Walk Where They Fought: Path to Victory!
Tour Section 5 – Pennsylvania
At the end of August 1781, the French and American troops reached Trenton and crossed the Delaware River into Pennsylvania. Marching south, with the Americans in front, they paraded through Philadelphia on September 2-3. With about half of the Continental troops traveling by row-barge, they proceeded to Delaware.
Philadelphia: City Tavern; Independence Hall; American Philosophical Society Hall; Carpenters’ Hall; Penn’s Landing area; Tablet for Continental Army Camp at City Hall (behind a construction fence on the inner court of City Hall); Fort Mifflin; Bartram House; Declaration House; Old St. Joseph’s Catholic Church; “A Man Full of Trouble†Tavern; Powell House; Chew House (Cliveden). Fairmount Park mansions: Belmont Mansion; Boelsen House; Laurel Hill; Mount Pleasant; Ridgeland; Woodford; Lemon Hill Mansion; Sweetbriar Mansion; Strawberry Mansion; and the Woodlands
{default}Germantown: Battlefield at Germantown
Chadds Ford: Battlefield at Brandywine
Chester City: Chester Courthouse
Lower Dublin: Continental Army Camp
Prospect Park: Campsite near Morton Homestead
Bristol: Campsite of Second New York Regiment and King George II Inn
Markus Hook: Campsite of Second New York Regiment
Red Lion: Red Lion Tavern (building burned circa 1980; only the site remains)
Tour Section 6 – Delaware
Like Connecticut, Delaware is in the process of installing interpretive panels. For more information, contact the Historical Society of Delaware at hsd -at- hsd.org or contact J. Harry Feldman at the Greater Wilmington Convention & Visitors Bureau, 800-489-6664. For a calendar of events in Delaware, contact DelRev225th -at- @aol.com.
In Delaware, unlike the other states, the allied forces traveled along a single land route – Old Baltimore Pike – the road from Christiana, Delaware, to Elkton, Maryland.
Claymont: Thomas Robinson House and Swan Tavern
Wilmington: Arthur Penny House; Brandywine Village State Park and Marker; Continental Army Camp; Richard Richardson House and Mill; Continental Army Hospital; French Army Camp; Mordecai Woodward Ropewalk and Houses; and “Tavern at the Sign of the Ship†Marker
Newark: Cooch’s Bridge Monument; Thomas Cooch House; and Continental Army Camp
Christiana: Continental Army Landing Site/Camp and Christiana Historic District
Newport: French Army Camps
Tour Section 7 – Maryland
Arriving at Head of Elk (now Elkton), Maryland, the allied forces proceeded in three basic groups along different routes. Some 2,000 troops were transported by water from Plum Point (now Charlestown) to Annapolis. Washington rode on horseback to Baltimore and continued to Mount Vernon, Virginia, with Rochambeau following a day later, on September 10. The remaining French units traveled overland, crossing the Susquehanna River to reach Annapolis.
For a calendar of events at Elkton, contact Eric Mease at Eric.F.Mease -at- @USA.dupont.com.
Perryville: Principio Iron Works and Rodgers Tavern
Darlington: Deer Creek Friends Meeting House
Baltimore: Camden Yards Baseball Stadium with Commemorative Marker; Mount Clare Mansion; Mount Vernon Place Historic District with London Coffee House; South Central Avenue Historic District with Harford Run Encampment Site; Old Town Friends Meeting House; and Ridgely’s Delight Historic District
Crownsville: Scott’s House (Belvoir)
Millersville: Rising Sun Inn
Dorsey: Rockburn; Belmont; and Troy Hill
Annapolis: Colonial Annapolis Historic District; Maryland Statehouse; U.S. Naval Academy; Crypt of John Paul Jones; and Monument to French Soldiers
Bowie: Belaire Mansion
Elkton (Head of Elk): Historic Elk Landing, including Hollingsworth House and Mitchell House
Elkville: Elkridge Furnace Inn
Tour Section 8 – Virginia
While most of the French and American forces embarked from Annapolis, Baltimore, and Head of Elk, the French army’s wagon train traveled overland from Annapolis to Williamsburg, Virginia, after transferring its load to vessels in Annapolis. Departing from Mount Vernon, Washington and Rochambeau joined Lafayette in Williamsburg on September 14. Two weeks later, with their forces assembled, the allies set out to besiege Cornwallis at Yorktown.
