Touring Yorktown Battlefield

Yesterday 10/10 was another sightseeing day. As I mentioned in an earlier blog we purchased a CD audio tour of the Yorktown Battlefield but did not get a chance to take the tour. Well yesterday was the day.

Basically the tour is a seven-mile drive covering the British Inner Defense line, the Allied Siege lines, the Moore House, and Surrender Field. The audio CD follows red arrow signs and gives detailed information along the way and at each of the stops.

The tour starts at the visitor center where we walked around and viewed exhibits and views of the battlefield.

All around the Visitor Center were cannons that were used by the British and American Allies.

While in the Army I was stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C. in the Artillery. I loved playing with the cannons so I had to show you what I use to fire. Here is a 155 MM Howitzer like the one I hauled around North Carolina and fired. It is a little larger than the ones used in the American Revolution.

Next we headed out of the parking lot following the audio CD and red arrow signs. Our first stop was at the British Inner Defense Line. After Washington and Rochambeau's (French Commander) allied armies arrived, Cornwallis withdrew his troops from most of his outer defenses to consolidate his position behind these earthworks.

The town of Yorktown was surrounded by a ditch and thick parapet. The parapet was formed of trees cut in the woods and placed inside then filled with earth from the ditch. The outside was formed of "fascines"; (The pointed logs sticking out of the ground.)

Approximately 2,000 runaway slaves were promised freedom in exchange for working with the British forces. These slaves provided labor to construct the British Inner Defense Line. Ironically, while the American army secured political liberty for the United States with their victory at Yorktown, These slaves lost their bid for freedom with the British defeat.

The next stop was the Grand French Battery. During the night of October 6, under cover of darkness and rain, Allied troops constructed the first siege line.

The troops of the line were there ready with entrenching tools and began to entrench, after General Washington had struck a few blows with a pickax, a mere ceremony, that it might be said "General Washington with his own hands first broke ground at the siege of Yorktown.

To construct the siege line they first made these "Gabions" (baskets made of vines and branches - it took two soldiers 30 minutes to make each one.) which they filled with dirt to form the foundation for the earthworks. Next they covered them over with dirt forming the siege line.

The night was dark and rainy so the British troops manning the eastern portion of the British inner Defense Line remained unaware of the Allied soldiers to their fromt, enabling the allies to work all night without interference.

On October 9, allied artillery opened fire on the British, and the bombardment began. The Grand French Battery was the largest gun emplacement on the first siege line.

From here we were able to see the Yorktown National Cemetery a Civil War Cemetery.

In the spring of 1862, war again scarred Yorktown's landscape as a Union army prepared to besiege Confederate forces holding the town. On the night of May 3 - 4, 1862, in the face of Union siege artillery Confederate forces withdrew from the area. Yorktown then became a Union garrison for most of the Civil war and provided hospital services to wounded and sick soldiers.

By war's end, the remains of approximately 600 Union soldiers had been buried in this area between the 1781 Allied Siege Lines. In 1866 the cemetery was designated a national cemetery and Union dead from over 50 field burial sites within 50 miles of Yorktown were re-interred here.

Onward to the next stop the Second Allied Siege Line. On October 11 Allied troops began this second line within point blank artillery range of the British. The line could not be completed, however, because two small detached British earthen forts, Redoubts 9 and 10, blocked the way to the river.

Redoubt 10

Redoubts 10 was was partly reconstructed where a fragment of its moat was found in 1956. The remainder of it, as well as parts of adjacent works, was washed to sea during the 175 years of crumbling river banks.

Outside Redoubt 9

Inside Redoubt 9

On the night of October 14, French troops attacked Redoubt 9 while American troops stormed Redoubt 10, capturing both positions in less than 30 minutes. This allowed the Allies to complete their second siege line and construct a Grand American Battery for siege artillery between the two redoubts.

Three days later, Cornwallis proposed a cease-fire.

Back on the road to the next stop the Moore House. On October 18, 1781, officers from both sides met at the home of Augustine Moore to negotiate the surrender terms for Cornwallis's army.

Great view from the back yard of the Moore House

Slowing the process was Laurens' insistence, with Washington's support, that the British submit to similar terms granted by the British to the defeated American army at Charleston, S.C., in 1780. Those terms had deprived the American soldiers to surrender with the army's personal honor intact.

