Hundreds of reenactors today descend on Colonial Williamsburg to reenact the Continental and French armies’ arrival in 1781, to prepare for the siege on Yorktown.
Should my son wear his Lafayette costume?
Packing for the event, my son insisted on taking his Lafayette costume.
Um, wasn’t that going to attract attention?
But Mom, I’ve grown over 5 inches! I don’t fit into my old costume anymore.
What are the odds of anyone noticing in the prodigious crowd of guests?
Arrival of the Troops
Assembling at the courthouse, we listened to the mayor, General Nelson, and Lafayette, announcing the arrival of General Washington with his troops.
Afterwards we watched the Continental Army arrive in town and set up camp.
Wythe House: General Washington’s Headquarters
The next morning, we went to the Wythe House, General Washington’s headquarters.
The surveyor demonstrated how to use the 18th century equipment.
Here is another type of survey equipment my son got to inspect.
Colonel Pickering is the quartermaster, in charge of gathering supplies, none of which can be found.
He showed us the supply list and explained how it was next to impossible to work with Congress, much less to gather all the necessary supplies and food for so many from so few.
After showing us the route they had journeyed from New York, he explained the importance of supplies on such a trek.
Meanwhile General Nelson discussed his double duties as governor of the state while also general of the militia.
Although he didn’t seek to become governor, the delegates selected him because the position necessitated a strong military presence.
General Nelson notices my son’s rank
Commenting on my son’s costume, Governor Nelson said the only other general close in age to him was Lafayette, who joined the American cause at the age of 19.
My son replied with a smile: I’m here to support the troops.
General Nelson introduces my son as Lafayette to General Lincoln
After we talked a while, General Lincoln, Washington’s second in command, came over and asked Governor Nelson to introduce him to the young general.
General Nelson introduced my son as General Lafayette!
My son replied with a smile: I’m here to support the troops.
Next we met General Hand.
As Washington’s Chief of Staff, he oversaw all the other departments.
While we were talking, Generals Washington and Lafayette arrived!
When General Lafayette announced Washington’s presence, all activity stopped while we stood in awe of the moment. It seemed so real.
General Lafayette told us they didn’t come to stop activity. We were to resume what we were doing. That was difficult!
Washington inspected the work of the different men, so we resumed talking to General Hand.
General Lafayette notices my son’s rank and puts him to work
Before long, an exuberant General Lafayette quickly strode over to my son exclaiming: My friend, I see you have been promoted to major general! I commend you for that!
My son replied with a smile: I’m here to support the troops.
Nodding his head in acknowledgement, Lafayette said that is to be commended as well.
He asked my son if he had seen the town yet.
No, we had only been here to meet the generals so far.
Ah, Lafayette understood, as it was still early in the weekend.
Lafayette said it was important to learn the war strategy and he discussed that at great length.
Then he said it would be good to go around the town to meet the different soldiers, etc, etc, etc.
Hmmmm, was he talking to my son as if he was a general and these were his duties as general?
(Wow! Never expected all this! Too fun! I snuck out my camera for a candid shot when he caught my action out of the corner of his eye and posed with my son!)
After I thanked him, Lafayette left to attend to his other official duties.
Baron von Steuben’s guide book for soldiers
We then got to meet the mayor!
After many topics he brought out Baron von Steuben’s guide book for soldiers.
Offering the book to a guest for perusal, the mayor listened to the guest’s exclamations of surprise, recognizing some of the instructions.
Overhearing the discussion, Colonel Pickering joined the mayor in reeducating the guest in the art of soldiery.
They even tried to convince him to join the militia.
When the guest mentioned that he marched “1-2-3-4” they exclaimed that that made no sense whatsoever. Who has four feet?
Then they discovered the guest didn’t efficiently right turn or about face.
Colonel Pickering set out to demonstrate for the guest the proper method while the Mayor read from the baron’s instruction book…
Soldier’s Encampment
Later during a picnic lunch, we watched the generals and dragoons pass by on Botetourt Street.
