Walking in Washington’s footsteps

Marking the 225th anniversary of the Franco-American March to Yorktown, marchers dressed in full Revolutionary War regalia crossed the Van Veghten Bridge into Manville on Tuesday.

By: Charlie Olsen
   Cars honked and people waved as the Continental Army marched across the Van Veghten Bridge into Manville on Tuesday.
   Dressed in full regalia, they carried the colors of both the American Colonies and France.
   The men are re-enacting the 225th anniversary of the Franco-American March to Yorktown, Va., from Rhode Island, a trek of 685 miles.
   David Holloway, a carpenter from Wallingford, Conn., said he came up with the idea as an honor to what the Continental and French armies did for the country during the Revolution.
   "I mainly wanted to punish my friends," Mr. Holloway joked. "I thought it would be unique."
   Tuesday, his compatriots were Mike Fitzgerald, of Pittsburgh, and Dave Fagerberg, of Prairie Village, Kan. Mr. Holloway wore the cream-colored French uniform while his comrades-in-arms wore the red, white and blue of the Continental Army.
   The men looked like haggard and grizzled veterans of the Revolutionary War, the only thing that gave them away was Mr. Fitzgerald’s black sneakers.
   The re-enactment started in Newport, R.I., on June 18, traveling the same route French Gen. Jean Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, the comte de Rochambeau, took in 1781.
   The re-enactors, dressed as the French initially, marched from Rhode Island into New York and then turned south, donning the uniforms of both armies.
   Historically, the French army joined up with Gen. George Washington and the Continental Army to immobilize the British in New York City, before heading south to corner Gen. Lord Charles Cornwallis at the decisive siege at Yorktown.
   "It’s something that hasn’t been done in 225 years," Mr. Fitzgerald said.
   With the help of two support cars and a trailer, dubbed "Camp Martha" after Martha Washington, the re-enactors have marched from one historic campsite to another. They stay in the exact location where the armies camped, even if the campsite now houses a strip mall.
   "We cover the same distance and we stay at the same camps," Mr. Holloway said. "We’ve stayed at a couple supermarkets and a graveyard."
   On Tuesday, the 73rd day of the trek, the men marched through Manville to make their camp outside the Borough Hall in Millstone.
   Portia Orton, chair of the Millstone Historic Commission, orchestrated the hospitality extended to the men, and presented them with historic maps and a copy of "Portrait of a Village," a Millstone history book.
   Ms. Orton, Mayor Mary Patrick, Pastor Fred Mueller and Tom D’Amico — a local reenactor of Heard’s Brigade — welcomed the men into town.
   "I was pleased that they came, because the French Army did camp here on Aug. 30 and 31 of 1781," Ms. Orton said. "We wanted to help celebrate Millstone’s history."
   Rev. Mueller donned colonial era garb for the occasion to portray Domine Solomon Froeligh, the pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church in 1781 — now the Hillsborough Church at Millstone, which still has its charter from King George III.Ron Morris, who took photographs for Millstone, let two of the reenactors into his house — the historic Van Doren house — to take much-needed showers.
   "They were a very interesting group; courageous, tired and footsore," Mr. Morris said. "The fact that they are reenacting this is extraordinary. I take it as a patriot’s act – to really understand what Washington and Rochambeau’s people went through."
   According to Mr. Morris, the Van Doren house is where Gen. Washington stayed when he beat the Hessians – German soldiers employed by the British – and then "ran like hell."
   Rev. Mueller joined the reenactors for a light breakfast and their morning prayer Wednesday, having given them a tour of the church and the Old Millstone Forge the day before.
   True to their roles, the men said the prayers in English and Rose Morin, who coordinates "Camp Martha," led them in French.
   Mr. Fitzgerald said that updates, including a daily log and photos, are available regularly on their Web site: marchtoyorktown.org. The updates are loaded by a laptop connected to a cell phone.
   "It’s very grassroots," Mr. Fitzgerald said.
   As they marched out of Millstone, some boys waved small homemade flags, made by their mother Tamara Mount, Ms. Orton said. Mr. Holloway stopped to tell the boys that the purple and navy blue on the flags was the standard of one of Rochambeau’s sons. They expect to arrive in Yorktown in October to coincide with the date Gen. Cornwallis surrendered to Gen. Washington — Oct. 19, 1781 – effectively ending the war.