"After the Surrender"

Last page of the Treaty of Paris

So, in October 1781, Cornwallis surrendered to Washington at Yorktown, Virginia, and the Revolution was over. Right?

Not quite.

It would be nearly three more years before the signing of the Treaty of Paris, formally ending the American War for Independence. And in the meantime, the partisan conflict that I discussed last month would continue to rage, especially in the Southern theatre.

In addition to the Bloody Scout (the name given for William Cunningham’s rampages during the late fall and winter of 1781), several other notable skirmishes took place. My best source focuses almost exclusively on the Carolinas, but the war continued to affect relations between people for many long years in other areas of the country as well. The British continued to foment uprising among the native tribes from forts held in the upper Ohio Valley, and those loyalists who preferred not to leave America had a tough struggle either to hold onto their lands or to make a way for themselves, often further west (Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia) or even south (Spanish-held Florida).

Plenty of conflicts happened in the first year after the British surrendered, however. One incident involved the Chickamauga in Tennessee seeking to continue trading goods with the British, holed up in Savannah, Georgia, and fighting continued with the Cherokee. Others took place in North Carolina, in lingering clashes between loyalists and patriots. Still others happened at sea. And Cunningham made a few forays into the South Carolina backcountry, but none as widespread as before.

Finally, then, the Continental army grew impatient with the British presence in Savannah and Charleston, and laid siege to both in turn … but more about those in my next post. :-)

Regimental Uniforms -- American Revolution Museum

I recently had the privilege of visiting the new American Revolution Museum, again, in Yorktown where I live. This day the Regimental Uniforms were being displayed by staff. Above, volunteer Joyce explains that the British regimental uniform is one most American will recognize -- the "Redcoat" jacket.

French Regimental uniform

Here in Yorktown we have a special fondness for the French!!! Thank God they showed up just in the nick of time for the historic battle that finally ended the war!

The French regimental coat is the only one that has a pocket. The French had interior pockets as pictured above. You may recall that women, during those times, had pockets separate from their skirts -- their pockets weren't sewn into their clothing.

Can you see the pocket in the photo on the right? Go straight up from where my name is on the picture, to about halfway up.

Can you imagine how long it would have taken to have sewn these coats by hand? And this American regimental jacket is very heavy. The wool is woven tightly enough to resist water, still. . .

Here's Joyce again showing us a Loyalist jacket, of green cloth. These were calvarymen. You might recognize the jacket type as one worn by one of the antagonists in the movie, "The Patriot," with Mel Gibson.



THANKS, Joyce, for helping me get these pictures!




Question: Do you have any plans to visit the new American Revolution Museum in Yorktown? Do you have any questions I could research for you there, for your visit?

New American Revolution Museum at Yorktown, Partially Opened -- Some Glimpses!

American Revolution Museum at Yorktown

Currently entitled the Yorktown Victory Center, there has been construction for over a year on the new American Revolution Museum at Yorktown. Above is a picture of the Welcome Center.  Below is my son by one of the new meeting rooms in this brand new Visitors' Center at the museum. This portion is partially open.

Clark Pagels by poster for new American Revolution Museum in Yorktown, Virginia

We were able to watch one of the recently produced short films about freedom and liberty while we were there. The building is large, spacious, and important-for-Virginia Air-CONDITIONED!  There are three movies that rotate, timewise, in the theater room.

Although some of the items from the original museum are being brought over, that museum is closed (which is disappointing) as the larger new museum is built. It will open in 2016 to great fanfare here in Yorktown. We're hoping some of the Colonial Quills contributors will be here to celebrate together when the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown opens!

You know we love our Tea Parties here on Colonial Quills blog and it was neat to see this pewter teapot (secured for the display) in the main hall.  Across from the teapot is the American Revolutionary War Time line.  This is mounted on the wall and visitors can walk along and read how history progressed during that time.

George Washington statue - Clark Pagels

I wonder how many tourists have had their picture taken with George Washington? This is a perfect photo opportunity if ever there was one!

Question: Have you been to the Victory Center in Yorktown?  Do you plan to come for the Grand Opening of the new American Revolution Center at Yorktown in 2016?

L'Hermione in Yorktown - Part 2, a Pictorial by Carrie Fancett Pagels

L'Hermione from Yorktown Beach at Riverwalk

L'Hermione sailed into Yorktown on Friday morning and was then moored at the dock. Many fundraisers have been taking place in both France and the United States. Admission was FREE but to get a spot you had to be there many hours ahead. When rain threatened on Friday, my husband agreed to return at the recommended 8 a.m. on Saturday to get us tickets for that morning. As you can see, cloud cover was dense. The Godspeed, from Jamestown, was also moored (in front of L'Hermione). If you will look to the left in the picture below you will see that the Godspeed is only a fraction of the size of L'Hermione, which was a warship.