After lunch we walked through the encampment and noted one soldier roasting a cow’s udder to render fat for his diet.
Another cook roasted a hollowed pumpkin full of apples and spices.
Review of the Troops
Then we followed Washington to the Courthouse for his review of the troops.
There is General Washington, Lincoln, and Lafayette.
Drumhead Church Service
The next morning we attended the drumhead church service with Baptist preacher James Ireland officiating.
Because there is no pulpit in the field for the minister, drumheads laid on their sides represent the pulpit.
Wythe House: General Washington’s Headquarters
As Generals Washington and Lafayette joined the dragoons to tour the town, we returned to the Wythe House to meet with the generals again.
This time we met the map maker.
I’ve always wanted to see how the art of surveying went hand in hand with cartography.
Although I did not enjoy math in school, I always liked geometry and cartography looked like fun.
The surveyor admitted to the same and said he found map making to be quite relaxing.
General Washington arrived again, alone this time, and inspected each of the projects.
He told the surveyor he needed the maps as soon as possible.
After Washington left, the surveyor told us maps could be made quite quickly and these particular maps were like today’s triptiks from AAA, focusing on the roads themselves.
The Singer notices my son’s rank
Walking by my son, the Singer stopped and said to my son, “Yes, we were all wondering as to your rank.”
Chuckling he continued, “That’s pretty good that you made yourself a major general.”
My son replied with a smile: I’m here to support the troops.
The singer said my son might be a spy for all he knew.
Taking a close look at the stitching on his coat, the Singer said it was too precise to be American.
He said it looked like it came from Britain.
Then we saw a demonstration of the dragoon’s skills while Lafayette narrated.
This was the first we ever saw horsemanship like this demonstrated at CW.
Lafayette led these dragoons through the war.
Grinning my son joined us, “Hey Mom, guess what?”
Lafayette queries my son
Lafayette asked if he had been learning how to be a general and if he was ready to lead his own group of dragoons.
My son told him yes to both.
General’s strategy meeting of siege on Yorktown
Afterwards we watched a meeting of the generals as they planned their siege on Yorktown.
As Washington arrived at the meeting, there was a loud gunshot: the execution of the soldier convicted of premeditated murder.
During this scene, a wagon pulled by horses and followed by soldiers in arms went up the road. The wagon had a casket.
Army leaves for Yorktown
After Washington reviewed the troops at Market Square, the army left town for Yorktown.
Today we know the rest of the story.
America, with France’s help, successfully lays siege against the British. They will successfully use those bayonets to capture British redoubts 9 and 10.
After Cornwallis surrenders, England prepares for peace talks which conclude two years later.
Yorktown was the final major battle of the American Revolution. Huzzah!
For more photos, check my Flickr set.
Comments from my old blog
Stephanie March 8, 2011 at 4:22 AM –First I have to say that you have beautiful website! I love reading your articles and entries (especially the ones with sewing 🙂 ) I found it while looking for scrapbooking ideas for Colonial Williamsburg. What I found instead was a website that I throughly enjoy!
Second, and the reason I have posted on this entry, On October 15, I “treated” my 11 year niece and her mother to a trip to one of my most favorite places to visit, Colonial Williamsburg. I throughly LOVE it there and am quickly captivated by everything. After a trip to the millinery shop to see what they were working on, we made our way down to the encampment and my niece had the chance to play several of the children’s colonial games. We walked down Botetourt street to wait for the Bits and Bridle tour (which was very interesting with the all of the Prelude to Victory action!). We stopped at the waiting area to find a very nice family enjoying their lunch. I so impressed that the children (a boy and a girl) were teenagers and not “bored” as my 14 year niece, who was also along, but that they also had beautiful colonial costumes on. I so wanted to comment on them, but did not want to interupt their lunch. They had left to go on their way chatting about their next stops, and we waited for our tour.
While going through your site, in this very small world, I am almost 100% sure that it was your family!
Thank you for sharing this blog and I am sure that I will continute to follow it!
