Diary/Photo Journal
Week of August 24, 2003
As we proceeded southward down the East coast of the country, we thought to stop in a few more historic battlefields. What we did not realize at the time, was how much history has been preserved in bits and pieces and how wonderful it is to be able to use your imagination to recreate the incredible Civil War and Revolutionary War battles.
We stopped in Fredericksburg and enjoyed a short walking tour through a Civil War battlefield. Many of the trenches and walls are still in place as well as one unfortunate house that got caught in the middle of the gunfire.
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Innis House bullet holes in the sides and inside through the window |
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View from the trench across the battlefield |
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Actual Civil War picture taken a day
after the battle. You can see the dead in the trench and the wall in the background. The other picture is of the wall and trench as it appears today. |
From here, we traveled onto Jamestown and Yorktown, famous for the Revolutionary
War action it received. Just in case you have forgotten your
American History, Jamestown was the first "settlement" by the British and
although barely surviving, the settlement hung on for enough years to create a
toehold in the Americas and thus prevented us from saying "buenos dias" as our
normal greeting.
We were planning on taking a quick walking tour throughout Jamestown (which now is just an archeologist's dream) and we were pleasantly surprised to walk into a "tour" being led by one of the original inhabitants from 1617 (she looked great for her age). Rachel, our guide's name, described life for the early settlers (which for years, were only men) and the conditions in which they lived (and mostly died). Keeping the tour light, Rachel commented on something I always wondered about - if people arrive on land and there is someone already there watching them come onto shore, THEY WEREN'T THE FIRST ONES THERE! THE PLACE WAS ALREADY DISCOVERED AND OCCUPIED (by a very well-governed and civilized society of Indians).
Jamestown was abandoned and much of the buildings and other scars of mankind have been swallowed by the James River and/or the sand drifts that came with winds and floods. However, archeologists have been painstakingly uncovering foundations of the homes, the businesses, the fort, etc., and have recovered thousands of artifacts from that era. One thing to note is that the archeologists are not exposing the entire settlement at once. Because of erosion and other natural destructive forces, the archeologists are keeping the majority of the area in its natural grave and only the areas that they are digging are exposed.
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The steeple was the only original part from the 1600's - the rest of the church was built in the 1700's Original graves |
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Example of the archeologist's dig This was part of the fort's building that connected to other buildings within the fort by this drain line you see here |
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1700's building Archeologists expose foundations and recover them - then they build a "copy" over the original for a layout view, protecting the original under the ground |
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James River |
In Yorktown, we found a different sort of history, one of the Revolutionary War.
We took a self-guided tape tour and were in awe of driving and walking in the
same places that the British and American soldiers did some 225 years ago.
Just another quick History lesson - British General Charles Lord Cornwallis, a
very experienced and competent commander, surrendered in Yorktown and thus,
turned the tide to the American's favor. Possibly, had this turned out
differently, we may have found dinner to be "tea time".
There was a humorous anecdote that I will share with you (humorous to me because me mum was English and I can see the British wanting to keep things "proper"). When Cornwallis surrendered, all terms were acceptable but for the British demanding to be able to surrender "with the customary honors". Customary honors allowed the surrendering troops to march out of their works with their regimental flags flying and playing an enemy's tune in honor of the victor. Always the proper ones, the British.
Well, seeing as when the Americans surrendered a Charleston garrison to the
British prior to this event, and seeing as the British refused the "customary
honors" to the Americans there, and seeing as one of the Yorktown-American
Officers was at that garrison, Cornwallis received tit for tat and was coldly
directed to surrender "with shouldered arms, colors cased, and drums beating a
British or German march". This was a very dishonorable surrender and
haunted Cornwallis to his grave. See, you never know when that karma comes
around.
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American view to British inner circle |
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British inner circle trenches view to American |
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American trenches and bulwarks still remain |
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American redoubt facing the British and Gerson at surrender field |
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Nelson House built in 1700's cannon
damage still remains Grandson of builder signed that little known document - The Declaration of Independence |
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Too many unknown Civil War soldiers Morris house grave |
The above picture of a grave at the Morris House, where the Articles of Capitulation (IE: surrender) was signed, had a wonderful poem for the 30 year old deceased.
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General Gerson |
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Morris House where the Articles of Capitulation were signed |
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Local color |
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Local inhabitant |