L'Hermione sails and rigging against dark sky!

L'Hermione with the Godspeed in front

Closeup of the canons on L'Hermione

Look at those sails on L'Hermione!

L'Hermione had hundreds of ropes!

The sheer number of ropes and the height and width of the rigging and sails was astounding!!!

Tours were about twenty minutes, you simply circle the deck. Some of the crew were willing to answer questions. Since my husband is a boat engineer working on military vessels, it was interesting the things he asked and the answers he got. And I got to ask a question in my very rusty French when I asked a young woman why she'd volunteered--she said it was "a dream".

L'Hermione from the bow

Isn't this a GORGEOUS frigate?  I love the lion masthead, which is so impressive. By the way, that is the Coleman Bridge, AKA The Gloucester Bridge, which connects the peninsula to Gloucester, Virginia. Did you know -- The York River is one of the deepest rivers in the world. 

L'Hermione bow, masthead

Question: Is the Hermione frigate coming to your city? I hope you get to go! Read my previous post and be sure to click through to check the schedule. I highly recommend this as a family-friendly activity (at least it was for our little family!) That might even end up being our Christmas picture! A kind French family took our picture (you could hear French being spoken everywhere and some crew members couldn't speak English.) We discovered these kind people, who took our picture, are here from NATO and actually live in Hampton Roads--which only goes to show how the French-American military connection continues yet today!

The Frigate Hermione Comes to Yorktown!!! By Carrie Fancett Pagels

This Friday, the frigate Hermione makes her 2015 trip to America, departing from Rochefort, France, where the original ship was built. You can read more on the Hermione website.

You can follow the Hermione on Facebook, too.
https://www.facebook.com/hermione.voyage

And on Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/hermionevoyage/
I love their boards!!!

They are also on Twitter https://twitter.com/hermionevoyage


According to what I have read, Lafayette did not sail into Yorktown during the Battle of Yorktown, the last major battle of the American Revolution, BUT of course the French did sail in and helped turn the tide for the Americans and the HERMIONE was one of the ships. One of my Rousch ancestors, a Virginia militiaman, was there to witness it. Now I live only miles away from this historic site. I am so blessed!

The Waterman's Museum, Yorktown, Virginia

A Gala reception was held in Yorktown on May 20th to raise funds to support the Hermione expedition. Held at the Waterman's Museum in Yorktown, Virginia.

The Hermione will be stopping at multiple ports along the Eastern seaboard of the United States this summer. Some are: Mt. Vernon, Alexandria, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and more! 

Weather here in Yorktown has residents watching for Noah's ark (or maybe we're supposed to go on the frigate Hermione instead!) She's supposed to sail into port around 8 a.m. with ship tours beginning at 2 p.m.  There are also tents set up in Riverwalk for displays. Hoping to get down there in my raincoat and with my umbrella tomorrow afternoon. The Hermione will be in port all weekend, when the weather should improve. If you are a local, come on out!!!

Q:Will you have a chance to see the Hermione near where you live?

A Visit to the Moore House - Yorktown, Virginia, by Carrie Fancett Pagels

Moore House Parlor - Arranged as For Surrender of Yorktown Negotiations

The Moore House is a site held by the National Parks and sits on a gorgeous bluff above the York River in Yorktown, Virginia.  Here, after the Yorktown Battle, the final major battle in the American Revolution, officers met to negotiate the terms of the surrender.

To visit this historic home, restored some decades ago, you must first go to the National Parks Building in Yorktown. The Yorktown Battlefield also sits on a bluff, with a grand view, a few miles further up river. Below is the majestic view from the Moore House, which you must drive to after registering at the National Parks site and obtaining a sticker.

View of the Yorktown River from the Moore House

Almost any time of year is good for a visit to coastal Virginia. We are most prone to having some type of snowfall in late January and early February, if we get any. This year we've had a few inches and we are anticipating another storm shortly, but such is unusual here in this mild climate.

In mid October, 1781, when the officers met to negotiate the terms of surrender, the weather may have been mild, especially for those accustomed to northern cold.


If you've ever wondered what historic fiction writers do when they have company in town, well here is an example--they take their family members to visit research sites! My brother obliged by posing for this picture!  I've seen pictures of the house, before it was restored, and it looked so sad.  But the National Parks did a lovely job fixing it, both inside and out.

Front of Moore House, Gary Lee Fancett

The interior is available for perusal and period pieces have been added. A National Parks employee will be on site to greet you and answer your questions.





