On 25 September, W3R historian participated in an international symposium on the 240th anniversary of the victory at Yorktown and the birth of Franco-American friendship. The topic of Dr. Selig’s talk was “De Newport à Yorktown : La Route Washington-Rochambeau et la victoire le 19 Octobre 1781”. The proceedings of the symposium will be published in 2022 in the Bulletin de la Société archéologique, scientifique et littéraire du Vendômois.
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Please join us in congratulating the W3R-US Leadership Council volunteers who are the recipients of the Dr. Doris C. Carpenter Award from Preservation NJ. W3R folks merited not one, but two, awards in different categories.
Preservation New Jersey, a statewide member-supported non-profit historic preservation organization, today announced the recipients of the 2021 New Jersey Historic Preservation Awards. The awardees will be celebrated at an event next Wednesday, October 13, 2021 at the 1867 Sanctuary in Ewing,…[Read More]
Our big event was a great success this past Saturday, September 18th. We had a good turnout of over 350 people, many families with children and many from the larger community who had no prior knowledge of the story of the French American Encampment.
We even had four descendants of the Odell family, proud that their family’s story will be told at last!
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Yves de Turnay,
We are saddened by the dispute between the US and France, our oldest ally, over the nuclear submarine announcement. Only last week, at Trinity Church in Newport, RI, we celebrated our 240-year alliance that won American independence in 1781 by honoring two French officers who died in service to America. Joining us at the ceremony were the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail, The American Friends of Lafayette, and the Newport Historical Society….[Read More]
21 Gun Salute by the Newport Artillery Company at the grave marker dedication on September 10 for two fallen French soldiers who died in the cause of American Freedom whose graves had not been marked before. Markers provided by the John Steven Shop. Read more and watch the video here!
Washington’s Tent: George Washington’s mobile military headquarters where the final stages of the March to Yorktown were planned….[Read More]
On Saturday, August 28, National Park Service volunteer Sal Lilienthal completed a 680 mile revolutionary ride at the Yorktown Victory Monument, becoming the first person to complete a full ride of the Washington Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail.
Biking the Trail was no simple feat. At 680 miles, the Washington Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail includes the land and water corridors that follow the routes taken by American and French armies under the commands of General Washington and Comte de Rochambeau to and from the siege of Yorktown,…[Read More]
Bike and Kayak Tour – Interlude: With the land part of our odyssey concluded, Sal and I were able to enjoy a full sit-down breakfast with Ryan (Sal’s brother) and Rachel Lilienthal in their Princeton, New Jersey, home and did not get on the road until 11 a.m.! We arrived at my home in New York shortly before 1:30 p.m., unloaded my stuff and transferred Sal’s belongings to my car.
We then returned the rental Chevy Spark,…[Read More]
Bike and Kayak Tour – Day 15: WE DID IT! Sal and I rolled into Yorktown on schedule for a 3 p.m. welcome ceremony at the Victory Monument, overcoming a series of obstacles and challenges to deliver the two-week odyssey we promised. The day’s 74-mile ride began at 7:35 a.m. at the Hanover Tavern and was proceeding uneventfully until one of the bike’s tires picked up a 1.25-inch nail in Toano,…[Read More]
Bike and Kayak Tour – Day 14: Sal and I returned to Mount Vernon for the formal start of today’s 81-mile trek through continuing heat and humidity and were on our way a little after 7 a.m. We followed U.S. Route 1 as far as Fredericksburg, Virginia, then turned slightly southeast to U.S. 17, Virginia 2 and U.S. 301, which were marked by “Washington Rochambeau Route” signs.
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Sal rolled into Hanover (just northeast of Richmond) at 3 p.m.
Bike and Kayak Tour – Day 13: Sal began today’s 69-mile segment at the State House in Annapolis, Maryland.
We retraced our route back to U.S. Route 1, then headed south into Washington, DC. We tried without success to get through congestion, construction and a heavy police presence to a statue of Rochambeau erected in 1902 in Lafayette Park opposite the White House. The best we could manage was a shot of Sal with the White House in the background….[Read More]
