A Commitment to Living History
At 10 AM on June 17 of 2004 Lee Patrick Anderson set out from the Colony House in Newport RI on a 650-mile trek to Yorktown VA. He was following the route of the French Expeditionary Force (Expédition Particulière) as they marched from Newport RI to Yorktown VA in the summer of 1781. His walk and the presentations made along the way educated the public on the historical events that are being commemorated and the many opportunities the trail provides for heritage tourism. Click the links below for photo reports of the march courtesy of Ralph Nelson.
Leg 1: Rhode Island and Connecticut
Leg 2: New York and New Jersey
Leg 3: Pennsylvania and Delaware
In June of 2006, the 225th anniversary of the start of the original march to Yorktown, a small but dedicated band of Revolutionary War re-enactors commemorated the ‘March of the Two Armies’, by walking the entire route from Newport, RI to Yorktown, VA.
Yorktown Marchers pictured from left to right: Damon Rodnac, Rose Morin, Dave Fagerberg, David Holloway, Mike Fitzgerald.
They used French engineering drawings, diaries and early road maps to negotiate what is now the Washington Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail (WARO-NHT). They followed the original schedule – 225 years to the date. (MarchtoYorktown.org)
Their reenactment of the March to Yorktown and the ongoing work, since the 1990s, of hundreds of other dedicated historians, volunteers, W3R-US members and the U.S. Congress, finally culminated in the Washington Rochambeau Revolutionary Route’s designation as a National Historic Trail in 2009.
Aboard the USCG Eagle for the 230th Anniversary Event in 2011. Pictured from left to right: Hector Diaz, David Holloway, Dave Fagerberg, Robert Selig, Mike Fitzgerald.
In 2011, the Marchers celebrated a water portion of the trail aboard the USS Eagle. They also made presentations of WARO-NHT banners, commemorating the route as a new National Historic Trail, at Mount Vernon; Yorktown; Princeton; Bolton CT; Washington DC, Rogers Tavern MD; Baltimore; and Schuylkill Banks and Constitution Hall in Philadelphia. (NPS site link).
Three Marchers walked the entire distance:
David Holloway 1951-2015 ✝
David Fagerberg
Michael Fitzgerald
With continuing reenactment, logistical and moral support from:
Rosemarie Morin
Richard Swartwout
Damon Rudnac ✝