So Much History-- The Yorktown Battlegrounds Tour

On Saturday, Jared and I got to go on another date while Hayley and Greg were watching Luke.  We went to Yorktown to do the Battlegrounds tour.  We had heard that it takes up to 3 hours, and there was no way Luke would stand for that.

The tour started at the Visitor's Center.  This is the area where the British had their stronghold. It's called the British Inner Defense Line.  It was cool to learn how warfare was acted out back then.  Both armies spent weeks building up earthworks and trenches to hide behind and make it harder for the opposing side to attack.  They would set up cannon among the earthworks.  You can kind of see it in this picture.  That's Jared standing by the cannon.  

The driving tour took us to see the French Battery where the French and American army initially created their own earthworks trying to get closer to the British armies while still protecting their own.  They bombarded the British from their first Seige line until they could get close enough to create a second seige line.  

This next picture is of Redoubts 9 and 10: positions where the British had blocked so that the Americans couldn't advance.  These redoubts were the only things keeping the Americans and French from taking their second seige line all the way to the river.  After the Americans and French attacked the redoubts and overcame British soldiers there, the British commander, Cornwallis, surrendered rather than fight the American/ French armies after they had now gained so much power.  The picture below is at Redoubt 9 where the French attached the British.  They climbed up the earthworks with unloaded muskets using their bayonettes to defeat the British.

There was a long drive between Redoubts 9 and 10 and the next attraction on the driving tour, and the drive was BEAUTIFUL.  Jared and I stopped a couple of times to snap some pictures of the fall colors reflected in the pond.

This is the Augustine Moore house where officers from both sides met to negotiate the surrender terms for the British army.

Jared and I would LOVE to live in a house like this someday.  It was surrounded by green fields and lots of tress and the view from the front door looked out at the York river.  I covet this house!