Pennsylvania – A Traveling Fool

After the British captured Philadelphia in 1777 and the Continental Army failed to retake it, George Washington set up camp at Valley Forge for the winter. Log huts were constructed to house the roughly 12,000 people who would be there for about six months. During the time in encampment there, nearly 2,000 died from disease (typhoid, influenza, small pox, typhus, dysentery) and malnutrition (as supplies were inconsistent).

The encampment included soldiers from all thirteen colonies. English was not necessarily the first language of all of them. The group was also racially mixed as the soldiers included free blacks and Native Americans. The Continental Army was the most racially mixed ever in the US until after World War II.

The time was spent drilling and training in order to make the army a better disciplined, efficient group. These were not professional soldiers, but farmers, shopkeepers, etc. One of the biggest myths about Valley Forge was that it was freezing and buried in snow all winter. This wasn’t quite true although it definitely wasn’t a day at the beach.

The Marquis de Lafayette had joined Washington by this point. He and other officers, such as Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Hamilton and Captain Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee, were housed in local stone buildings. The log buildings there now are all reproductions, but the stone buildings (including Washington’s headquarters) are original.

In Philadelphia, our first stop was the Art Museum where Rocky ran up the steps as part of his boxing training. Some of our group attempted to run up the steps themselves. Knowing that I wouldn’t get far with running, I chose to walk up at a steady pace. I ended up passing up several of the others who had started out running and ran out of air.

From the museum steps, we got a good view of the back end of another equestrian statue of George Washington. Off in the distance was City Hall with a statue of William Penn on top.

Next came a stop at the Liberty Bell. At the time I was there in 2010, excavations were taking place on the foundations of the house where George Washington lived as President. John Adams also lived there until the White House in Washington, DC was built. A memorial to the President’s house was under construction at the same time. Not much to take photos of at the time as what was there was behind fences and scaffolding. It looked like it was going to be pretty cool once completed.

We had special tickets to see the inside of Independence Hall with times on them. We just had to be at the entrance by the time stamped on the ticket. So, in addition to saying “hi” to the Liberty Bell and checking out what I could of the President’s House, I took a walk to the Graff House where Thomas Jefferson stayed and wrote the Declaration of Independence. I didn’t have time for the film, but dashed up the stairs to the two rooms Jefferson rented.

This time at Independence Hall, we weren’t herded around like the prior visit and I was able to see everything I wanted to see. I could take my time getting photos. The famous painting of the signing of the Declaration of Independence was not exactly accurate as the whole process took several days and not all of the men were in the same room at the same time. But they did have their special chairs at the various tables in the room just like the arrangement that can be seen there now.

After I left Independence Hall, I went by Congress Hall, which was the first location of the US Congress when the capitol was in Philadelphia. The Old City Hall was where the Supreme Court met in those days. Library Hall has a cool statue of Benjamin Franklin as part of the façade.

I checked out those buildings while on my way to Christ Church Burial Ground to see Franklin’s grave. The burial ground was begun in 1719 for the church which had been there since 1695. Franklin died in 1790. The grave was easy to find as it is near the fence not too far from the entrance. It is a very simple slab with just his name and his wife, Deborah’s name. Benjamin Rush, another signer of the Declaration, is also buried in that cemetery. He has a fairly simple slab, near one of the walls with a memorial next to it that was added later.

Baltimore, Maryland was our lunch stop before heading back to Washington, DC. Prior to colonization, the area that is now Baltimore was mainly a hunting ground for Native Americans. Once colonized, it grew fast due to its tobacco and sugar cane plantations. We were let loose in the Inner Harbor at a shopping center next to the USS Constellation, which is the only Civil War era tall ship still afloat.

Prior to the Civil War, the Constellation was involved in efforts to end the slave trade as part of the African Slave Trade Patrol. Once the war began, the ship remained in African seas for a while before being sent to patrol the Mediterranean. Eventually the ship returned to the Colonies as part of a blockade of Confederate ports.

Next time – back in Washington, DC to spend a day hopping on and off a sight seeing trolley.

Valley Forge
More of Valley Forge
Washington’s Headquarters at Valley Forge
Philadelphia Art Museum
Rear of statue of George Washington in Philadelphia
Statue of William Penn atop City Hall
Liberty Bell
Graff House
Where Jefferson wrote Declaration of Independence
Independence Hall
Inside Independence Hall
More of inside of Independence Hall
Still more of inside of Independence Hall
Library Hall with statue of Ben Franklin
Ben Franklin’s Grave
USS Constellation in Baltimore

In 1859, a raid was led by abolitionist John Brown on the arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia. He had 21 men with him – 16 white, three free black, one freed slave, and one fugitive slave. They were armed with steel pikes. They were soon pinned down by locals and some of the militia and took refuge in the engine house. Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee and Lieutenant J. E. B. Stuart led 86 soldiers to capture Brown’s raiders. Brown himself was hanged for treason. His goal had been to inspire a slave revolt.

