Yorktown -- Seige to Victory

On Friday, we drove to the second angle of the Historic Triangle:  Yorktown.  We went to the right place the first time or at least we thought we did.  Hmmm.  Are we at the right place or not?

Is there a sign here or not????

We drove a little further and reached the Visitor Center for Yorktown National Historic Park.

Friday was another very hot day but as soon as we checked in with our Jamestown receipt (which was good at both places), they announced a historical tour of Yorktown starting in about 5 minutes.  In our 4 1/2 years of traveling, we have discovered that you usually get a whole lot more out of a park or historical site by going on one of these tours (as evidenced by yesterday's Jamestown archaelogical tour).  So, despite the incredible heat, we and about 40 other people decided to go on the Yorktown tour.

As we walked towards the town of Yorktown, we crossed over a tall walk-bridge that crossed over an old dirt road.

The tour guide informed us that this was Tobacco Row.  It was on this road that planters would load up their tobacco leaves in big barrels and then roll the barrels down by teams of oxen pulling the barrels.  They would end up at the warehouses along the river...

That's NOT a tobacco warehouse across the river.
It's the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.

...where the planters would be given a piece of paper called a "chit" in exchange for the tobacco.  The chit was like money and the planters would use their chits to buy whatever they needed.  As our tour guide informed us, Virginia does not have a big port like the other colonies.  There is no Charleston, Savannah, Boston, or New York City in Virginia.  But what Virginia does have is 4 rivers which allowed ships to sail right up the river to trade directly or nearly directly with the colonists living near the rivers here.  Of course, there were also ways to "avoid" taxes with the ships going straight up the river.

We next came to a statue that was originally authorized by the Continental Congress in 1781 just after news of the surrender of the British in Philadelphia.  However, it was not actually constructed until 100 years later when there were funds to build it.

Unfortunately, Lady Liberty on top of the monument was struck by lightning several times knocking her head off once and even her left hand.  That necessitated the installation of a lightning rod out the top of her head after it was repaired and her left hand still has to be repaired.  The funds for that repair still haven't come through.

Just imagine Yorktown in its "heyday" when tobacco was the #1 cash crop and the harbor was full of ships sailing in to trade goods for tobacco.

Next, we walked into the town of Yorktown which now only has about 300 residents.  Below is the house of Dudley Diggs.  Dudley Diggs, a member of the Virginia Assembly, along with seven other legislators including one Daniel Boone, were captured in the Tarleton Raid, and held captive by the British for a few days and eventually released. The British were hoping to capture Thomas Jefferson also but he was hiding out in the woods.

Our tour guide left us at the Nelson House where we got an outside and inside look at the home of another patriot:  Thomas Nelson, Jr.

Thomas Nelson, Jr., was serving as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress and he was serving in the place of General George Washington.  Because of that, he signed the Declaration of Independence in place of George Washington.  Along with some exhibits, there were a few pieces of furniture from Mr. Nelson's time period inside.

During the Civil War, the Nelson House served as a hospital for both the North and the South.

After leaving the Nelson house, we walked a little further into town by the Customs House (where taxes on imports and exports were collected),

We walked on into town to Grace Church.

The church was constructed in 1697 for the York Parrish Anglican Church but during the Revolutionary War it was used as a magazine (storage for arms and ammunition).

The church experienced a fire in 1814 but the stone walls remained.  By 1848, the church had been rebuilt using its original walls and was known as Grace Church from then on.

A "window" into the original wall of the church.

Grace Church remains active in the Yorktown community today.

We walked down to the beach that is more popular with swimmers and sunbathers than tobacco growers and sailors.

On the way back by Grace Church, we noticed this old cedar tree growing out of the wall that surrounds the church.  Which came first?  The tree?  Or the wall??

We walked back to the Visitor Center and were VERY glad to be back in nice cool air conditioning.  We watched the National Park Service movie about Yorktown and then toured the exhibits inside.

Captain's quarters in a 18th century ship.

Sailors had to share their quarters with several men and the cannons.

There was also an exhibit George Washington's original tents.

George Washington was Chuck's height:  6' 2".

The Happy Campers!  :)

After leaving the Visitor Center, we drove around the Yorktown Battlefield where we saw the first and second siege lines that had been constructed by the Continental Army before engaging General Cornwallis in battle and backing the British Army into surrender.

We drove by Wormley Pond...

and along a road that would have been used by Washington's soldiers.

Our last stop of the day was at the Moore House...

...where representatives of the British and Allied Armies met to discuss the terms of British surrender.  Inside the house, we got a brief but good history lesson on the Battle of Yorktown from another park volunteer.

With the assistance of the French under the leadership of Rochambeau, General Washington and his Allied Armies were able to defeat the British General Cornwallis at Yorktown which led to the eventual complete surrender of the British army in Philadelphia and the beginning of the United States of America.

We've had some good history lessons over the past couple of days on the American Revolution.  Tomorrow, we conclude the remaining angle of our Historic Triangle tour in Colonial Williamsburg.