For a calendar of events, visit www.historyisfun.org/news/calendar.cfm and www.siegeofyorktown.org.
Stafford County: Aquia Church
Alexandria: Christ Church; Gadsby’s Tavern; and Alexandria Encampment Marker
Zion Crossroads: Green Springs Historic District
Hanover: Hanover Tavern
Near Mount Vernon: W3R Marker and Washington-Rochambeau Route to Victory Display, near the entrance to Historic Mount Vernon; the reconstructed stonework of Washington’s Grist Mill; and “Washington-Rochambeau Highway†(from Mount Vernon to Yorktown)
Lorton: Gunston Hall and Pohick Church
Prince William County: Rippon Lodge and Prince William County Marker, indicating preserved segment of the original Potomac Path
Fredericksburg: Fredericksburg Historic District, including a marker at the northern end of the city; Kenmore House; Home of Mary Washington, George Washington’s mother; James Monroe Museum; and Rising Sun Tavern
New Kent: Marker at New Kent Courthouse
Williamsburg: Williamsburg Historic District (for the Battle of Green Spring re-enactment, visit www.battleofgreenspring.org)
Charlotte County: Charlotte Courthouse Historic District
Gloucester: Gloucester County Court House Square Historic District
Yorktown: Washington-Rochambeau sign at Route 1020 and Colonial Parkway; Yorktown Battlefield; and Yorktown Victory Center.
Image Credit: DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Dressed in Revolutionary War uniforms, members
of Britain’s Fourth Royal Artillery Unit demonstrate
cannon firing at the Yorktown Battlefield.
Tour Section 9 – Massachusetts
In June 1781, a convoy from France arrived at Boston with some 600 soldiers and two companies of artillery for Rochambeau’s force. The artillery units and 400 of the men were healthy enough to march to Dedham, then to Wrentham the next day, and finally to Providence, Rhode Island, where they joined the main force for the march south.
When the French came north in 1782, they retraced the route to Providence and then went on to Boston rather than to Newport. About 5,000 French troops marched into Boston in December 1782 and boarded troop transports bound for the Caribbean Islands.
Charlestown: Bunker Hill
Cambridge: Longfellow House; Fort Washington; Harvard Yard Historic District; and Massachusetts Hall at Harvard University
Boston: Castle Island (Fort Independence)
About the Authors
Barnet Schecter is a Yale-educated scholar and noted historian who specializes in military history related to New York. His is also the author of “The Devil’s Own Work: The Civil War Draft Riots and the Fight to Reconstruct America†and “The Battle for New York: The City at the Heart of the American Revolution.â€
Robert A. Selig has a PhD in German history from the Universität Würzburg in Germany. He has authored two books and nearly 100 articles on the American Revolutionary War and German-American history.
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Play It!
You can relive the American Revolution by playing games such as Campaign 1776: The American Revolution (HPS), Birth of America (Ageod), For Liberty! (Battlefront), and Horse & Musket (Shrapnel Games) at playit.armchairgeneral.com.
Can you please edit your comment under the picture of the Artillery above Section 9. These are not British uniforms, but Continental Artillery; they have light blue field pieces (a color established by BG Knox) the yellow hat trim of artillery (lasted up though the War of 1812) , and the black faced with red coats of the Ist Continental Artillery.
I have been in the Artillery since 1975 and can send you references if you need them.
Thank you,
Ralph S. Siegrist
LTC, PAARNG
Rear Det Commander
1-108th FA BN