The dining room is set up as if company was expected any moment. It is tempting to cross through the cordoned ropes and sit down for tea!  Would you care to join me?

Moore House Dining Room

Sausage Making in Colonial Virginia by Carrie Fancett Pagels

Sausage Making at Yorktown Victory Center in Virginia

Sausage making in colonial Virginia was quite a chore.  These two men are making sausages at Yorktown Victory Center in Virginia.  First the pork had to be chopped.  The man on the left used a cleaver to chop the meat into tiny pieces. This was very labor intensive, as you can imagine.

The pork was seasoned for the sausage with thyme and other seasonings, perhaps fennel and parsley and other herbs. The pork was first chopped into tiny sections and then transferred to a trencher or a bowl and then stuffed inside the casing.

The pork mixture was pushed through a funnel, to which the casement was "attached" by the sausage stuffer holding the casing to the opening in the funnel.

The Yorktown Victory Center does wonderful demonstrations this time of year about how farmers prepared food for winter.  Hogs were normally killed in late November and then the meat put up.


The sausage casing gets slippery and is difficult to keep attached.  In the picture below, the sausage maker is using two fingers to hold the casing to the funnel.

The meat had to be pushed through the funnel with a wood spoon, in this case, and into the casing.  This required some attention on the part of the sausage maker.

This looks quite different from the way my mother made sausage.  She had a meat grinder and ran the meat and seasonings through the metal grinder which had a crank handle. It had a section where the casings attached and if I recall correctly, there was a metal clip device that kept the casing on while Mom made the sausage.







Question:  Have you ever seen sausage made?  What did you think?  Do you make sausage or have you ever?

THOMAS NELSON SOLDIER & STATESMAN

THOMAS NELSON

SOLDIER & STATESMAN

How often does one get to have a chat with a descendant of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence? For me, it was a rare, informative, and very enjoyable experience.

Two years ago, I got to know a delightful lady, Poppet Nelson, through my Bible study class. She shared with me that she and her husband Tom had recently bought and were operating The Marl Inn, a Bed and Breakfast, in Yorktown, VA. Most folks probably wouldn't do a double take as I did, but having a love of American history, I think I chuckled and said something like, “You’re married to Thomas Nelson of Yorktown . . . sure.” Thomas Nelson is a familiar name around the Old Dominion. A county in Virginia, and another in Kentucky, and a college in Virginia are all named after him.

Poppet responded cheerfully, “Yes, Tom is a direct descendant of Thomas Nelson, the signer of the Declaration of Independence”.

How interesting that this couple, related to Yorktown’s favorite son, had returned to the very village where the Nelson family first settled when they came to the colonies from Great Britain in the latter part of the 17^th century. I hoped then I would one day be able to meet her husband. That opportunity came recently when I visited the Nelsons at their B&B in Yorktown.

Thomas Nelson Jr. is well known to historians as one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. His family resided in Yorktown, known as York until the Revolution, from the early 1700’s and they had a long history of service to our country. Thomas Nelson Jr. was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, he was elected to the Continental Congress, and he was one of the first Congressmen to favor independence. General Nelson commanded the Virginia Militia under George Washington at the Siege of Yorktown, and served as Virginia’s third Governor.

Young Thomas Nelson Jr.
by unknown artist

Since then I've learned more about Thomas Nelson Jr. He was born into the Virginia aristocracy in 1738 to William Nelson and Elizabeth Burwell at Yorktown VA. Both of his parent’s family lines can be traced back to the nobility and royalty of England. His grandfather “Scotch Tom” Nelson came to Virginia in 1690 and became a successful merchant. When Thomas Nelson Jr. was fourteen he went to England, first to a private school and later to study at Cambridge. Shortly after returning to York he married Lucy Grymes, who was also related to several of our Founding Fathers. Together they had eleven children.

Thomas Nelson House

“Scotch Tom” built Nelson House around 1730 which still stands. The William Nelson house was built later and was considerably larger, but it was burned down in 1814. Both of these large brick homes were in the early Georgian architectural style, very popular during the eighteenth century.

During the siege of Yorktown in 1781, Thomas Nelson Jr. ordered his home be fired upon, thinking that General Cornwallis had made it his headquarters.   

Ebb Pate's painting based on
footprint and description of the
William Nelson House 

Thomas Nelson Jr. was a man of considerable wealth and he owned thousands of acres of property throughout the colony, yet he used his personal fortune to subsidize the patriot cause. His family was never compensated. At several times during Nelson’s service to Virginia and the country he had to step aside for a time due to ill health. When it improved he returned to serve. Nelson died of asthma at the age of fifty-one. He is buried at Grace Church in Yorktown near his father and grandfather.

