battlefield at Yorktown Virginia

A Merry Christmas Message for December 2017!

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And Holiday Wishes to Everyone!

 

 

The image above is special as it represents a turning point and a verification of battle plans of the principal generals near the close of the American Fight for Independence 1781. It is the result of unity between America and France.

Lest we forget! This is the setting:

In this painting by David R. Wagner, Connecticut’s own painter of the Rev War, we see General Rochambeau on the left and his American counterpart General Washington, on the right examining the map of the eastern United States.

Rochambeau has just received a message from Admiral De Grasse saying that he is on his way north from the French West Indies with the much needed cash, ships and soldier/marines to meet the combined Franco/American Army at the Chesapeake. Once they are all assembled near Yorktown, Virginia, they, along with Lafayette and his army, will force Lord General Cornwallis to back up to the bluff of Yorktown from which there is no exit!

The die is cast at this meeting in Phillipsburg, NY.

 

Their Christmas celebration that year would be one to celebrate! Raise a glass to King Louis XVI !!

Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!

 

 

See you again in in January 2018!

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Do you recognize this beautiful property and peaceful setting?

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It is The Moore House with out buildings as seen today, very close to the battlefield at Yorktown, Virginia. It is important because it was here in October 1781 that the Articles of Capitulation were negotiated and drafted, finally bringing the British to their knees!

Rochambeau was instrumental in planning the winning battle of Yorktown.

The Moore House at Yorktown, Virginia

The Moore House at Yorktown, Virginia

Plans for the formal negotiations were made at the nearby Moore House overlooking the York River. According to the National Park Service, which now owns the house, the modest frame edifice had once been a part of York Plantation on a site first claimed by Governor John Harvey in the 1630s and later known as the five hundred – acre Temple Farm. Robert Smith was the owner until 1760  when he sold  the acreage to his brother-in-law, Augustine Moore.

The home is on the edge of the battlefield not far from the center of action. However, in 1781, when General Cornwallis settled into town with his army, many locals moved out of town in anticipation of the battle. It is believed that the Moores moved to Richmond for the time being to escape the coming siege.

Unlike that of the Nelson House, which was Cornwallis’s headquarters, the beautiful lines of the well-kept Moore house emerged in perfect condition from the battle at Yorktown, but it was marred during the Civil War. The National Park Service later bought and restored the building.
(Text from my book, Rochambeau, Washington’s Ideal Lieutenant; A French General’s Role in the American Revolution.)