discoursing with all their might that music whose shrill melody is so surcharged with patriotism. The old drummer in the centre, bare-headed, grand in his fearlessness, without coat, one sleeve rolled up as though he had turned from the plough to grasp the drumsticks, his white hair blown in the air, his eyes set close and defiant as though he saw the danger and feared it not, the sharp lines about his mouth showing a fixed determination—all combine to make up that wonderful figure in our history which no rags could degrade nor splendor ennoble—the Continental soldier.
“On the left of the brave old drummer is the fifer who seems to have come to blow his fife, and he will do it as well here among the flying bullets as in the porch of his cottage. His eyes are fixed toward the sky as though reading the notes of his music on the clouds. Around his brow is a blood-stained handkerchief, which tells of the bullet which grazed yet spared him. His whole energy is poured into the reed at his lips, and one can almost hear the shrill notes of ‘Yankee Doodle’ above the noise of battle.
“On the right of the old man marches a boy, hardly in his teens, whose drum keeps time to the beat of the other. His face is upturned to the old man, as though he were his grandfather, as if to question perhaps the route or the danger ahead, but still with a look of rapt inspiration. No shade of fear lurks in his calm eyes, while the ‘rub-a-dub’ of his little drum sounds as clear and distinct as the heavier roll of the aged drummer.
“The entire group is conceived with a fervid sympathy which makes the observer concede sure victory to the combatants; victory also to the artist. The man who had carried the stars and stripes, marching under the same thrilling tune, put his heart into the picture. The work was an inspiration. Mr. Willard had no thought of depicting three generations of one family, but the inference is so natural that he has cheerfully adopted it.
“The canvas is large and figures are heroic in size. When finished, the picture was placed in the show window of my art store in Cleveland. The crowds which gathered about it blockaded the entrance to the gallery and obstructed the sidewalk to such an extent that it was necessary to remove it from the window to the rear of the store, where it was on exhibition for several days, during which time all business in the store was discontinued on account of the crowds which filled the place. The interest and enthusiasm which it created were remarkable. The late Right Reverend Bishop Bedell was a daily visitor and frequently spent an entire half day, so deeply was he impressed.
“The painting was finally sent to the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia and prominently placed in Memorial Hall, where it created a notable interest throughout the Exposition. After which by earnest request it was taken to Boston and exhibited for several weeks in the Old South Meetinghouse. Thence it was taken to the Corcoran Gallery at Washington, thence to Chicago, San Francisco, and other cities, always by request—so great was the desire of the public to see the painting which had aroused such enthusiasm in the hearts of a patriotic people. At last it found a permanent home in Abbot Hall at Marblehead, Mass., the gift to that old town of the late General J. H. Devereux, who purchased it from Willard to present it to the town of his birth. It stands in the old hall which breathes of historic patriotism. It is the pride of the people of Marblehead and of all Americans who visit it.
“Pictures have been painted by artists of great skill, possessing qualities of technique of method, valuable beyond the works of other artists; pictures which give pleasure to experts and connoisseurs. In the midst of such works ‘The Spirit of ’76’ stands. The eye wanders from these works of great technique, and is awed by the grandeur of the old man, by the force of the fervid and devoted group, by the spirit which invades the whole. Mr. Willard with his powerful but, perhaps, less finished touch did more than please the eye of experts; he stirred the heart of a nation.”
Preliminary Sketches
and Replicas
The Final Preliminary Crayon Study Sketch
Showing one of the stages in the evolution of the finished painting. Believed to be the only study sketch now in existence