John Trumbull's painting of
The Surrender at Yorktown

close-up of Thomas Nelson (left)
in Trumbull's Surrender at Yorktown

John Trumbull, the famous Revolutionary War era painter, features Thomas Nelson in his painting of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and Cornwallis’s  Surrender at Yorktown.

Grave of Thomas Nelson Jr.
Grace Episcopal Church

The writings of Thomas and Lucy’s daughter reveal that the Nelson families were very active members of Grace Episcopal Church located within walking distance of their homes. Lucy Nelson, a pious woman, spent hours a day studying the Scriptures and in prayer.

Poppet & Thomas Nelson
at the Marl Inn, Yorktown

As we visited in the Nelson’s living room, Poppet and Tom told me that while they were in England, where Poppet is from, they were visiting a beautiful old church, St. Andrew’s in Penrith. While Tom was studying the information about his Nelson relatives who had lived and attended services there, Poppet noticed that some of the lovely stained glass windows were gifts from her own family, who she discovered were also parishioners. Small world!

Alas, Tom and Poppet are relocating to an area near Charlottesville, VA and their charming Bed and Breakfast in this quaint and historic town is currently for sale. They are a lovely and fascinating couple and I wish them well in this next season of their life.

Yorktown Day, 2012

Yorktown Victory Monument from a distance.

Every year, near where I live, the Yorktown Battlefield & Yorktown Victory Center celebrates the anniversary of the last great American Revolution victory.  This year it is 231 years since the defeat of the British at Yorktown.  I sure wish the local schools allowed our children out for the parade tomorrow.  There is also a ceremony this Friday, October 19, for Yorktown Day.  As usual, there are also programs and tours on Saturday and Sunday, October 20 and 21, at Yorktown Battlefield and the Yorktown Victory Center.

Liberty atop the Yorktown Victory monument.

The American and French armies were victorious in 1781, after a pounding nine-day ordeal.   Cornwallis surrendered the British army of over 8,000 soldiers and sailor. Lord Charles Cornwallis's defeat was the last major event for the military during the the American Revolution.

Yorktown day events.

We have a wreath-laying memorial which has continued since 1922.  A parade steps at 10:30 a.m. down Main Street past the Victory Monument.  

This wreath is from nearby Yorktown National Cemetary

Read more (click here) about this wonderful annual even recognizing our patriot's.  At least one of my Rousch ancestors witnessed the surrender at Yorktown, which is pretty neat. (I sometimes wonder if any of my British ancestors might have been fighting on the other side!)

Here is the weekend schedule of events and don’t miss having some of the Brunswick stew that is offered annually.   http://www.historyisfun.org/Yorktown-Victory-Weekend-Schedule.htm

They have great demonstrations.

The Victory Center at Yorktown has some really interesting artifacts, e.g., George Washington's canopy tent and a re-created French ship interior.  (I love their store at the national park!)  They have a movie theater inside and a nice American Revolution movie about the Yorktown siege.

Question:  Have you been to the Yorktown National Park?  Did you know it was listed in the National Parks Best of book as one of the top American Revolution parks to visit? 

Giveaway: A Little Colonial Girl Paper Doll Dover activity book and postcards and note cards from Yorktown, Virginia. For CQ Followers from USA only. Put CQ on your comment.  

On Site Research - Revolutionary Christmas at Yorktown

Yorktown Virginia has been taken over by the American colonial army.  They have set up encampment near the York River.  Feeding such a large number of men takes some planning.  This time of year those soldiers are looking for something that reminds them of home.  We are sure the French soldiers will find our fare a little bland but the cooks are working hard.  Ovens are built into the ground.

(Yorktown Victory Center in Yorktown, Virginia click here.)

Nearby, local farmers are preparing for the coming winter. 

Table has been set at the farmhouse for a Christmas feast, with a tablecloth set out!

Pigs have been slaughtered and every part has been utilized in some fashion.

One example is a bladder ball, in which the bladder of the pig is stretched and eventually stuffed with beans.  The pigs bladders were also used to seal crocks of food, to preserve them for the winter.  Brine, a mix of salt and water, was a common method of preservation.  If you have not tried brine preserved cucumbers you have really missed out! The vinegary pickles don't taste anything like brined pickles.

Don't worry about the turkeys!  They have a job to do.  They will eat the tobacco worms in the fields and will not end up on the table come Christmas day!

Here in the mild Tidewater area, our northern brothers may be quite surprised to find greens still growing!

Bacon cooked with greens is one way to give nutrition and fat for our hungry men.

Mothers may gather goods into baskets and bring inside - wooden gourd bowls for grinding and punched  metal lamps to use during the long winter nights.