The British argued for better terms but the Allies prevailed and around midnight a draft of the "Articles of Capitulation" was completed with 14 provisions, including two conditions that denied the British the "full honors of war".

We then headed for the Surrender Field. On October 19, 1781, Cornwallis's army marched onto this field and laid down its arms. This ended the last major battle of the Revolutionary War and virtually assured American independence.

The British were held as prisoners of war all along the east coast for the next couple of years.

The rest of out tour covered the American Artillery Park, General Washington's Head quarters, French Cemetery, French Artillery Park, and French Encampment area.

We had a great time touring the battlefield and learned many things. The audio CD was very enjoyable and kept us informed along the way. This sure brings history to life.

For more information:
Colonial National Historical Park
P.O. Box 210
Yorktown, VA 23690
www.nps.gov/colo

Tour of Hampton Harbor, Norfolk Navy Base, and Shipyard

Friday 10/5 was another tour day for us. We headed to Hampton, VA for a Harbor Cruise of the Norfolk Navy Base and Naval Shipyard.

The Navy Base is where the Navy Ships are docked and minor repairs are completed, the Naval Shipyard is where major repairs are done.

Located in Portsmouth, Virginia The Norfolk Naval Shipyard is one of the largest shipyards in the world specializing in repairing, overhauling and modernizing ships and submarines. The shipyard is the oldest and largest industrial facility that belongs to the U.S. Navy, and it's also the most multifaceted.

We arrived at the Maritime Center at about 9:00 am for a 10:00 am departure on the Miss Hampton II. The Maritime Center is located on the southern tip of the Chesapeake Bay on the Hampton River.

As we cruised up the bay the first ship we came upon was the Aircraft Carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. (You can get a larger view of the photos by clicking on them.)

This is a Navy photo of the USS Abraham Lincoln underway, with support aircraft overhead in the South China Sea, May 8, 2006.

USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) is the fifth Nimitz-class super carrier in the United States Navy. It is the second Navy ship named after former President Abraham Lincoln. Her home port is Norfolk Virginia, and she is a member of the United States Atlantic Fleet. She is currently the flagship of Carrier Strike Group Nine host to Carrier Air Wing Two.

Her contract was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding on Dec. 27, 1982; her keel was laid Nov. 3, 1984 at Newport News, Virginia. The ship was launched on Feb. 13, 1988 and commissioned on Nov. 11, 1989. She cost $4.726 billion in 2010 dollars.

As we were cruising up the harbor in the distance we could see another ship, the USS Wasp, entering port. Here is a tug opening the fence so the USS Wasp can dock. The ships are well protected in the Navy Base but the fence is there to keep the Riff-Raff out.

Along the way we passed all types of support ships.

The next ship we cruised by was the USS Bataan (LHD-5) a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship. She is named to honor the defense of the Bataan Peninsula on the Western side of Manila Bay in the Philippines during the early days of World War II.

Although she looks like an Aircraft Carrier she is much smaller, this class of amphibious assault ships carries Marines, landing craft, and vertical lift aircraft.

The Bataan was one of many vessels in the Middle East region at the beginning of the Iraq War on or about March 20, 2003. After delivering her attack and transport helicopters, troops, and vehicles she was employed as a "Harrier Carrier" with primary duties supporting two Marine AV-8B Harrier II Squadrons. She has made two deployments to the region since the invasion. For her third deployment, she joined the Fifth Fleet in the Gulf region, transiting the Suez Canal into the Red Sea on Jan. 30, 2007.

Bataan provided relief to the Victims of Hurricane Katrina. She was positioned near New Orleans prior to Katrina making landfall, and began relief operations on August 30th.

Here is a destroyer moored to the other side of the dock from the Bataan.

A Navy Police boat patrols the harbor.

A Navy plane is coming in for a landing.

Next we passed a Navy Stealth Ship on one side of the dock with destroyers on the other side. The larger ship is the USS Mesa Verde (LPD-19) the third San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock and the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado.

The ship is designed to deliver a fully equipped battalion of up to 800 Marines. The ship will transport and land Marines, their equipment and supplies, by embarked air cushion or conventional landing craft of Expeditionary Fighting Vehicles, augmented by helicopters or vertical take off and landing aircraft.

