Revisiting the Revolutionary War

Walking the path of the Revolutionary War

A golden day – I purchased for $10 my Golden Pass to our National Parks – it gets me and three friends in for my lifetime!  Our tax dollars at work.  Steve and I used the pass to tour the Jamestown historic site and the Yorktown battlefield.  We spent the day revisiting the Revolutionary War era. We started with an archeologist who explained the tragedies of Jamestown and the courage which was needed to establish that first English settlement in what became the United States. The site is on the James River across the peninsula from Yorktown (on the York River where we moored.) However, unlike the hills and cliffs in Yorktown, Jamestown was founded on an island that is essentially a swamp. The location, however, was optimal from a military perspective. Ships approaching were vulnerable so the site was easy to defend from attacks by sea.  The enemies were not all Spanish warships as it turned out. Powhatan Indians strongly objected to the English living in their hunting grounds. (They did not choose to live there due to the absence of drinking water, another slight drawback.) In fact, we learned that the water problem probably was more serious than previously thought since it is now clear from the study of burial sites that the settlers were drinking the river water which was brackish containing too much salt for good health.  The wells also were unsafe with high levels of arsenic caused by the surrounding swamp water leaching into the ground water.  Recent research  from the study of giant Cypress stumps in the Great Dismal Swamp have shown that the settlement was founded at the beginning of a period of severe drought which lasted for more than 7 years further compounding all these water issues. In addition, the prevalence of diseases like typhoid fever and dysentery added to the hardships endured by early settlers. It is truly amazing that these  settlers managed to make peace with the Indians and find viable cash crops so they could survive. But survive and thrive they did making the first English laws in the Jamestown church and peace with the Indians including the marriage of Pocahontas to John Rolfe. The precise location of the first fort built in 1607 has been determined and research continues to identify the remains buried on the historic site as well as discover structures which were part of the settlement. Standing on the bank of the James River on a balmy spring day it is easy to see why those first settlers thought this might be a great spot to build a new world when they arrived in early May 1607.  However, the weather in summer is much hotter and filled with bugs while winter can be harsh and frozen. To understand their suffering we will have to return when the weather is not as perfect as we enjoyed during our visit.

The Colonial Parkway connects the major sites in the historical triangle of Virginia. We took a FREE national park service shuttle bus from the visitor center in Yorktown to Colonial Williamsburg and then another to Jamestown and back the same way.  We made excellent connections each way since the traffic was light – on both the leg out of Yorktown and back we were the only passengers. This entire 30+ miles of road is a national park. There are no, as in NO, ZERO, ZILCH businesses along the way. This route was laid out in the 1930s but not completed until after WWII. The bridges are all carefully constructed to depict the period in attractive red brick. Flowering dogwood, red bud and assorted flowers have been planted to enhance the beautiful  views of both the York and James rivers, tributaries and marshes.  I had expected an hour of city driving, but this route was almost as relaxing as a cruise on Erben Renewal. We ended our day with a film and tour of the battlefield where the last major battle of the revolutionary war was fought  - the siege of Yorktown.  As with any visit to a place where many have died, there is a profound sense that we owe those who sacrificed a debt which it is important not to forget. Yet, gazing out over the wide green fields on this glorious spring day with trees in bloom, leaves bursting out and gentle breezes it was hard to believe the cannons we saw had ever fired and broken the peace of this spot. We were encouraged to see the monuments to the historical significance of these locations and the crowds of people who visited to keep these lessons of history alive. Walking the streets of Yorktown is indeed a walk back to our country’s earliest days. I am grateful such places have been and are being preserved. The history lesson continues as we journey toward the Potomac and Washington, DC.

 

We ended our day with a film and tour of the battlefield where the last major battle of the revolutionary war was fought  - the siege of Yorktown.  As with any visit to a place where many have died, there is a profound sense that we owe those who sacrificed a debt which it is important not to forget. Yet, gazing out over the wide green fields on this glorious spring day with trees in bloom, leaves bursting out and gentle breezes it was hard to believe the cannons we saw had ever fired and broken the peace of this spot. We were encouraged to see the monuments to the historical significance of these locations and the crowds of people who visited to keep these lessons of history alive. Walking the streets of Yorktown is indeed a walk back to our country’s earliest days. I am grateful such places have been and are being preserved. The history lesson continues as we journey toward the Potomac and Washington, DC.

In the Yorktown Watermen Museum

 quiet Yorktown streets