This may or may not be of interest to the topic.. But a few decades ago I was working on a painting.. It was to be titled " Council of War".. The idea was to show numerous guerrilla captains in a council of war.. In doing so I was trying to be as factual on appearance and dress of those I was putting in the painting.. The men of interest was Anderson, Taylor, Bissett , Thraillkill, and Todd..

I was able to see first hand the pictures of all the above from various collections except Bissett.. I emailed numerous collectors to try and get info or even a picture of Bissett.. But of all the info I had on him no mention of appearance or picture seemed to exist.

Months later I received from one of the most knowledgeable men in the field Don Hale a copy of a letter from a soldier of the 9th who was writing home to tell of the fight in question ( I have a copy on my daughters laptop which I will post when she brings the laptop home from university.. But I still have many of the quotes I used to try and use for Bissett appearence)..

The letter adds nothing to the fight that hasn't already been posted.. Essentially he states that the first man out of the structure ( which he later says is Bissett) came out firing and actually coming towards the men of the 9th.. The other men ran out after him one being killed not 30 years from Bissett.. But he states that Bissett was able to fire 4 or 5 shots with a pistol in both hands before he was was cut down by numerous shots..

The trooper stated he did not give chase with many of the others but went directly to the body to see who the " rebels truly were " .. He wrote that he approached the body which was laying on his back with one arm over his head and one arm across his body.. Both hands held a Remington revolver which he wrote " courtesy of the federal government " .. On both hips he had a holster that held Army Colts.. He wrote " the man appeared to be in his 20s with brown hair and a very thin beard.. he wore a overshirt typical of this type of men which was green in color except for the numerous small white flowers down the front and across the two breast pockets.. the overshirt was quite the fancy".. He then went on to describe a white shirt underneath.. Bisset wore " pants of butternut pushed into knee high boots which was once again courtesy of Abe Lincoln".. His hat was black and adorn with a large plum .. he wrote " overall a fine looking young man except for the numerous holes in his chest , legs and neck"..

He did state that his identity was verified by the owner of the farm and the papers on his body written by Captain Anderson.. He does briefly make mention of the second man killed in close proximity to Bissett only to say they were similar in age and dress except for his overshirt was red decorated with numerous metal beads down the front and his pants and boots "were obviously taken from one of our troops "..

He does describe the arms found on the horses " each horse had at least one pistol on its saddle in addition to the numerous on their bodies.. Three Sharp's and two Colt revolving rifles were found on the horses and in the barn"..

He goes on to say that the boys were able to put " the rest under the sod after a brief fight" and that he did not agree with the brutal treatment of the dead men as he thought " they were very brave and skilled fighters deserving of a better fate "..