The ship was christened in January 2005 and commissioned in 2007, marking the 100th anniversary of the creation of the National Park.

Notice to shape of the stacks on the ship. This is to deflect radar signals up and away, which gives the ship a much smaller signature. That is why they refer to this ship as stealth.

The destroyer is the USS Russell (DDG-59) which is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. She is named for Rear Admiral John Henry Russell and his son, Commandant of the Marine Corps John Henry Russell, Jr..

We continued up the harbor passing many more ships including this Submarine. I was not able to determine the name of this sub because the Navy does not display the names and numbers of the Submarines.

Here are some of the many cranes in the Naval Shipyard.

The next ship we passed is the USS Stout (DDG-55).

She is the sixth Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer. Built by Ingalls Shipbuilding, she was commissioned on August 13, 1994 and is currently home ported in Norfolk.

In April 2008, the ship comprehensively failed its Board of Inspection and Survey examination and was declared "unfit for sustained combat operations." The ship has since passed 13 of 13 rigorous unit level training inspections. Stout deployed in March 2009 on routine security operations in the Sixth Fleet.

As we were heading back down the bay we passed the USS Wasp, which the fence was being opened for. You can see the tug boats all around her pushing her along until she gets docked. The Navy hires commercial tug boats to aid the ships.

Here is a Navy photo of the back of the USS Wasp.

The USS Wasp (LHD 1) is a U.S. Navy multipurpose amphibious assault ship. She is the tenth USN vessel to bear the name and was the flagship of the Second Fleet and the lead ship of her class. USS Wasp and her sister ships are the first specifically designed to accommodate new Landing Craft, Air Cushion for fast troop movement over the beach. She carries Harrier II Vertical/Short Take Off and Landing jets which provide close air support for the Marine assault force. She also accommodates the full range of Navy and Marine Corps helicopters, conventional landing craft, and amphibious vehicles.

Here is a Navy photo of an Air Cushion Landing Craft.

Our next stop along the way was at Fort Wool. We have never heard of Fort Wool before but we got to stop and tour the island.

Fort Wool (originally named Fort Calhoun) was the companion to Fort Monroe (Monroe is on the northern side of the channel) in protecting Hampton Roads from seafaring threats. (Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk-Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia.)

Originally conceived in 1817, Fort Calhoun was built on a 15 acre artificial island southeast of old Point Comfort in Hampton, VA. Construction and repairs continued for decades, because the foundation was unstable. The earth beneath the island is soft and the island is still slowly sinking today. We were able to see the cracks in all the concrete and the lumpy fields as it sinks unevenly.

Construction continued through the 1830s, when Andrew Jackson came to escape from the heat of Washington, D.C.

President Andrew Jackson first set foot on this island in July 1829. He was immediately taken with its natural attributes and adopted the site as his summer White House. Devastated by the death of his beloved wife Rachel, Jackson was frail and in poor health. The search for solitude and respite brought him here to the island's isolation.

Atop the casemates, Jackson had a modest hut built in which he read, reviewed correspondence, and addressed political issues. There he scanned the open sea with his telescope.

"For the benefit of my health, by the sea bathing, and to get free from that continued bustle with which I am always surrounded in Washington, and elsewhere, ... I shut myself up on these rocks" - Andrew Jackson, 1833.

As a young second lieutenant and engineer in the U.S. Army, Robert E. Lee was stationed here from 1831 to 1834. Lee was and assistant to Captain Andrew Talcott and played a major role in the final construction of both the fort on the island in 1834, and its larger opposite on the mainland, Fort Monroe.

The Fort played a crucial role for the Union forces during the American Civil War. In addition to aiding in controlling entrance to the harbor of Hampton Roads, prisoners were confined in the fort. After the Civil War it was named Fort Wool for the Union Major General John Ellis Wool, who captured Norfolk in the early part of the war.

The Fort was modernized in the early 20th century, and served as the part of the harbor's defense during World War I and World War II. During World War I submarine nets were stretched across the harbor from this point.

The outmoded fort was finally abandoned by the military in 1953. After being decommissioned, it was given to the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1967 and in 1970, the City of Hampton developed it into a park.

It was a great day on the harbor, the weather was clear and warm and we really enjoyed our tour. Our tour guide was very informative and we learned a lot about the Naval Base and Shipyard along with the surrounding area. It is so much better to experience history up close and personal than reading it in a book.