Back in 1747, a fella named Robert Harper bought the rights to the ferry at the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers from Peter Stephens, a squatter who was running the ferry on land actually owned by Lord Fairfax, a Scotsman. Harper then bought about 126 acres of land from Lord Fairfax, which included the land that became the town of Harper’s Ferry (originally called “Shenandoah Falls at Mister Harper’s Ferry”). Both Thomas Jefferson and George Washington visited the site at different times. When Washington arrived, he decided it would be a great place for a US armory and arsenal. Meriwether Lewis obtained the weapons and hardware for the Lewis & Clark Expedition from the armory.

When our tour group arrived, we found that Harper’s Ferry was still a very small town – only 286 people. The old part of town had been declared a National Historic Park and preserved as it would have been back in 1859. We left our tour coach at the visitor’s center and boarded a shuttle bus to take us down to the Lower Town. There we could wander around, in and out of buildings, until it was time to head back to the visitor’s center.

Some of the buildings I visited contained the A Place in Time Museum (the history of Harper’s Ferry), Frankel’s Clothing Store, the Provost Marshall Office, Stipes Boarding House, Arsenal Square (where the arsenal once stood), John Brown’s Fort (the engine house), the memorial on the original site of John’s Brown’s Fort (and where he was captured), the John Brown Museum, the museum to the 1862 Battle of Harper’s Ferry, the Confectionary, and the Civil War Museum. I had lunch at a café in the midst of all of these preserved buildings and museums.

Other than the café, restaurants, and the restrooms, it was like stepping back in time. Cars were not allowed (other than the shuttle bus), so it really seemed like we were back in 1859, except for the clothing and equipment of all of the tourists.

I got back to the visitor’s center a little early so I could browse in the gift shop. I found a large portrait photo of Abraham Lincoln and his son Tad, which now hangs on the wall of the bedroom I use as a library.

The bloodiest battle of the Civil War, the Battle of Gettysburg was fought from July 1^st to 3^rd in 1863 in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The casualties were estimated from 46,000 to 51,000 in total. Major General George Meade was commander of the Army of the Potomac (Union) while General Robert E. Lee commanded the Army of Northern Virginia (Confederates).

Other than memorials (and the growth of trees and shrubbery), the battlefield doesn’t look that much different than it did then. This makes it really easy to imagine the whole thing in your mind, especially while being described by an expert guide. Having the guide join you in your car and show you around is definitely worthwhile. That is what my brothers did when they took a day trip from DC. Our tour had one come aboard the tour coach.

We had about four hours at the battlefield, starting at the visitor’s center with a film, followed by the cyclorama and museum. After that, we were joined by our guide and toured the battlefield. We began at the statue of General Lee, which stands close to the starting point of Pickett’s Charge. This was a portion of the battle on the third day where about 12,500 Confederates marched across to what is known as the “high water mark” on Cemetery Ridge. The Confederates were pretty much mowed down, although there were a few who made it all the way to the Union line and hand-to-hand combat.

On our circuitous route to Cemetery Ridge (and the statue of General Meade), we stopped at several battle sites including Plum Run, the Peach Orchard, the Wheat Field, the Devil’s Den, and Little Round Top (which included a Union Reenactor). We got off of the tour coach and walked around at most of these locations.

The movie “Gettysburg” (based on the book The Killer Angels) used thousands of reenactors and filmed many of the battle scenes at Gettysburg on the actual battlefield. When I watched the movie, in addition to Pickett’s Charge, it was the 20^th Maine’s adventures on Little Round Top that made a big impression. Their attempt to defend their position on the second day of the battle culminated in a downhill bayonet charge led by their school teacher commander, Colonel Joshua Chamberlain (Jeff Daniels in the movie) when they ran out of ammunition. Standing on Little Round Top and looking down the slope makes their charge all the more impressive as it was fairly steep. If it had been me, I likely would have tripped, fallen, and become impaled on either my own or someone else’s bayonet.

The failed Pickett’s Charge is quite dramatic also. The movie footage was filmed in the actual location where it took place. Standing at either end (where it began or where it ended) it seems impossible that it would have been successful. In the book and movie, after the charge fails, Lee tells Pickett to “look to your division”. Pickett responds, “I have no division.”

The 1^st Minnesota was heavily involved in the Battle of Gettysburg as well. They have three monuments there as roughly 82% were killed, mainly on the second day at Plum Run.

That night we were staying in the Gettysburg Hotel, which dates from 1797. It is on the main square of the town, across the street from the David Willis House, where Lincoln stayed when he came to deliver the Gettysburg Address. The hotel was used as a hospital during the battle and is reputed to be haunted. I spent some time before dinner walking around in the neighborhood, which was very historic.

We had dinner at the Dobbin House Tavern, which dates to 1776 and was a hiding place for runaway slaves on the Underground Railroad. After a tasty dinner of flounder stuffed with crab meat, a baked potato, and a slice of cherry pie, we were given a short tour of the rooms where the runaways were hidden. The conditions were very cramped, but they would have had to have been in order not to be found.

Back at the hotel, I ended up sleeping with the lamp next to my bed on. I was pretty sure I wasn’t alone in the room.

Next time –Valley Forge, Philadelphia, and Baltimore.