Saturday, 21 October 2006

Yorktown & Williamsburg

I wake up the next morning and decide that I’m going to spend this Saturday in Williamsburg. The real activities in Yorktown are taking place today and Sunday, and I really didn’t get to visit the battlefield. The weather is cool, but sunny – a perfect day to bicycle back to Yorktown. As I head out, I’m immediately struck by the volume of traffic heading to the event. I’m sure that I’ll be glad I’m on bicycle.

As I retrace my route from the night before, I start to remember the parkway. I often drove down this route to visit Yorktown for seafood when I was here in college. Small inland lakes transition into marshland before I reach the river. Along the river there are spits of sand that shift with the season where fossil shark teeth can be found.

As I approach the park, I find that the anticipated crowds are arriving. As I zip past the mile long line of cars I head for the visitor’s center. I re-acquaint myself with the details of the battle. I’m reminded that this was a battle and war that never could have been won without the support and expertise of the French forces.

Washington was in New York in 1781 and had to be convinced by Rochambeau to abandon his plan to attack Clinton, and instead head south to Virginia to trap Cornwallis. The British general was only in Yorktown because he had been ordered by Clinton to guard the harbor for his fleet in the Chesapeake. He commanded around 8000 troops. The battle wasn’t really – it was more a siege in the classical European style. Admiral de Grasse was an expert in this technique, and instructed the 17,600 American and French troops in pummeling the British with artillery. The British tried to escape across the river to Gloucester Point, but a violent windstorm capsized many of the boats and forced Cornwallis to abandon his plans. Within days he was forced to surrender.

I spent the day listening to fife and drum corps demonstrations, watching artillery, cavalry and infantry reenactments, and enjoying the spectacle surrounding me. There were more participants dressed in colonial garb than modern. A market had been set up, but I found that most of the transactions were taking place between the reenactment participants. Costumes needed to be fixed or upgraded, traditional fabric cloth prints purchased, etc. From a photographic standpoint, I had a blast.

By four o’clock, I decided that I better head back to Williamsburg. One last cycle past the harbor, and a few pictures of a traditional four masted schooner, and I’m off. My experience riding in the dark the night before was not one that I wanted to repeat.

Back in Williamsburg, I called up my son Brendan, who is a freshman this year at the College, and we got together for dinner at the Green Leafe Café, a visit to his dorm, and late night decaf at the Daily Grind. Brendan is really enjoying college – he’s challenged by the coursework and has really bonded with his dorm mates. He’s living in one of the nicest dorms on campus, and is living on a second floor sandwiched by freshman girls on the 1^st and 3^rd floors.