The last few days have been warm, clear, and nice even though it was a bit hot. That has now changed with a vengeance. Today it is cold, rainy, and it is only 56 degrees at 3:00 pm. It is a good day to stay inside and work on this blog.

While I relaxed and typed away on this blog my little "Honey Muffin" labored away on the laundry. She doesn't complain but to me laundry is a pain in the @##.

There is so much history in the area it is a great place to spend time. We are here for 3 weeks and will keep busy taking it all in.

Relocated to Williamsburg, VA

Yesterday 10/2 was a travel day for us. We said good-by to Colonial Beach, VA and Ola's Country Kitchen heading South to Williamsburg, VA. Thank you Ola's for some great cooking.

It was a nice two hour drive through some great scenery arriving around noon. After connecting up the utilities it was time to relax on the patio. Well, we tried to relax on the patio but it was in the upper 80s with super high humidity so into the air conditioning we went. I got soaked to the bone from sweat just hooking up the utilities. As we drove South the humid tropical air headed north and met us in Williamsburg.

Today Wednesday 10/3 is another hot humid day so we didn't rush out into the heat. Bev hit the pool for some water aerobics while I showered and stayed in the air conditioned comfort of the camper.  After lunch we decided to tour the area in the comfort of our air conditioned car so we headed for the Colonial National Historical Park at Yorktown.

Yorktown Battlefield is part of Colonial National Historical Park, which also includes Jamestown and Colonial Parkway, connecting sites marking the beginning and end of British colonial experience in America.

In the Visitor Center we watched a short video on the siege of Yorktown. There was a very interesting museum in the visitor center which displayed old canons and artifacts from the era. The museum was in the shape of a war ship with displays of canons and living quarters. They also had a great presentation set up for kids.

This statue and sign were in the museum

In May 1781 British General Charles, Lord Cornwallis moved his army into Virginia from North Carolina after an arduous and costly southern campaign. In June he received instructions from Sir Henry Clinton, his superior officer in New York, to establish a naval base somewhere in the lower Chesapeake Bay area. The Marquis de Lafayette, operating with a small American force, shadowed Cornwallis's movements and clashed with his army near Jamestown in the Battle of Green Spring on July 6. After the Americans withdrew, Cornwallis continued toward the bay and on the advice of his engineers, chose the port of Yorktown for his base. Early in August he transferred his army there and began to fortify the town and Gloucester Point across the York River.

Meanwhile, a large French fleet under Adm. Francois Joseph Paul, Comte de Grasse, had sailed up from the West Indies for combined operations with the allied French and American armies. The French fleet proceeded to blockade the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, cutting off Cornwallis from help or escape by sea. At the same time, Gen. George Washington began moving the Allied Army, consisting of his own forces near New York City and a French army under Gen. Jean Baptiste de Rochambeau, in Rhode Island toward Virginia to attack Cornwallis by land.

The Allied army, numbering over 17,000 men gathered at Williamsburg. On September 28th they marched to Yorktown to face Cornwallis's 8,300-man garrison. After a week of laying out camps and preparing for a siege, the Allied army constructed is first siege line on October 6 and three days later commenced bombarding the British positions.

The American victory at Yorktown, the last major battle of the American Revolution, secured independence for the United States and significantly changed the course of world history.

Thank you France for your help in securing our independence.

After we left the Visitor Center we walked down a very scenic path to the the Yorktown victory Monument.

At the Visitor Center we purchased a CD with an auto tour of the Battle Field. We didn't have time to take the tour so we plan on returning for the tour along with walking the Battlefield. At the Visitor Center we saw a free trolley stop so when we return we also plan to hop on the trolley for a tour of the area.

From here we drove to Hampton to check out a boat tour of the harbor, Chesapeake Bay, and Navel War Ships at the worlds largest navel base. We plan on taking the cruse later on this week. The heat and humidity will continue for a couple of more days when it is expected to turn cooler. I think it will be better to take the boat tour of the harbor while it is still warm out.

By now we were hungry so we headed for Rocco's Smokehouse. I had baby back ribs and beer while Bev had a pulled pork sandwich. That was finished off with apple pie a la mode. Life is good when someone else does the cooking and cleaning.

I just had to finish up this blog with a picture of me and my girls, Sarah and Brittany.